Pre-tax net production profits for independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks rose to $973 per loan in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of $246 from the first quarter, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

It was the fifth consecutive quarter that production profits had remained positive, continuing the industry’s turnaround from widespread losses between 2022 and 2024, said Marina Walsh, a certified mortgage banker and MBA’s vice president of industry analysis. IMBs had reported losses in 10 of the 12 quarters from the second quarter of 2022 through the first quarter of 2025.

“Average production volume per firm was $689 million, the highest level since the second quarter of 2022,” Walsh said in a statement. “While production revenues dropped from the previous quarter as gain-on-sale margins narrowed, production expenses also decreased, reaching their lowest level in basis points since the third quarter of 2021.”

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The MBA found that roughly 85% of the 330 mortgage companies sampled for the report posted overall profits. Quarterly production profits in the second quarter averaged 25 basis points (bps), up 9 bps from the first quarter but still below the historical average of 39 basis points since 2008.

The second quarter’s average production volume of $689 million per company was up from $621 million in the first quarter and $636 million a year ago. Loan volume per company averaged 1,958 in the second quarter, up from 1,729 loans in the first quarter and 1,862 loans a year ago.

Total loan production expenses, which include commissions, equipment and corporate allocations, decreased to 308 bps in the second quarter from 336 bps in the first quarter. Per-loan costs decreased to $10,936 in the second quarter, down from $11,898 in the first quarter but still historically elevated. From the second quarter of 2008 through the second quarter of 2026, loan production expenses averaged $7,945 per loan.