Residential loan originations declined at EverBank Financial Corp. and are likely to come in even lower for this quarter. The mortgage business had a quarterly loss, though not as bad as in the previous period.
During the first three months of this year, mortgage originations added up to $1.697 billion, according to earnings data released by the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company.
Home lending slowed from the final three months of last year, when $1.988 billion in loans were closed.
Mortgage fundings skidded from $2.898 billion in the first quarter of last year.
The year-over-year slide was impacted by the July 2013 decision to close down the wholesale lending unit. EverBank noted that excluding wholesale activity, the year-over-year decline was just 23 percent.
First-quarter 2014 activity included $0.808 billion in prime jumbo production.
Refinance share fell to 53 percent from 57 percent in the fourth-quarter 2013.
Correspondent business accounted for 44 percent of the latest activity — sharply lower than 53 percent in the prior report.
Second-quarter originations are likely to come in even lower based on new loan applications, which tumbled to $1.5 billion from $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter.
As of March 31, the unpaid principal balance of the total mortgage servicing portfolio slipped to $60.678 billion from $61.035 billion at the end of 2013 but has fattened compared to $50.810 billion as of March 31, 2013.
EverBank previously disclosed that it closed on the sale of mortgage servicing rights on $10.3 billion in loans to Green Tree Servicing LLC on March 31. Another sale of MSRs on $1.9 billion in loans is expected to subsequently take place.
“The consummation of our servicing transaction with Green Tree positions us to drive efficiencies and further enhance the earnings profile of our franchise,” EverBank Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert M. Clements said in the report.
Included in the servicing portfolio were $7.747 billion in residential assets owned by the company. Residential holdings increased from $7.197 billion three months earlier and $6.453 billion a year earlier.
The latest investment number included $5.688 billion in residential loans, $1.912 billion in mortgage pool buyouts and $0.147 billion in home-equity lines of credit.
In the commercial real estate arena, EverBank closed $0.123 billion in loans, down by more than half from $0.266 billion three months earlier but nearly double the $0.063 billion in CRE loans closed during the first-quarter 2013.
EverBank owned $3.153 billion in commercial real estate loans. The portfolio slipped from $3.190 billion at the end of the prior period and $3.314 billion as of the end of the first-quarter 2013.
Warehouse assets were trimmed to $0.911 billion from $0.944 billion and cut from $1.161 billion in the year-earlier period.
The mortgage banking business cut its losses to $13 million before income taxes from $32 billion in fourth-quarter 2013. But income swung from a $13 million first-quarter 2013 profit.
Before income taxes, EverBank earned $51 million. Although net income nearly doubled from less than $27 million in the fourth-quarter 2013, income was lower than $63 million earned in the first-quarter 2013.
