More residential loans were originated last year at Bank of America Corp. than in the prior year. A quarterly improvement was also made by the home lender.
Prior to income taxes, BofA earned $6.1 billion company wide during the three months ended Dec. 31, 2016. Earnings fell from the third quarter’s $7.3 billion.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company disclosed the results along with other operational and financial metrics in its fourth-quarter 2016 earnings report.
But income improved from $4.8 billion in the final quarter of 2015.
Mortgage banking income was $519 million, slightly worse than $589 million in the previous period but much better than 262 million in the same period during 2015.
Residential lending volume during the final-three months of last year came to $21.916 billion. Business picked up from $20.406 billion in the third-quarter 2016 and $17.037 billion in the fourth-quarter 2015.
Total mortgage production included consumer-banking first-mortgage and HEL business as well as originations from BofA’s Global Wealth & Investment Management business.
Fourth-quarter 2016 production consisted of $18.351 billion in first mortgages and $3.541 billion in home-equity loans.
Full-year originations of $ 79.367 billion — including $64.153 billion in first mortgages and $15.214 billion in second mortgages — were an improvement over $69.990 billion in 2015.
Loans serviced for investors totaled $307 billion. The third-party servicing portfolio was reduced from $336 billion as of Sept. 30 and $378 billion as of year-end 2015.
Residential assets inched up to $258.240 billion from $256.965 billion but have been cut from $263.859 billion as of Dec. 31, 2015. Last month’s total consisted of $191.797 billion in residential mortgages and $66.443 billion in HELs.
Commercial real estate assets finished last year at $57.355 billion. The CRE portfolio was $57.303 billion three months earlier and $57.199 billion twelve months earlier.
Last year concluded with 208,024 full-time equivalent employees. BofA trimmed its staff from 209,009 as of Sept. 30, 2016, and reduced its ranks from 213,280 as of the close of 2015.
There were 4,579 financial centers in operation as of Dec. 31, 2016, fifty fewer than as of three months earlier.
