There's a new No. 1 on the list of the nation's largest mortgage lenders.
United Wholesale Mortgage took the top spot by a large margin, beating out Rocket Mortgage, the sector's champion and largest for the past six years.
Among other banks on the list, LoanDepot dropped from third to 10th place, relinquishing its spot to Bank of America, while Wells Fargo and Chase Home Lending dropped out of the top 10 entirely. Wells Fargo's departure reflects the company's decision to scale back mortgage lending in 2023.
How do we explain this dramatic shift? Mortgage rates have continued to rise in 2023, while loan volumes have plummeted. This reality has caused upheaval in the list of the largest and most active mortgage lenders.
Top 10 Mortgage Lenders by Loan Volume
More than 5,000 lenders originated mortgages last year, but most of the activity was concentrated at the top: The 10 largest mortgage lenders accounted for about 21% of all U.S. mortgages originated in 2023. These rankings are based on Bankrate's analysis of preliminary Mortgage Disclosure Act data, with help from ComplianceTech's LendingPatterns.com.
The top 10 lenders by mortgage volume last year were:
United Wholesale Mortgage. According to HMDA data, the lender originated 294,000 loans in 2023, worth about $108.5 billion. Rocket Mortgage. Rocket originated about 289,000 loans in 2023, worth about $78 billion. That's down significantly from a strong 2021, when Rocket originated more than 1.2 million loans, worth $340 billion. Bank of America. The megabank originated 92,000 loans, worth $28 billion. Fairway Independent Mortgage. Fairway originated 86,000 loans, worth $27 billion. Cross Country Mortgage. Cross Country Mortgage originated 83,000 loans, totaling about $30 billion. This military-oriented credit union originated 71,000 loans worth $14.8 billion. Citizens Bank. Citizens originated about 68,000 mortgages worth $15.6 billion. PNC Bank. PNC originated 67,000 loans worth $19 billion. LoanDepot. The lender originated 65,000 loans worth $21.5 billion in 2023.
When you rank lenders by loan size instead of loan volume, the picture changes. Wells Fargo and Chase Home Lending remain in the top five. Wells Fargo had the highest average loan size at $626,752, followed by Chase at $599,195. Navy Federal had the lowest average loan size at $207,222. DHI Mortgage, an affiliate of homebuilder DR Horton, also makes it into the top 10 by loan size.
Traditional banking is back
If you took out a mortgage a few years ago, you likely chose a non-bank lender rather than the bank that handles your checking and savings accounts: Only two traditional financial institutions made it onto our 2021 list of the top 10 largest lenders.
However, that pattern changed in 2022 and 2023. Bank of America, US Bank, PNC Bank, and Citizens Bank remain in the top 10. Banks tend to focus on borrowers with higher mortgage balances, reflecting their emphasis on mortgages as part of their overall offering to prime customers.