The number of first-lien mortgage loans serviced by eight national banks, which comprise about 41 percent of all outstanding residential mortgages in the country, has declined every quarter since Q4 2013, according to the OCC Mortgage Metrics Report for the fourth quarter of 2015 released Wednesday. As of the end of Q4 2015, those eight national banks were servicing approximately 21 point 5 million first-lien residential mortgage loans nationwide.
This number represented a decline of more than one million from the year-ago quarter and nearly three and a half million from two years earlier. The number of first-lien loans serviced by the banks has now declined every quarter for eight straight quarters. The aggregate outstanding balance of those first-lien loans serviced by the eight banks as of the end of Q4 2015 was 3 point 67 trillion dollars and has also declined every quarter for eight straight quarters.
As distressed inventory continues to wane, companies are expanding into other areas of the market for other business opportunities. An article from the Wall Street Journal referred to the switch-up among these companies as an identity crisis as they alter their businesses to separate their foreclosure-related past from future opportunities. Five Star President and CEO Ed Delgado told the Journal that, quote, There’s a risk of extinction for companies that are either slow to realize the change in the market or simply don’t adapt. You can expect to see both contraction and extinction of some of these organizations. Close quote