Compared to 2023, when they reported an average loss of $1,056 per loan, independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks recorded an average profit of $443 per loan in 2024, per the MBA.
In 2024, 68% of the companies in the study reported pre-tax net financial profits, up from 36% in 2023 and 53% in 2022, when both the production and servicing business lines were included. The proportion of businesses reporting net financial profits in 2024 would have dropped to 56% if it weren’t for the income from the servicing division of the company.
“While overall production profits were positive, some lenders are still struggling in this tough market environment. For example, for the sub-group of lenders with an annual production volume of less than $500 million in 2024.”
Key Findings of MBA’s 2024 Annual Mortgage Bankers Performance Report:
- Average production volume was $2.1 billion (6,259 loans) per company in 2024, up from $1.9 billion (6,021 loans) per company in 2023. On a repeater company basis, average production volume was $2.4 billion (7,284 loans) in 2024, up from $2.0 billion (6,380 loans) in 2023.
- In basis points, the average production income was 10 basis points in 2024, up from a loss of 37 basis points in 2023. Since the inception of MBA’s Annual Performance Report in 2008, net production income by year has averaged 47 basis points ($1,077 per loan).
- The refinancing share of total originations (by dollar volume) increased to 16% in 2024 from 11% in 2023. For the entire mortgage industry, MBA estimates the refinancing share last year increased to 27% from 16% in 2023.
- The average loan balance for first mortgages reached a study-high of $357,631 in 2024, up from $331,437 in 2023.
- Total production revenues (fee income, net secondary marking income and warehouse spread) were 345 basis points in 2024, up from 329 basis points in 2023. On a per-loan basis, production revenues were $11,520 per loan in 2024, up from $10,202 per loan in 2023.
- Total loan production expenses – commissions, compensation, occupancy, equipment, and other production expenses and corporate allocations – decreased to $11,076 per loan in 2024, down from $11,258 in 2023.
- 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 $301 per loan in 2024, up from $263 per loan in 2023.
- Including all business lines, 68% of the firms in the study posted pre-tax net financial profits in 2024, up from 36% in 2023.
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