Top Mortgage Lenders of 2023: UWM Finally #1 After Rocket’s Reign Comes to an End

We’ve
finally
got
data
for
2023
and
United
Wholesale
Mortgage
(UWM)
left
no
doubt
that
it
was
the
top
mortgage
lender
during
the
year.
And
by
a
wide
margin.

The
Pontiac,
Michigan-based
company
mustered
an
impressive
$108.5
billion
in
home
loan
volume,
despite
only
operating
in
the
wholesale
lending
channel.

That
was
more
than
enough
to
unseat
Rocket
Mortgage
from
the
top
spot,
with
their
crosstown
rivals
only
able
to
originate
about
$76.3
billion.

It
then
dropped
off
significantly,
with
third
place
Chase
closing
just
$38.4
billion
in
home
loans.

In
total,
more
than
5,000
mortgage
companies
nationwide
funded
roughly
$1.8
trillion
in
home
loans
during
2023,
a
sizable
drop
from
the
$2.3
trillion
seen
in
2022.

Last
year
was
a
very
difficult
year
for
the
mortgage
industry,
with
rapidly
rising
mortgage
rates
wreaking
havoc
on
refis
and
challenging
home
buyer
affordability.

Still,
some
companies
managed
to
increase
market
share
and
climb
the
leaderboard.
Read
on
to
see
who
else
made
the
top
10.

Top
Mortgage
Lenders
of
2023
(Overall
Leaders)

Ranking	Company Name	2023 Loan Volume
1.	United Wholesale Mortgage	$108.5 billion
2.	Rocket Mortgage	$76.3 billion
3.	Chase	$38.4 billion
4.	Wells Fargo	$32.1 billion
5.	CrossCountry Mortgage	$29.6 billion
6.	Bank of America	$28.5 billion
7.	Fairway Independent	$26.9 billion
8.	U.S. Bank	$25.7 billion
9.	DHI Mortgage	$21.7 billion
10.	loanDepot	$21.5 billion

As
noted,
UWM
claimed
the
#1
spot
in
the
country
after
coming
in
second
place
last
year,
per
freshly
released
HMDA
data
from

Richey
May.

And
their
annual
loan
volume
only
slipped
to
$108.3
billion
from
$128.8
billion
in
2022.
Not
bad
considering
the
rapid
ascent
of

mortgage
rates
during
that
time.

They
operate
solely
in
the
wholesale
channel,
meaning
borrowers
must
be
working
with
a

mortgage
broker
to
use
them.

But
the
fact
that
they
came
in
first
place
illustrates
the
strength
of
the
mortgage
broker
model,
which
post

early
2000s
mortgage
crisis
was
all
but
done
and
dusted.

It’s
doubly
impressive
because
second
place

Rocket
Mortgage
also
operates
a
wholesale
division
(Rocket
Pro
TPO)
in
addition
to
their
wildly
popular
retail
unit.

Speaking
of,

they
dropped
one
spot
from
2022
after
sitting
atop
the
rankings
for
several
years.
And
their
volume
fell
more
drastically,
to
$76.3
billion
from
$128.9
billion.

In
third
was
Chase,
which
may
have
been
helped
along
somewhat
by
their
acquisition
of
failed
bank

First
Republic
Bank.
They
climbed
one
spot
from
a
year
earlier.

Prior
to
its
collapse,
FRC
was
one
of
the
largest
mortgage
lenders
in
the
nation,
specializing
in

jumbo
loans
(often

adjustable-rate
mortgages)
to
wealthy
clients.

This
may
allow
Chase
to
grow
larger
if
they
continue
to
offer
these
types
of
loans
post-acquisition.

In
fourth
was
Wells
Fargo,
which
swapped
places
with
Chase,
likely
because
it
announced
that
it
was
reducing
its
mortgage
footprint.

After
being
number
one
for
many
years
prior
to
Rocket’s
reign,
the
company
announced
an
exit
from
correspondent
lending
while

choosing
to
focus
on
bank
clients
and
minority
borrowers.

They
funded
just
$32.1
billion
in
home
loans,
down
from
$124.8
billion
in
2022.

Fifth
place
was
claimed
by

CrossCountry
Mortgage,
which
wasn’t
even
in
the
top
10
a
year
earlier,
thanks
to
volume
of
$29.6
billion.

The
Brecksville,
Ohio-based
direct
lender
managed
this
feat
despite
the
closure
of

Costco
Mortgage,
for
which
it
was
the
main
partner.

