The average profit on each loan created by independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks increased to $785 in 2025 from an average of $443 in 2024.
Key Findings of MBA’s 2025 Annual Mortgage Bankers Performance Report:
- Average production volume was $2.5 billion (7,273 loans) per company in 2025, up from $2.1 billion (6,259 loans) per company in 2024. On a repeater company basis, average production volume was $2.4 billion (7,158 loans) in 2025, up from $2.1 billion (6,290 loans) in 2024.
- In basis points, the average production income was 21 basis points in 2025, up from an average of 10 basis points in 2024. Since the inception of MBA’s Annual Performance Report in 2008, net production income by year has averaged 45 basis points ($1,031 per loan).
- The refinancing share of total originations (by dollar volume) increased to 21% in 2025 from 16% in 2024. For the entire mortgage industry, MBA estimates the refinancing share last year increased to 34% from 20% in 2024.
- The average loan balance for first mortgages reached a study-high of $371,965 in 2025, up from $357,631 in 2024.
- Total production revenues (fee income, net secondary marking income and warehouse spread) were 347 basis points in 2025, up from 345 basis points in 2024. On a per-loan basis, production revenues were $11,879 per loan in 2025, up from $11,520 per loan in 2024.
- Total loan production expenses—commissions, compensation, occupancy, equipment, and other production expenses and corporate allocations—increased to $11,094 per loan in 2025, up from $11,076 in 2024.
- Net servicing financial income, which includes net servicing operational income, as well as mortgage servicing right (MSR) amortization and gains and losses on MSR valuations, was $89 per loan in 2025, down from $301 per loan in 2024.
- Including all business lines, 78% of the firms in the study posted pre-tax net financial profits in 2025, up from 68% in 2024.
“The average net production profit for IMBs in 2025 reached its highest level in four years at 21 basis points,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s VP of Industry Analysis. “While profits have improved slightly in recent years, they are still less than half the historical average going back to 2008. There was also wide variability between top and bottom performers due to differences in product mix, volume levels, geography and cost efficiencies, among other factors.”
Some 78% of the companies in the research reported pre-tax net financial profits in 2025, up from 68% in 2024 and 36% in 2023, including both the production and servicing business lines. The proportion of businesses reporting net financial profits would have dropped to 64% in 2025 if it weren’t for the gains from the servicing side of the business.
“Overall annual production volume was up in 2025, while loan balances rose to new study-highs. Despite the increase in volume, per-loan production costs were slightly higher than in 2024,” Walsh said. “Historically, when volume picks up, fixed costs are spread over more loans, resulting in a reduction in per-loan costs. However, that was not the case in 2025 as rising wage growth, increases in third-party charges, and reduced application pull-through negatively impacted origination costs. Containing origination costs and increasing efficiencies will remain a differentiator between profitable and unprofitable companies in 2026.”
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