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After rolling out a extra inclusive mortgage underwriting course of and entering into house fairness lending earlier this 12 months, Dallas-based PrimeLending has a brand new head of progress: former Benchmark Mortgage CEO Brian McKinney.
McKinney has almost three a long time of expertise within the mortgage business, spending the final 13 years at Benchmark Mortgage, a nationwide lender based mostly in Plano, Texas.
Stepping right into a newly-created position at PrimeLending — government vice chairman, progress and strategic growth — McKinney can be anticipated to “optimize business practices and explore new revenue opportunities with the ultimate goal of driving company growth,” the corporate stated Tuesday.
Steve Thompson
“Brian is a tremendous addition to our team, bringing an incredible track record of success building top-performing business lines in the mortgage industry,” PrimeLending President and CEO Steve Thompson stated in a press release. “Brian shares our commitment to excellence — we don’t settle for average — and I’m excited to see the positive impact that Brian will have on the future of PrimeLending.”
Brian McKinney
As a subsidiary of PlainsCapital Financial institution — which is, in flip, owned by Hilltop Holdings, Inc. — PrimeLending “is backed by a well-funded and supportive owner, providing unmatched stability and resources,” McKinney stated in a press release. “I look forward to helping drive the next chapter of this proven organization.”
Benchmark Mortgage, a “doing business name” of Ark-La-Tex Monetary Companies LLC, sponsors 331 mortgage mortgage originators understanding of 83 department places, in keeping with information maintained by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS). Ark-La-Tex Monetary Companies originated $4.52 billion in loans final 12 months, in keeping with a Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau database.
PrimeLending is about twice as huge though, like many mortgage lenders, it’s scaled down significantly lately as rising mortgage charges curbed demand for mortgages — notably refinancing.
PrimeLending’s refi growth and bust
Supply: Hilltop Holdings annual experiences.
PrimeLending staffed up in 2020 and 2021 to fulfill rising demand, with annual originations swelling to almost $23 billion in these years. By the top of 2021, PrimeLending employed about 2,700 staff, together with 1,300 mortgage mortgage originators.
However refinancing accounted for 42 p.c of PrimeLending’s 2020 mortgage quantity. As mortgage charges started to rise and the refinancing growth fizzled, PrimeLending slimmed down.
PrimeLending noticed regional gross sales director Bret Head defect to rival First Neighborhood Mortgage close to the top of 2022, together with department managers in Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids and Indianapolis.
In 2023, originations shrank to $8.24 billion, with 93 p.c of these loans taken out by homebuyers. PrimeLending ended the 12 months with a workers of roughly 1,560 folks — a 42 p.c discount in headcount over two years.
Through the first six months of 2024, PrimeLending originated 12,849 mortgages totaling $4.06 billion, down 3 p.c from the identical interval in 2023, dad or mum firm Hilltop Holdings disclosed in its second quarter earnings report.
The biggest share of that enterprise was in Texas ($1.29 billion), adopted by California ($316 million), South Carolina ($224 million), Missouri ($183 million), Florida ($165 million), New York ($153 million), Arizona ($128 million), Ohio ($119 million), Washington ($112 million) and North Carolina ($92 million).
PrimeLending now employs 784 mortgage mortgage originators understanding of 167 department places and sponsors a further 56, in keeping with NMLS information. Licensed in 24 states and Washington, D.C., PrimeLending’s different commerce names embody Loanplicity and Housed Residence Loans.
In Might, PrimeLending introduced the opening of a brand new manufacturing hub in Plano, Texas, consolidating the operations of 4 Dallas-based branches using 47 mortgage originators at a shared location.
The following month PrimeLending started providing house fairness loans, which it markets for debt consolidation, house enhancements, tuition, medical debt and different unplanned bills.
In July, PrimeLending started providing Mortgage Elevate, a brand new mortgage underwriting course of geared toward increasing the pool of eligible debtors by taking into consideration elements — like constant hire funds, shared invoice funds and optimistic money movement from Venmo or Zelle transactions — which might be “not always captured by standard underwriting systems,” the corporate stated.
PrimeLending’s buy mortgage originations are boosted by its participation in joint ventures with homebuilders. By way of PrimeLending Ventures Administration LLC, PrimeLending owns a majority stake in Highland Residence Loans, an affiliated enterprise association (ABA) with Texas builder Highland Properties.
Through the first half of 2024, affiliated companies generated 15 p.c of PrimeLending’s mortgages orginations, a share the corporate expects to take care of for the remainder of the 12 months.
E mail Matt Carter
