Not only did average quarterly loan production fall for independent mortgage bankers, but average revenue per loan was also lower as personnel expenses rose.
Independent mortgage bankers originated an average of 1,954 loans for $442 million during the first quarter. Production retreated from an average of 2,132 loans for $488 million in the fourth quarter of last year.
Business, however, was better than in the same period last year, when originations averaged 1,380 loans for $301 million.
The findings were based on the Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report Q1 2013 from the Mortgage Bankers Association, which reflected activity by 316 independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks.
The 73-page report costs $650 on a subscription basis for MBA members and $1,100 for non-members.
Based only on respondents that participated in both the current and prior periods, volume fell to 2,028 loans for $458 million from the fourth quarter’s average of 2,246 loans for $514 million.
On a per-employee basis, average volume was 3.13 loans per month, not as good as the previous period’s 3.84 loans or the 3.34 loans per production employee in the first-quarter 2012.
Production headcount averaged 251 employees, more than 237 in the final three months of last year and 186 in the first three months of last year.
Looking at just sales employees, the average loans closed per month dropped to 9.0 from 11.1 and was 9.1 in the year-earlier quarter.
Average first-quarter closings per sales employee ranged from 6.6 loans at firms that generated less than $50 million in production to 12.9 at companies with more than $1 billion in quarterly fundings.
Average closings per sales employees at banks and thrifts were 12.3 loans compared with 8.5 at their non-bank counterparts.
First mortgages accounted for 99 percent of production in all three period’s analyzed.
The activity level generated an average of 86 basis points in total net production income, tumbling from 107 BPS three months earlier but stronger than 82 BPS a year earlier.
Reflected in the latest numbers were a negative 188 BPS for net loan production operating income, less than a basis point in net interest income and 274 BPS in net secondary marketing income.
Origination fees averaged $986 per loan, falling from $1,050 in the previous period and $1,209 in the same quarter during the previous year. That worked out to 49 BPS per loan, the same as in the fourth quarter but well off from 62 percent one year prior.
First-quarter loan origination fees averaged 53 BPS at purely retail shops, while the average sank to 11 BPS for firms that originated at least 75 percent of their business through the wholesale channel.
Average origination fees ranged from 72 BPS for firms that originated less than $50 million in the first quarter to 30 BPS for lenders that generated at least $1 billion in quarterly production.
Financial institutions earned an average 43 BPS in origination fees versus independent mortgage companies’ 48 BPS.
Human resource expenses per loan were $3,785, increasing from $3,570. Personnel costs were $3,350 in the first-quarter 2012.
Human resource expenses worked out to 174 BPS, up from 162 percent the previous period and 164 BPS in the same period a year earlier.
Net interest income — the difference between warehousing income and warehousing expenses — sank to $9 per loan from $23 per loan in the fourth quarter of last year and $57 in the first quarter of last year.
Secondary marketing income was $5,945 per loan, off from $6,046 in the previous report but stronger than $5,011 in the year-earlier report.
