Home loan production tumbled to the lowest level in at least a decade at Citigroup Inc., and another decline appears to be ahead. Residential loan delinquency, however, improved.
From Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, mortgage originations were $8.3 billion, the New York-based company said in its fourth-quarter earnings report.
Production plummeted from the third quarter, when $14.5 billion in residential loans were funded.
Production also slid from the $16.8 billion closed during the fourth-quarter 2012.
Quarterly business has not been this slow since Mortgage Daily started tracking Citi’s originations in 2003.
Full-year 2013 originations amounted to $58.0 billion, barely changed from the $58.5 billion closed during 2012.
Saleable mortgage rate locks plunged to $4.5 billion from $7.1 billion in the third quarter, pointing to even lower volume during the current quarter.
Citi said its third-party mortgage servicing portfolio inched up to $180.6 billion from $180.3 billion as of Sept. 30. Citi serviced $177.2 billion as of Dec. 31, 2012.
Another $100.1 billion was serviced by Citi Holdings. The servicing portfolio was reduced from $106.4 billion at the end of the prior quarter and $142.9 billion at the end of the prior year.
Real estate lending assets finished last year at $34.3 billion, creeping up from $33.6 billion at the end of October and $33.7 billion at the end of 2012.
Residential first mortgages owned by Citi Holdings were trimmed to $44.6 billion from $46.5 billion. A year prior, the total was $57.7 billion.
Home-equity loans owned by Citi Holdings fell to $28.7 billion from $29.8 billion in September and $34.1 billion at the end of 2012.
Excluding government mortgages, 30-day delinquency on first mortgages and HELs owned by Citi Holdings improved to 6.99 percent from 7.23 percent three months earlier and 8.95 percent 12 months earlier.
Income from continuing operations at the holding company level before taxes was $3.775 billion, down from the prior period’s $4.266 billion. But Citi improved on the $1.095 billion earned in the fourth-quarter 2012.
Staffing across all of Citi was trimmed to 251,000 employees from 252,000 three months earlier and 259,000 a year earlier.
Branch count within global consumer banking was reduced to 3,729 from 3,777 as of the third-quarter 2013.
Citi Holdings operated another 1,544 branches, slightly fewer than the 1,556 branches in operation as of the end of the third quarter.
