“The officer said, ‘You drinking?’ I said, ‘You buying?’ We just laughed and laughed…. It’s Friday morning and I need bail money.” No one ever struck it rich by keeping their money in a savings account, although American Express National Bank is offering a yield of 1.5 percent on deposits. Do you work for a residential lender making money? If so, good for you! The Mortgage Bankers Association tells us, in its Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report, that only 57% of lenders were profitable in the second quarter of 2022, and/but on average independent mortgage banking (IMB) firms and mortgage subsidiaries of federally insured depositories lost $82 on each loan they originated (versus a gain of $223 per loan in 1Q22). Lenders who held onto servicing enjoyed a profit of $133 per loan, down from $242 per loan in the first quarter. We’re more than halfway through the 3rd quarter, and I am not hearing good things about July incomes. Thousands have been laid off. (Those impacted can post their resume for free here and employers can view them for the nominal fee of $75.) Lenders aren’t the only ones cutting staff. Vendors/third-party providers like ICE and Blend Labs are doing the same. (Available here, this week’s podcast is sponsored by Agile, the mortgage industry’s MBS fintech. Bringing the mortgage capital markets into a new digital era. From lenders to dealers, Agile is the new way to quote MBS.) Broker and Lender Programs, Services, and Software