Guild Mortgage reports that it originated $7.3 billion in mortgage loans – about $5.9 billion of which was purchase loans – during the first half of this year, setting a new record for the lender.
That’s up 7.1% when compared with $6.8 billion in the first half of 2016.
Purchase loans totaled $3.5 billion in the second quarter alone. That up about 50% compared with the second quarter of 2016.
The company’s quarterly all-time high for purchases and refinances combined was $3.1 billion in the third quarter of 2015.
The $5.9 billion in purchases volume for the first half represents an increase of 23.1% compared with $4.8 billion in the first half of 2016.
Purchase loans accounted for 81% of all loans in the first half, versus 70.5% in the first half of 2016.
Guild closed a total of 32,209 new loans during the first half compared with 30,254 in the first half of 2016.
The average loan size during the first half was $228,445, up 1.0% compared with $225,874 in the first half of 2016.
As of June 30, the Guild portfolio included 172,615 loans, divided among conventional (57.9%); Federal Housing Administration (31.4%) and Veterans Affairs (10.7%) loans.
The Southeast region – including Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas – generated the most originations for the company in the first half, with loan volume of $604.5 million, up 34%.
Guild attributes its success to it broad set of offerings and its “proven ability to help first-time homebuyers with the application process and the introduction of the MyMortgage digital mortgage application,” the firm says in a release.
“MyMortgage helps us to streamline the mortgage process while providing each homebuyer with personalized service,” says Mary Ann McGarry, president and CEO of Guild Mortgage, in a release. “We are also seeing growing interest in our ‘1 Percent Down’ conventional loan program. When combined with a two percent grant from Guild, the homebuyer begins with three percent equity. The grant does not need to be repaid. As an entrepreneurial company, we are always searching for new ways to help first-time homebuyers achieve their goals.”
Guild Mortgage introduced its 1 Percent Down program in May. The nationwide conventional loan program requires only a 1 percent down payment from the borrower.
The program combines the borrower’s down payment with a 2% grant from Guild, for 3% equity resulting in a loan with a 97% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. The grant does not need to be repaid.
Non-borrower household income can be used to qualify; boarder income can be used to qualify; and the debt to Income ratio (DTI) can be up to 50%.