Bank
of
America (BofA)
reported
another
quarterly
decline
in
mortgage
and
home
equity
production
in
the
first
quarter
of
2024.

On
Tuesday
morning,
the
top-20
U.S.
mortgage
lender
stated
it
produced
a
volume
of
$3.4
billion
in
first
mortgages
from
January
to
March,
down
12.5%
from
the
$3.9
billion
in
the
previous
quarter
and
the
same
quarter
of
2023. 

Loan
production
in
the
home
equity
arena
was
$1.8
billion
in
Q1
2024,
a
decline
of
16%
from
$2.2
billion
in
the
previous
quarter
and
down
27%
compared
to
$2.5
billion
in
the
same
period
of
2023. 

BofA’s
sequential
quarterly
production
decline
follows
that
of Wells
Fargo and JPMorgan
Chase,
which
also
showed volumes
under
pressure in
the
first
quarter
of
2024.
Their
combined
quarterly
origination
reached
$10
billion
–
and,
if
this
path
is
maintained,
they
will
be
well
below
the
$60
billion
originated
in
2023,
according
to
Eric
Hagen,
analyst
at BTIG. 

“Expect
independent
mortgage
banks
to
continue
taking
share
from
the
large
commercial
depositaries,
which
are
still
shrinking
their
footprints
in
lending
and
servicing,”
Hagen
said
in
a
report
on
Tuesday.  

Nonbanks


Rocket
Mortgage, United
Wholesale
Mortgage, loanDepot,


Pennymac, Rithm
Capital and Mr.
Cooper
are
expected
to
report
their
earnings
in
the
coming
weeks. 

BofA’s
mortgage
assets  

Bank
of
America
had
$227.7
billion
in
outstanding
residential
mortgages
on
its
books
through
March
31,
2024,
down
from
$228.9
billion
in
Q4
2023
and
$229.3
billion
in
the
first
quarter
of
2023.

The
home
equity
portfolio
was
$25.5
billion
at
the
end
of
the
first
quarter,
relatively
flat
compared
to
$25.7
billion
from
the
previous
quarter
—
and
a
decline
from
$26.5
billion
a
year
prior.

Bank
of
America’s
total
mortgage-backed
securities
reached
a
$49.8
billion
fair
value
as
of
March
31,
2024,
compared
to
$51.1
billion
as
of
December
31,
2023. 

Overall,
the
bank
posted
a
net
income
of
$6.7
billion
from
January
to
March,
down
from
$8.2
billion
in
the
same
period
last
year. Provisions
increased
to
$1.3
billion
in
Q1
2024,
compared
to
$1.1
billion
the
previous
quarter
and
$931
million
in
the
first
quarter
of
2023.

According
to
its
filing
with
the Securities
and
Exchange
Commission (SEC),
the
consumer
banking
division
posted
a
net
income
of
$2.65
billion
in
Q1
2024,
down
from
$2.76
billion
in
the
prior
quarter.

Chair
and
CEO
Brian
Moynihan
said
in
a
statement
that
the
bank’s
businesses
“performed
well,”
reaching
“36.9
million
consumer
checking
accounts,
with
21
consecutive
quarters
of
net
checking
account
growth.”  

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