Guild Mortgage continued its trend of record growth in the first half of 2016 with loan volume of $6.8 billion, up two percent from $6.7 billion in the same period of 2015.
The results build on growth in 2015, when loan volume reached $13.8 billion, up 86.1 percent from $7.4 billion in the 2014 period. Retail volume in its 234 branches reached $6.4 billion in the 2016 period, up 11 percent from $5.8 billion in the first half of 2015.
Guild continued its traditional strength in purchase loans, with volume reaching $4.8 billion in the first half of 2016, or 70.5 percent of all loans, up eight percent from $4.4 billion and 66 percent in 2015. For 2015, Guild purchase loans totaled $9.8 billion, or 71.3 percent of its loan volume, up 62.6 percent from $6.1 billion and 81.6 percent of volume in 2014.
During the first half of 2016, Guild closed 30,257 loans, down one percent from 30,593 in the 2015 period. The average loan size reached $225,867, up 2.7 percent from $219,905 in 2015.
“With our Accelerator Initiative, we are educating Millennials and other first-time homebuyers on their home buying options,” said Mary Ann McGarry, president and CEO of Guild Mortgage. “Guild originators are experts at building bridges to homeownership by getting new buyers into loans they may not otherwise have found and matching their particular needs.”
David Battany, executive vice president of capital markets, said the depth and breadth of the Guild product line gives homebuyers more options than found through most lenders, where mortgages are only part of their business and the selection of loans is sometimes limited.
“Our loan professionals have the depth of knowledge and training to work with an unparalleled array of loans,” said Barry Horn, executive vice president of retail production. “Our people have years of experience working with FHA loans and helping active duty and retired military personnel to secure VA loans. We have found that options are most important to the growing number of first-time homebuyers from the Millennial generation entering the housing market and Guild is ready.”
