Biggest U.S. Mortgage Lenders

Mergers and acquisitions are shaking up the standings of the biggest mortgage originators, according to earnings data analyzed by http://www.MortgageDaily.com. Mergers will continue to reshape rankings through next year.

During the third quarter, Bank of America Corp. reported more residential production than any other lender. In July, BoA acquired Countrywide Financial Corp. — which had held the title of biggest mortgage lender during most of the past five years.

As Countrywide was winding down operations as an independent company during the second quarter, Wells Fargo & Co. swooped in and grabbed the title of biggest lender. But BoA’s combined results enabled it to wrestle the top spot away in the third quarter.

With its planned acquisition of Wachovia Corp. later this year, however, No. 2 Wells Fargo will become a formidable challenger to BoA as the biggest lender. Combined, W&W’s third-quarter originations were within $0.1 billion of BoA’s.

No. 3 JPMorgan Chase & Co. will only see its position strengthen with its acquisition of Washington Mutual Bank. While WaMu hasn’t reported third-quarter activity, fundings were likely well below the second quarter’s $9 billion and probably less than the $7 billion reported by No. 10 Flagstar Bank.