Banks Pad Profits as U.S. Prolongs Refinancing Boom: Mortgages
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The biggest U.S. mortgage lenders, whose first-quarter earnings were buoyed by gains on home-loan refinancings, are raking in more profits as record-low interest rates and government efforts prolong the boom.
Revised federal programs making it easier for homeowners to lock in lower rates helped push the Mortgage Bankers Association refinancing index to a three-year high last month. That signals a windfall for banks including Wells Fargo & Co. that renewed about 5 million loans in 2011 amid the Federal Reserve’s drive to keep borrowing costs near zero. Wells Fargo is the nation’s largest home lender.