Guild Mortgage set records in lending and servicing during the second quarter and first half of 2019, with lower mortgage rates and new products and services driving its growth. Total volume for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 reached a record $5.33 billion, up 9.4 percent from the company’s previous high of $4.87 billion in the second quarter of 2018. Guild’s banner quarter was highlighted by $1.87 billion in total volume in the month of May, which was also a record.
“The second quarter was a record by many measures and we’re pleased to see strong demand from homebuyers continuing so far in Q3,” said Mary Ann McGarry, president and chief executive officer of Guild Mortgage. “While lower rates opened the door for more people to refinance, purchase business remains strong and we introduced new programs that provided homebuyers with more options.”
Guild’s growth was powered by a surge in refinance business to a record $1.27 billion in the second quarter of 2019, up 101.3 percent from $632 million in the same period in 2018. Refinances represented 23.8 percent of all loans in the second quarter of 2019, up 83.6 percent from 13 percent in the 2018 period. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on a 30-year fixed conventional mortgage was 3.75 percent on July 3, 2019, down from 4.52 percent on July 5, 2018.
Guild set records across multiple loan types during the second quarter, including conventional, $3.57 billion, up 5.6 percent from $3.38 billion in the second quarter of 2018; FHA, $1.15 billion, up 14.8 percent from $1.01 billion; and VA, $607 million, up 24.6 percent from $487 million. Purchase loans totaled $4.06 billion in the quarter, down 4.3 percent from a record $4.24 billion in the same period last year.
Servicing continued to climb to record levels in the second quarter of 2019, reaching $48.18 billion, up 10.4 percent from $43.66 billion in the second quarter of 2018. The average loan size in Guild’s servicing portfolio reached $205,636, up 0.7 percent from $204,223. The average size for new loans issued during the second quarter was $245,106, up 4.2 percent from $235,125 in 2018.
Guild’s focus on customer service and innovative mortgage programs to build long-term relationships continued to contribute to the company’s success. Guild-to-Guild volume in the second quarter of 2019 was a record $833.1 million, representing a refinance recapture rate of 56.4 percent and a purchase recapture rate of 22.1 percent. The total was up 175.6 percent from the $302.3 million Guild-to-Guild volume in the second quarter of 2018, with recapture rates of 36.3% for refinance and 20.2 percent for purchase in the 2018 period.
The strong quarter resulted in Guild achieving record total volume for the first half of 2019–$8.54 billion, up 2.4 percent from $8.34 billion in the first two quarters of 2018. Refinances totaled $1.84 billion for the first half of the year, up 38.5 percent from $1.33 billion in the first half of 2018, while purchase loans were down 4.4 percent to $6.71 billion from $7.01 billion. Purchase loans represented 78.5 percent of all loans in the first half, down 6.6 percent from 84.1 percent in the 2018 period.
