by Calculated Risk on 7/20/2012 02:53:00 PM

Low rates and HARP are driving activity ...

From Jon Prior at HousingWire: Big-four mortgage originations climb 37%

Mortgage originations at the big-four banks increased 37% in the second quarter from last year because of the expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program.
...
Wells continued to dominate. The San Francisco bank wrote $131.9 billion in new loans during the quarter, more than double originations from the same period last year. Wells said 16% of those new loans came through the Home Affordable Refinancing Program.
...
Chase wrote $43.9 billion in new mortgages during the quarter, up 29% from last year and 14.3% from the previous quarter.
...
Bank of America continues to feel the drop off from exiting its correspondent lending channel last year. Originations fell 55% from one year ago to roughly $18 billion, the only yearly decline of the big-four lenders.
...
Citi originations totaled $12.9 billion, up 17% from last year but still down 10% from the previous quarter.

If the Fed does expand their balance sheet ("QE3") on Aug 1st, or at the September meeting, the purchases will probably be focused on agency mortgage backed securities. The people able to refinance might even get even lower rates, but many prospective borrowers will still be unable to refinance.