A perfect storm of record low interest rates and shifting consumer behavior spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an absolutely incredible year for mortgage lenders in 2020, especially the independent mortgage banks.
Virtually every IMB saw origination volumes soar in 2020, with many eclipsing $40 billion in originations, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau‘s Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. In fact, over 20 lenders issued 100,000 mortgage loans or more in 2020, the majority of them refinancings. In fact, one lender, Rocket Mortgage, issued over 1 million loans in 2020.
The mortgage boom gave private equity firms and private owners the courage to test the public markets – Rocket, United Wholesale Mortgage, Homepoint, loanDepot, Guild Mortgage and Finance of America all went public on the strength of their 2020 origination numbers. Many of the lenders posted over $1 billion in profits during 2020.
While some of the big IMBs, such as Fairway Independent Mortgage, Freedom Mortgage, Caliber Home Loans, loanDepot and Rocket, all grew volume over 100% from 2019, the depository banks largely lost ground. JPMorgan Chase‘s origination volume grew just 2.4% and Wells Fargo‘s declined 8.8% from the prior year, the result of a pullback on jumbo loans and tightened lending standards to protect balance sheets.
Mortgage forecasting and advisory company iEmergent combed through the top mortgage lenders by volume. Its compilation excludes multifamily properties but includes single family 1-4 residential loans as well as manufactured homes. All loans were closed in 2020, so it does not include loans that locked in 2020 but closed in 2021.
Here’s the top 15 mortgage lenders of 2020 (stay tuned for more analysis in the days to come), ranked based on number of loans issued. We also broke down total origination volume, as well as purchase and refi volume.
15 – Homepoint
- Total originations – 124,598
- Total origination volume – $41 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 41,316
- Purchase volume – $13 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 81,681
- Refi volume – $27.48 billion loans
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 226.3%
14 – Guild Mortgage
- Total originations – 130,376
- Total origination volume – $34.91 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 64,233
- Purchase volume – $16 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 66,141
- Refi volume – $18.86 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 64.2%
13 – Guaranteed Rate
- Total originations – 135,591
- Total origination volume – $47.23 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 71,185
- Purchase volume – $23.6 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 65,406
- Refi volume – $23.63 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 71.4%
12 – Crosscountry Mortgage
- Total originations – 137,412
- Total origination volume – $42.65 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 63,012
- Purchase volume – $18.75 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 74,400
- Refi volume – $23.9 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 198.1%
11 – Mr. Cooper (Nationstar)
- Total originations – 146,803 for $36.31 billion
- Total origination volume – $36.31 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 4,684
- Purchase volume – $1.19 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 141,869
- Refi volume – $35 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 82.5%
10 – U.S. Bank
- Total originations – 180,261
- Total origination volume – $58.1 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 48,915
- Purchase volume – $20.16 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 101,144
- Refi volume – $33.7 billion loans
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 43.4%
9 – Bank of America
- Total Originations – 184,088
- Total origination volume – $76.91B
- Number of home purchase loans – 49,486
- Purchase volume – $23.2 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 110,557
- Refi volume – $33.69B
- Percent volume decrease from 2019: 22.1%
8 – JPMorgan Chase
- Total Originations – 224,833
- Total origination volume – $76.91B
- Number of home purchase loans – 57,106
- Purchase volume – $28.4 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 155,804
- Refi volume – $62.96 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 2.4%
7 – Fairway Independent Mortgage
- Total Originations – 228,154
- Total origination volume – $64.56 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 137,392
- Purchase volume – $37.2 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 89,898
- Refi volume – $27.53 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 104.4%
6 – Caliber Home Loans
- Total Originations – 228,633
- Total origination volume – $70.6 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 102,625
- Purchase volume – $31.6 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 125,885
- Refi volume – $38.96 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 134.4%
5 – loanDepot
- Total Originations – 294,466
- Total origination volume – $100.5 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 84,805
- Purchase volume – $28 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 209,661
- Refi volume – $72.43 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 121.2%
4 – Wells Fargo
- Total Originations – 319,429
- Total origination volume – $126.9 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 118,619
- Purchase volume – $60.1 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 182,062
- Refi volume – $63.39 billion
- Percent volume decrease from 2019: 8.8%
3 – Freedom Mortgage
- Total Originations – 389,146
- Total origination volume – $99.23 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 22,218
- Purchase volume – $6.39 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 366,928
- Refi volume – $92.8 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 344.3%
2 – United Wholesale Mortgage
- Total Originations – 560,796
- Total origination volume – $182.82 billion
- Number of home purchase loans – 133,077
- Purchase volume – $42.99 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 427,719
- Refi volume – $139.8B
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 69.4%
1 – Rocket Mortgage
- Total Originations – 1,142,638
- Total origination volume – $313.41B
- Number of home purchase loans – 133,642
- Purchase volume – $36.96 billion
- Number of refinance loans – 997,523
- Refi volume – $274.1 billion
- Percent volume increase from 2019: 121.3%
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