In other words, the industry adapted to changes in the business and economic environment and did well. Changes really began over the summer, when mortgage originations began to taper off as longer-term interest rates rose. For eight large bank holding companies with major mortgage banking operations, the collective mortgage loan origination volume fell 50 percent to about $ billion in the fourth quarter.
This rate of decline parallels what other market sources indicate. Naturally, the fees associated with these originations declined as well, although not as much as one might have expected.