Mortgage

Here are the top 10 mortgage lenders in 2021

HMDA data shows which lenders originated the most loans in 2021

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, released Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, showed a reshuffle in the top 10 lenders by volume for 2021.

According to an analysis of the HMDA data by Polygon Research application HMDAVision, the top 10 lenders by volume are:

  1. Rocket Mortgage
  2. United Wholesale Mortgage
  3. Wells Fargo
  4. LoanDepot
  5. JPMorgan Chase
  6. New Residential Investment Corp.
  7. Freedom Mortgage
  8. Bank of America
  9. Homepoint
  10. Guaranteed Rate

The two top lenders, Rocket Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage, each maintained their positions. Rocket pumped out $340 billion in loans in 2021, 8.55% more than it did in 2020. Wholesale lender UWM originated $227 billion, but far exceeded Rocket in terms of growth. Its originations increased 24% from the year prior.

Wells Fargo moved up one notch, originating $141 billion, a 11% increase from 2021. LoanDepot, too, moved from fifth to fourth most originations, increasing its volume by 36% to $136.7 billion.

JPMorgan Chase rose from eighth to fifth greatest origination volume, with a 17% increase to $112 billion in loans.

New Residential Investment Corp., which acquired Caliber Home Loans in August 2021, catapulted to sixth place. Combined, the two originated $105 billion in 2021, 13.5% more than in 2020.

Freedom Mortgage was the only top ten lender to lose ground last year, originating nearly 10% less than it did in 2020, coming in at about $89 billion.

Bank of America clawed its way up from ninth to eighth largest lender by volume, with about $84 billion in 2021. Homepoint and Guaranteed Rate both surged into the top 10, with Homepoint increasing its volume by a whopping 81% to $74 billion. Guaranteed Rate originated slightly less, at $73.8 billion, but still 25% more by volume than it did the previous year.

HMDA data revealed sizable dip in refinances last year, while cash-out refis surged and lending to minority borrowers crept upward.

Total originations in 2021 totaled about $4.47 trillion, HMDAVision shows. Volume of purchase originations, cash-out refinances and even home improvement loans were up from the previous year.

Total purchase originations came in at $1.8 trillion in 2021, a nearly 25% increase from 2020. Homeowners tapped $866 billion of equity in the form of cash-out refinances in 2021.

Refinances, however, in the face of a potential rate hike, decreased 16% to $1.6 billion.

The HMDA data also show that minority lending inched upward in 2021. Minority borrowers accounted for 25.4% of the number of originations, compared to 23.2% in 2021. By volume, despite steeply rising home prices, the share of minority borrowers also grew to 27.1% from 24.7%.

The share of minority borrowers for the top 10 lenders, at 30%, was markedly greater than that of the rest of the market. Recent research has shown that depositories lag nonbanks when it comes to minority lending.

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