The
rest
of
the
top
10
for
2023
included
Bank
of
America,
Fairway
Independent
Mortgage,
U.S.
Bank,
DHI
Mortgage,
and

loanDepot.

Top
Home
Purchase
Lenders
of
2023

Ranking	Company Name	2022 Loan Volume
1.	United Wholesale Mortgage	$94 billion
2.	Rocket Mortgage	$44.8 billion
3.	Chase	$27.9 billion
4.	CrossCountry Mortgage	$27.2 billion
5.	Fairway Independent	$25.7 billion
6.	Wells Fargo	$21.9 billion
7.	DHI Mortgage	$21.7 billion
8.	Guaranteed Rate	$19.4 billion
9.	U.S. Bank	$19.3 billion
10.	Movement Mortgage	$18.5 billion

If
we
focus
our
attention
to
home
purchase
loans
only,
which
held
about
a
75%
share,
the
list
doesn’t
look
too
different.

UWM
still
held
the
top
spot,
more
than
doubling
the
volume
of
second
place
Rocket
Mortgage.

And
Chase
still
managed
to
come
in
third,
though
CrossCountry
grabbed
fourth
while
Wells
Fargo
fell
in
sixth.

In
between
them
was

Fairway
Independent
Mortgage,
all
originating
just
over
$25
billion
in
home
purchase
loans
each.

Seventh
place
went
to

DHI
Mortgage,
which
is
the
captive
lender
of
D.R.
Horton,
the
nation’s
largest
home
builder.

It’s

common
for
home
builders
to
have
their
own
financing
department,
and
lately
they’ve
been
hard
to
beat
because
of
the
massive

interest
rate
buydowns
they’re
offering.

Chicago-based
Guaranteed
Rate
took
the
eighth
spot,
followed
by
U.S.
Bank
and
nonbank
lender
Movement
Mortgage.

No
major
surprises
here
given
the
large
share
of
purchase
loans.
And
those
on
this
list
have
proven
that
they
are
adaptable
to
a
mortgage
market
with
very
few
refinances.

Top
Mortgage
Refinance
Lenders
of
2023

Ranking	Company Name	2023 Loan Volume
1.	Rocket Mortgage	$29.5 billion
2.	United Wholesale Mortgage	$14.5 billion
3.	Wells Fargo	$9.1 billion
4.	PNC Bank	$8.8 billion
5.	Bank of America	$8.2 billion
6.	Chase	$7.9 billion
7.	Citizens Bank	$6.5 billion
8.	loanDepot	$5.1 billion
9.	U.S. Bank	$4.8 billion
10.	Mr. Cooper	$4.6 billion

As
we
all
know,

mortgage
refinance
activity
has
plummeted
thanks
to
a
30-year
fixed
that
rose
from
around
from
3%
to
over
8%,
before
settling
down
a
bit.

This
has
virtually
destroyed

rate
and
term
refinance
volume,
and
has
made

cash
out
refinances
only
feasible
for
those
in
desperate
need
of
cash.

Still,
mortgage
companies
nationwide
managed
to
fund
over
$400
billion
in
refinance
loans
during
the
year.

The
leader
was
Rocket
Mortgage,
which
led
in
2022
as
well.
The
company
funded
roughly
$30
billion
in
refis,
followed
by
UWM
with
about
half
of
that.

Wells
Fargo
snagged
the
third
spot
with
about
$9
billion,
with

PNC
Bank
right
on
their
heels
with
$8.8
billion.

Rounding
out
the
top
five
was
Bank
of
America
with
$8.2
billion
in
refinances
funded.

The
bottom
half
of
the
top
10
refinance
lenders
list
included
the
likes
of
Chase,

Citizens
Bank,
loanDepot,
U.S.
Bank,
and
Mr.
Cooper.

Depository
banks
seemed
to
dominate
this
list
other
than
the
top
two
names.

Looking
ahead,
it
seems
likely
UWM
will
retain
its
lead
in
2024
as
well
barring
some
major
unexpected
change.

And
loan
volume
is
looking
fairly
similar,
with
high
mortgage
rates
and
limited
housing
inventory
continuing
to
dampen
loan
volume.

You
can
also
blame
the

mortgage
rate
lock-in
effect,
which
has
disincentivized
millions
of
existing
homeowners
from
moving
and
listing
their
homes.