Driven by a decline in correspondent business, quarterly originations were off at JPMorgan Chase &Â Co. Earnings were also marginally lower — though the retail financial services unit saw an improvement. The company managed to reduce delinquency and increase staffing.
Earnings data out Thursday indicated that total mortgage originations were $34.0 billion in the second quarter, declining from $36.2 billion in the prior period. But volume improved from $32.2 billion in the second-quarter 2010.
The latest quarter included $20.7 billion in retail originations, about the same as the first quarter’s $21.0 billion. Wholesale business fell to $0.1 billion from $0.2 billion, while correspondent production fell to $10.3 billion from $13.5 billion. But correspondent negotiated transactions climbed to $2.9 billion from $1.5 billion.
Fundings might increase based on new loan applications, which rose to $48.8 billion from the first quarter’s $45.2 billion.
Chase also funded $0.3 billion in home-equity loans, a little more than $0.2 billion in the previous quarter but unchanged from the same quarter in 2010.
The third-party mortgage servicing portfolio finished last month at $0.9408 trillion, smaller than $0.9550 billion just three months prior and $1.0552 trillion a year prior.
The financial conglomerate reported $209.9 billion in mortgages on its balance sheet as of June 30, falling from $216.2 billion in the prior quarter and $238.4 billion during the same quarter last year. The June 30 holdings included $106.2 billion in HELs, $87.3 billion in prime mortgages and $15.6 billion in subprime loans.
Excluding purchased credit-impaired loans from Washington Mutual Bank, 30-day delinquency was 24 basis points lower than the first quarter at 5.98 percent. The rate was 6.88 percent at the same point in 2010.
The default rate on purchased credit-impaired loans also improved, falling to 26.20 percent from 27.36 percent. The rate was 27.91 percent in the second-quarter 2010.
Chase has been trimming its repurchase losses, which fell to $223 million from the first quarter’s $420 million and $667 million during the period last year. As of June 30, outstanding repurchase liabilities were $3.6 billion versus just $2.3 billion at the same point last year.
During the second quarter, Chase added $1 billion to its reserves for resolution of foreclosure matters with the Department of Justice, state attorneys general and other parties.
In the retail financial services business, net income improved to a $0.6 billion profit from the first-quarter loss of $0.2 billion. Earnings at the unit, however, tumbled from $1.0 billion a year earlier.
At $5.4 billion, second-quarter earnings at JPMorgan Chase &Â Co. were barely changed from $5.6 billion in the prior period. Income was, however, better than $4.8 billion in the second-quarter 2010.
“With respect to our mortgage portfolio, delinquency and net charge-off trends improved modestly compared with the prior quarter; however, net charge-offs remained high, and we expect credit losses to remain elevated,” JPMorgan Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in the report. “We have been working hard to fix our problems and address past mistakes. We have already incurred significant costs, charged-off substantial amounts and established significant reserves for mortgage-related issues.
“Unfortunately, it will take some time to resolve these issues and it is possible we will incur additional costs along the way. However, in time, these costs will normalize as well.”
In just the retail financial services, the staff size grew to 127,837 employees from 123,550 three months earlier and 116,879 a year earlier.
The New York based company finished June with 250,095 employees across all businesses. Chase noted that it has hired 10,000 employees so far this year.
Chase operated with 5,340 retail financial services branches as of the second quarter.
