United Wholesale Mortgage announced $39.51 billion in total loan originations for the third quarter, marking its largest volume in three years.
That figure is up from $33.63 billion from the second quarter of this year and from $29.7 billion in the third quarter of 2023. Of this year’s Q3 volume, $26.16 billion came via purchase loans, a slight retreat from the quarter prior as UWM CEO Mat Ishbia said that the company was nimble when the window of lower rates spurred a brief refinance rebound.
“The refi boom has not fully materialized,” Ishbia said in an earnings call. “We were able to capitalize on it instantly, while others were caught flat-footed.”
Ishbia expanded on this in a statement, saying that two things jump out at him when assessing the company’s third-quarter performance.
“First, we exceeded both our volume and margin guidance despite mortgage rates remaining higher than anticipated for most of the quarter,” he said. “But a dip in rates for just a few weeks pushed us higher than we expected and provided a glimpse into the future. Second, UWM is on pace to have record purchase volume in 2024 despite a generationally slow existing home sales market. The broker channel continues to dominate the purchase market, and our results in Q3 also demonstrate how well UWM and the channel are positioned to capitalize on the inevitable increase in refinance volume when it comes.”
Ishbia said that UWM is in an ideal position to capitalize on upcoming market developments. UWM anticipates fourth-quarter production within the range of $34 to $41 billion.
“Right now, UWM is so much better positioned than we were prior to the last refinance boom. We have more capacity, more advanced technology, and even better service than we could offer our broker partners at that time. Simply put, our operational fitness is at an all-time high and you’ll only see us accelerate from here.”
Despite the strong originations, UWM Holdings Corporation, the indirect parent company of UWM, reported a GAAP net income of $31.9 million, down from $76.3 million quarter over quarter and $301 million year over year. The company attributed part of the drop to a $446.1 million fall in the fair value of its mortgage servicing rights; MSRs as a whole saw a sizable decline in value during the third quarter, with Ishbia noting that the decline “has nothing to do with how we operate our business.”
The company ended the third quarter with roughly $2.5 billion of available liquidity, including $636.33 million of cash and available borrowing capacity under its secured and unsecured lines of credit.
