A new report from LBA Ware shows that mortgage business grew significantly in the first quarter, bringing with it a rise in commission payments for loan officers (LOs).
The Q1 LO Comp report from LBA Ware analyzed the company’s CompenSafe ICM platform data to find that commission payouts in March were the highest in the past six months.
“Intense market demand for mortgages, including refis, helped loan originators earn average commissions approaching $19,000 in March,” LBA Ware founder and CEO Lori Brewer said in a release accompanying the report. “LOs may want to sock some of that payday away as the industry braces for a protracted economic recession, job losses and stiffer underwriting criteria.”
The report found that the total number of loans funded increased 58.5 percent from January to March, while total loan volume rose 66.1 percent.
That translated to an increase in average loan volume per LO to $1.85 million in March, from $1.17 million in January.
The share of funded loan volume attributable to refinances was 48 percent in March, up from 42 percent in January.
“Together, these unit and volume gains led to month-over-month increases in loan commissions earned of 14.2 percent from January to February and 46.9 percent from February to March,” the report stated.
Average commissions paid to LOs rose 1.1 percent in March to 105.1 basis points, up from 104 basis points in January. March also saw an increase in the average loan amount, rising to $283,900 from last year’s $259,652 average. That helped LOs reach an average of $18,907 in total commissions for the month.
LBA Ware is a leading provider of incentive compensation management and business intelligence software solutions for the mortgage industry.