USAA Federal Passes Wells Fargo in VA Market

USAA Federal has passed Wells Fargo to become the leading lender of VA Home Purchase Loans through August 2011. See the chart below to see how they did it and click on the chart to view a larger image:

USAA saw a large increase in their monthly originations in May and June to push ahead of Wells Fargo. Will they continue to have the staying power through the end of the year? Check back to our blog in a couple of months.

Colorado Conventional Mortgage Market Contracting While FHAVA Expands

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The chart above shows the monthly number of conventional purchase mortgages captured from 22 metropolitan area counties in Colorado since January 2005.  The trend shows a continuous contraction of sales for this mortgage product in Colorado since through December 2009.

The next chart (below) shows the number of monthly FHA and VA mortgage originations from all areas of Colorado since January 2005.  The trend shows continuous growth in sales of government insured purchase mortgages. 2009 was the best of the past 5 years for FHA and VA mortgage products in Colorado.

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Top VA Mortgage Lenders for 2009

 

The chart above shows the leading VA mortgage lenders for 2009.  Note that Bank of America acquired Countrywide, MetLife Bank acquired most mortgage operations of First Horizon Home Loans, Taylor Bean Whitaker is bankrupt, and National City was acquired by PNC Financial. These institutions may have recorded mortgages under names prior to their aquisition dates. Mortgage Investors Corp specializes in refinance mortgages.  

One big winner for the year include Bank of America who increased their VA mortgage market share from 1.9% in 2008 to 4.94% in 2009. Mortgage Investors Corp also showed renewed strength by doubling their market share  in 2009 to nearly 3.00% and moving from 15th in the nation to 4th in the nation in VA mortgage origination (wonder what they would be if we only considered refinance mortgages?). We have report products that tell you that!

Later will shall publish the leading Conventional mortgage lenders for 2009.

Mortgage Refinance Boom! Is 2003 Here Again?

Today's Wall Street Journal, Amy Hoak talks about MBA's survey of mortgage applications for the prior week.  The survey showed a 12.8% rise mostly from mortgage refinance applications.

Recordings of mortgage deeds confirm a steady month over month rise in the number of refinance mortgage originations during 2009.  With fixed mortgage rates falling below 5 percent,  interest rates are below the rates of the 2003 refi boom.  We do not expect mortgage originations in this current refi boom to approach the levels seen in 2003.  During 2003 the refinances included large equity extractions.  This time around, most  mortgage refinances are used to replace existing mortgage debt at lower cost. Less "cash out" refinancing is taking place as compared with 2003. In other words. these refinances are real mortgage refinances. Homeowners who refinance are improving their cash flow and their net worth.

Using recordings of mortgage deeds of trust at county court houses, MortgageDataWeb ranked the top conventional refinance mortgage lenders and the top FHAVA (Government Insured) mortgage refinance lenders based upon data collected through July for 2009.

Conventional Refinance Mortgage Leading Lenders

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FHAVA Refinance Mortgage Leading Lenders

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It must be great to be a mortgage lender still standing in 2009!

Where to capture Taylor, Bean & Whitaker's Mortgage Market Share

Now that Taylor Bean Whitaker Mortgage has been knocked down, which mortgage companies are going to capture their market share? It helps to know which markets Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker were strong in. See the reports below to find out where Talyor, Bean, Whitaker, originated most of their mortgage loans in 2009.

The following report shows the top ten counties in the country where Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker originated conventional mortgages during the first six months of 2009.

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The following table shows the top ten counties in the nation where Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker originated FHA mortgages during the first six months of 2009

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The following table shows the top ten counties in the nation where Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker originated VA mortgages during the first six months of 2009.

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Yup, we have the data to show you where Taylor, Bean, Whitaker (or anyone else) stands in your market area as well. Contact us if you need to know more.

