Wells Fargo to Top Lender Ranks National Mortgage News,

Wells Fargo to Top Lender Ranks National Mortgage News
By Paul Muolo

As Countrywide Financial Corp. struggled with bankruptcy rumors in the first quarter, Wells Fargo's residential production division kept chugging along. According to first-quarter figures, the company originated $66 billion in home mortgages during the period, a 7% increase from the first quarter of 2007. Its application pipeline was also $61 billion, a 42% jump from the fourth quarter.
The figures likely mean that as other residential lenders stumble and come under financial and liquidity pressures, the San Francisco-based Wells could be poised to gain significant market share. (CFC is based in Calabasas, Calif.) CFC had yet to release its first-quarter results at press time but it's expected that in the first quarter Wells surpassed Angelo Mozilo's shop to become the nation's largest home lender.
Last week, CFC spokesman Rick Simon did not return telephone calls and e-mails about the matter. Recently, the company, which is slated for sale to Bank of America, said it would no longer issue monthly updates on its financials, which included origination figures. Once the merger is completed, Mr. Mozilo will retire. In January he stopped granting on-the-record interviews to members of the media. In the fourth quarter, CFC was still the origination king, out funding Wells $68.5 billion to $60 billion, according to figures compiled by this newspaper and its affiliate, the Quarterly Data Report.
In the first quarter, Wells posted a $2 billion profit on record revenue of $10.6 billion. Its residential servicing portfolio increased to $1.53 trillion, up 10% from March of last year. The banking giant's strong performance came despite a 16% sequential increase in its portfolio of nonperforming loans. At the end of March, Wells had $4.5 billion in NPLs, including $658 million worth of foreclosed and repossessed real estate and auto loans. It has $314 million of first-lien residential mortgages that are 90 days or more past due and another $228 million in late seconds. A year ago it held $223 million in late first and seconds. Wells is also the largest player in the FHA/VA market.
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