HUD published the monthly endorsement numbers on Thursday, and we are finally really starting to see the effects of the lower level of application on endorsement volume. Overall industry numbers for March came in at 5,822 units, down 17% from February. For the first quarter, overall volume fell 32% versus Q1-09.
No region was spared, with the “best” performance belonging to New York/New Jersey, down 22.7% through the first three months of the year. Following closely on its heels is the Mid-Atlantic region, posting a 23.6% decline. The Southeast holds the honor as the worst performing area, dropping 38.8% thus far.
As always, though, there are pockets of strength, especially when we look at the data with more granularity. Houston, TX has posted a gain of 12+%. The Bay Area of San Francisco is only 5% off the pace from last year after a very strong 2009 performance. The Baltimore area, highlighted a few weeks ago, is down a little over 7%. What’s disconcerting about this though, is that of all the HOC’s, just two are positive vs the prior year (the other being Shreveport).
Despite the industry’s weakness, some companies are still managing to do well and increase their market share:
- Urban Financial is the #4 retail lender, with volume up 55% vs 2009 (Congratulations on their recent acquisition announcement!)
- 1st AAA Reverse is up 42%
- Genworth Financial’s volume grew 104%
- New Day Financial, with no volume endorsed in 2009, is up to the #10 spot on the list
- There are many more, just look at the list of the Top 100 lenders on page 5
The full report is available by clicking the image below. Enjoy!