Geography of Veterans' Administration Mortgages

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The thematic map shows the number of Veterans' Administration (VA) guaranteed mortgages originated by county in the U.S. for 2008. The hotter colors show the higher incidences of VA mortgages. Note the regional clusters in the southwest, the Seattle Metropolitan area, and central Texas. Many of the highly populated metropolitan areas in the northeast do not show high incidences of VA mortgages.

Previously, a thematic map of VA mortgage originations by county appeared on this blog. That map covered the January through June 2008 period. The same classifications of colors was used enabling readers to observe the time oriented changes between the two periods. Clearly there has been considerable growth in VA mortgage originations in the second half of 2008.

The Business Bank Approaches the Top of Minneapolis FHAVA

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What a difference a year makes. During the first quarter of 2008, few mortgage lenders realized that FHA and VA mortgages were to become the key growth products in their markets. In metropolitan Minneapolis, only 1,903 FHA and VA mortgages totaling $370 million were originated in the first three months of 2008. The volume in the first three months of 2009 was triple over the same period in 2008. FHAVA originations passed $1 billion.

The Minneapolis mortgage market’s “green shoot” is The Business Bank of Minnetonka. The Business Bank, whose mortgage division is known as Prime Mortgage, gained the largest market share during over the past year. In the Minneapolis market area, The Business Bank ranked 19th in FHA VA mortgage originations during the first quarter in 2008. Now in 2009 they are second in the market right behind Wells Fargo. A local bank is about to challenge Well’s first place position.

Welcome The Business Bank to the big boy club of Minneapolis!

FHA/VA Average Mortgage Amount Reaches Three Year High

In March 2009, the Average FHA/VA Mortgage Amount reached a new monthly high during the January 2006 through March 2009 timeframe. The FHA/VA Average Mortgage in March was $185, 752. See the chart below for the month-by-month trend over the last three years.

Click on the image below for a larger view.

As the chart shows, this growth in the FHA/VA Average Mortgage Amount has been pretty consistent since the maximum loan amounts were raised last year. As the housing market bounces back, we should expect this trend to continue. We will perform this analysis again in the future to see if we are correct.

VA Purchase Mortgage Orginations Grow in First Quarter 2009

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Veteran Administration (VA) purchase mortgages are growing at a steady pace. Since 2007, monthly VA purchase mortgage originations have outpaced the origination volume over the same month of the prior year. This trend has continued into the first quarter of 2009.

The leading VA purchase money mortgage originators for 2009 include Wells Fargo with a market share exceeding 12 percent. Wells Fargo is followed by USAA Federal Savings Bank, Countrywide Bank, ,First Tennessee MetLife Bank, and Metrocities Mortgage.

Veterans Administration Refinance Mortgages Climbing HIGH!

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Veterans Administration (VA) guaranteed refinance mortgages have been on a steady climb during the first quarter of 2009. The chart shows the monthly number of VA mortgages for refinance over the past 30 months. March 2009 had over 15,000 new VA refinance mortgage originators, more than triple the number of the same type of VA mortgages for March of the prior year. The increase in VA mortgages for refinance is the result of low interest rates, more stringent qualifications for conventional mortgages, and easier qualifications for eligible veterans.

The average mortgage amounts of VA refinance mortgages are exceeding $215,000 in each of the first three months of 2009. The leading VA refinance mortgage originators include Wells Fargo Mortgage, National City Mortgage (Now PNC Bank), USAA Federal Savings Bank, Mortgage Investors Corp., and Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage.

Monarch Home Funding Gains in November

Back in August, I reported on the growth of Monarch Home Funding's market share in Virginia Beach. They experienced a bit of a dip in market share for Veteran's Administration mortgages in October dropping to 2.47% of the market. They have bounced back in November rising back to 5.27% of the market. The chart below shows this increase in market share.

Click on the image below for a larger view.

This is quite an accomplishment given that the Veteran's Administration mortgage market slowed for Virginia Beach in November. The total of Veteran's Administration mortgage originations dropped to 517 from 702 in October. The chart below illustrates the dip in November originations.

