prime lendingis a Texas-based personal mortgage bank that seeks to increase market share by growing within its existing business areas in an environment of shrinking margins.
The lender hired 100 loan officers in June, bringing the total number of LOs to around 800. Licensed in 23 states nationwide, PrimeLending has 150 branches, including satellite stores and primary retail stores.
Gene Lugat, executive vice president of strategic support at Prime Lending, said: “We are narrowing down the data, metrics and information to target geographies and markets that we again see as having a competitive advantage. We are using that strategy nationwide.” said in an interview.
“Companies may be struggling in some way. We will be reaching out to loan officers in the markets where we have existing retail outlets. We are making it clear that we are looking for someone,” Lugat added.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are an option for PrimeLending, but it is a difficult market to execute such deals. Instead, placing large loan officers in targeted locations worked for PrimeLending.
“We want to pick up loan officers without having a branch or physical location,” Lugat said. “Because there is existing retail opportunity and we are trying to fill in where there is space.”
PrimeLending sees growth opportunities throughout the Southwest region, particularly Texas, where the lender is headquartered. The goal this year is to grow the overall market share from 0.6% to 1%.
Prime Lending, led by President and CEO Steve Thompson, 34th largest mortgage lender Estimated originations for Q1 2023 were $1.73 billion, down 54% from $3.76 billion in Q1 2022 (roughly in line with peers). Data showed production fell about 15.2% from $2.04 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Inside Mortgage Finance.
Prime lending’s target audience is first-time homebuyers, as the industry as a whole struggles to overcome the lock-in effect. Nearly 92% of U.S. homeowners with mortgages have interest rates of less than 6%, according to the report. redfin.
30-year fixed-rate mortgages are the main product for PrimeLending (which accounts for about 95% of originations), but down payment assistance programs, renovation loans, Temporary interest rate sell-off Lugat said it has become a popular choice for buyers.
The number of mortgage transactions is expected to fall from 16 million in 2019 to 5 million in 2023, making the industry even more competitive, Lugat said, citing data from the newspaper. rice field. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
Today’s environment is made even more challenging by a combination of rising lending volumes, cash buyers and a sharp decline in refinancing volumes.
“This is a battle for a very limited number of buyers entering this space. We have to try to get it to win with the approval of the ratings and other terms,” Lugat said.
