SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stearns Lending, Inc., a leading national mortgage lender with Retail, Wholesale, Correspondent, and Financial Institutions business channels, reached significant milestones in 2013, one of which was No. 1 Wholesale Residential Lender, as ranked by Inside Mortgage Finance. In 2013, the Company’s Wholesale Division achieved:
- Record-breaking total Wholesale funding volume of $9.8 billion, an increase of 10 percent over 2012.
- Growth in purchase loan share: 41 percent of total funded volume in 2013, as compared to 28 percent in 2012; and 54.3 percent of total funded volume in the 4th Quarter of 2013.
- Market share growth of 51 percent over 2012, capturing 5.2 percent of wholesale lending market share in 2013, as ranked by Inside Mortgage Finance, and 6.7 percent Wholesale market share in the 4th Quarter of 2013.
“Our commitment to Wholesale Lending and industry leadership in this production channel fueled the achievement of this significant milestone in 2013,” said Glenn Stearns, Founder and Chairman. “A tremendous ‘thank you’ goes out to all our Brokers for their support, feedback, and integral role in Stearns’ achievement as the nation’s leading Wholesale Lender,” said Michael Royer, EVP National Director of Wholesale.
In addition to its accomplishment in the Wholesale mortgage market, Stearns’ recent achievements and 2014 focus include:
- Strategic focus on increasing Retail channel growth, including hiring of seasoned Retail executive, Tom Hunt, to lead the Retail expansion effort focused on builder and Realtor® purchase loans.
- Significant growth in strategic business relationships with other mortgage industry participants which is expected to lead to increased purchase mortgage volume. Recently, Stearns has established joint ventures with three industry partners and has executed a Term Sheet with another, which partners through similar ventures existing with other lenders, originated in the aggregate more than $2 billion in retail mortgage loans in 2013.
- Material servicing portfolio growth with $25 billion in mortgage servicing rights UPB as of February 2014, compared to $ 1.4 billion in March 2012.
- Infrastructure developed to support Correspondent channel growth during 2014 under leadership of Kathleen Vaughan, a recognized industry veteran.
“As the mortgage market underwent rapid change during the latter half of 2013, the Stearns leadership team pre-emptively implemented sound strategies that enabled us to experience controlled growth, and increase market share during a period when all lenders faced challenges,” said Brian Hale, CEO of Stearns Lending. “Stearns has devoted extensive resources to enhancing its technology, support, and services infrastructure across all channels in order to ensure that we provide our customers the best service available. The industry will continue to see an increased diversification of our origination channels, which includes further expansion of our already strong presence in the Retail channel.”
Note: 2013 production volume should not be viewed as a predictor of 2014 production volume, because of variances in counterparties and industry factors.
About Stearns Lending, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, Stearns Lending, Inc., and its affiliated entities, are in its 25th year of providing exceptional mortgage lending services throughout the United States where licenses are held. Stearns Lending’s business channels include wholesale, retail, correspondent and financial institutions.
Stearns Lending is licensed to conduct business in 49 states with HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development). Additionally, Stearns Lending is an approved Single Family Issuer for Ginnie Mae (Government National Mortgage Association); an approved Seller/Servicer for FNMA (Federal National Mortgage Association), also known as Fannie Mae; and, an approved Seller/Servicer for FHLMC (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), also known as Freddie Mac. Stearns Lending is also approved for VA (United States Department of Veterans Affairs), USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), and is an approved lending institution with FHA (Federal Housing Administration).
Stearns Lending is recognized in Inc. magazine’s 2013 INC 500|5000 list, a ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. Stearns Lending has been recognized by Mortgage Technology Magazine as one of its “Top 25 Tech-Savvy Lenders” for three consecutive years (2011, 2012, and 2013). Stearns Lending also was named a 2012 Top Work Place by the Orange County Register.
Stearns Lending was founded in 1989 by Glenn Stearns. Glenn was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year and received the Orange County Business Journal – Excellence in Entrepreneurship award. He also was a 2011 Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Inductee. Katherine Le, the company’s President, has been with Stearns for nearly two decades, and in 2011 was honored as an outstanding businesswoman / prominent female executive by the Orange County Business Journal.
Stearns Lending, Inc. is located at 4 Hutton Centre Drive, 10th Floor, Santa Ana, CA 92707.
For more information, please visit www.stearns.com.
References
http://www.insidemortgagefinance.com/
http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/mortgage-technology/2013-top-tech-savvy-lenders-and-servicers-list-revealed-1038346-1.html
http://www.inc.com/profile/stearns-lending