VA Originations Fall in November

VA Originations fell to nearly 15,000 in November. This is a drop from nearly 19,000 in the month of October. This reduction may be seasonal but we will continue to monitor the trend over the coming months.


Click on the image below for a larger view.

Maricopa County Reaches New Highs

Maricopa County, Arizona reached new monthly highs in originations for FHA and VA in October 2008. This growth helped to continue to strengthen their position as the #1 County by dollar volume year-to-date for FHA and VA.

Click on the image for a larger view of the FHA chart.

Click on the image for a larger view of the VA chart.

VA Originations Rise Nationally

After seeing declines in August and September, VA Mortgage Originations rose again nationally in October 2008. There were 18,897 VA Originations in October which accounts for increase of over 1,000 from the previous month. The monthly high for the year occurred in July at 20,516. The chart below shows the trend for 2008.

Click on the image for a larger view.

It should be interesting to see what happens in November?

Wells Fargo Leads in VA Mortgage Originations

Take a look at the Leading VA Lenders year-to-date through September 2008. Wells Fargo is No.1. Click here to see the other in the Top 5. If you are interested in seeing who else is performing well nationally in the VA market after the Top 5, contact MortgageDataWeb.

TowneBank Fast Riser in Virginia Beach

TowneBank of Virginia Beach, Virginia is rising fast in market share for the Virginia Beach VA market. TowneBank is currently #3 through August 2008. The chart below shows their monthly market share percentage and how it is increasing through 2008.

Click on the image for a larger view.

The Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News VA market is currently the largest in the country. So Townbank is somebody to keep an eye on.

Clusters of VA Mortgage Originations in the US

VA mortgages are originated in areas where you might not expect. The map in the image shows the counts of new VA mortgages by county in continental U.S. from January 2008 through June 2008. Most of the time the most mortgages of a particular type is in counties with the largest populations (e.g. Los Angeles). For VA mortgages, the leading counties include Bexar Texas, El Paso Colorado, Cumberland North Carolina. The counties near those leading VA counties also have high numbers of VA mortgage originations. This shows that the VA mortgages are originated in geographic clusters.

Eventually the high population counties will see more VA mortgages as sources for mortgage financing become more difficult in the conventional mortgage market space.

New Hampshire VA Mortgages

While Merrimack Mortgage approaches Wells Fargo in FHA mortgages, they are dominating originations of VA mortgages in New Hampshire. Out of all the VA mortgages originated during the current quarter, Merrimack Mortgage is responsible for over a fifth of those, doubling the number of Wells Fargo. Through the end of the forth quarter in 2007 Merrimack, trailed Wells Fargo in market share. During the first two quarters of 2008 Merrimack’s market share has exceeded Wells Fargo market share. In the most recent quarter ending June, Merrimack Mortgage lead all lenders in New Hampshire with a 20.8% market share and Merrimack exceeded Wells Fargo by nearly 10%.

Is the national elephant capable of retaining their top position in New Hampshire or will the local strong man remain the giant?

Big Winners in a Dismal Mortgage Market - Monarch Market Share Soars!"

Since entering the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News market in early 2004, Monrach Home Funding has continued to increase their market share in the VA product area. Monrach's market share has particularly increased since the latter half of 2007. Take a look at the accompanying chart.

VA Mortgage Origination Data Shows No Remarkable Changes

The Veterans Administration (VA) home loan guaranty program was established in 1944 to aid veterans returning home from war. While roughly 55 million persons are eligible for VA mortgages, very few eligible veterans choose the mortgage that allows no down payment and provides the investor a guaranty on a sizable proportion of the mortgage. Even though VA mortgage borrowers are not required to purchase mortgage insurance, loan guaranty fees which vary with the down payment and the number of times used, are collected at mortgage close and rolled into the mortgage amount. Since conventional mortgages have been more difficult to obtain, we would expect an increase in the use of VA mortgages. The past few months show only a small increase (see chart) in new VA mortgage originations. Are we as a nation doing what is necessary to help our veterans with their residential finance needs?