Weekly Real Estate News
Summary
Wells Fargo's third-party mortgage servicing portfolio declined 21% year over year to $343.9 billion in Q3 2026. Its originations were $7.8 billion, up 11% annually but down 13% sequentially. JPMorgan's $16 billion in Home Lending originations fell 7% quarter over quarter, with retail down 18% and correspondent up 11%.
Wells Fargo’s third-party mortgage servicing portfolio shrank by nearly $90 billion over the past year, even as the bank increased mortgage originations from a year earlier. The latest quarterly figures show how differently the lender’s servicing and production businesses are moving.
At September 30, Wells Fargo serviced $343.9 billion in third-party mortgage loans, down 21% from $433.8 billion a year earlier and 5% from June, according to its third-quarter financial supplement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday. The measure excludes residential loans subserviced for others. The filing does not, by itself, establish how much of the decline reflects portfolio sales, runoff, transfers or other changes.
Wells Fargo originated $7.8 billion in mortgages during the quarter, an increase of 11% from the third quarter of 2025 but a decline of 13% from the second quarter of 2026. Home Lending revenue totaled $743 million, 15% below the year-earlier period and 2% below the preceding quarter. The distinction matters: quarterly origination volume increased year over year even as mortgage revenue declined.
JPMorgan Chase also recorded a sequential retreat in production, but its correspondent business moved in the opposite direction from retail. Home Lending originations totaled $16 billion, down 7% from the second quarter and up 15% from a year earlier, according to the bank’s third-quarter SEC financial supplement.
JPMorgan’s retail originations fell 18% from the previous quarter to $8.7 billion. Correspondent originations rose 11% to $7.3 billion. Its third-party servicing portfolio stood at $651.9 billion, down approximately 2% from $663.6 billion a year earlier. JPMorgan reported a $9.7 billion mortgage servicing rights carrying value, up 7% from the prior quarter and year-earlier period. A servicing portfolio’s unpaid principal balance and the accounting value of its servicing rights are different measures and should not be conflated.
A split between servicing and new production
The two banks’ disclosures illustrate the importance of separating the mortgage business into its component parts. Wells Fargo’s servicing decline was considerably larger than JPMorgan’s, but neither bank’s quarterly origination figures support a claim that production fell year over year. Both reported annual gains in originations, even as activity cooled from the second quarter.
For independent mortgage banks, brokers and correspondent lenders, JPMorgan’s channel breakdown is particularly relevant. The bank purchased more loans through correspondent relationships despite funding fewer through its own retail channel. The figures do not establish the reason for the shift, and they do not show whether individual counterparties gained or lost business.
Wells Fargo’s results also follow its longer-running retrenchment from parts of the mortgage industry. WRE previously reported on the bank’s decision to scale back the mortgage business it once dominated. Tuesday’s data provide a current measure of the remaining third-party servicing portfolio, not proof of a new exit decision.
Mortgage weakness amid broader bank earnings
The mortgage figures came within larger third-quarter earnings announcements. Wells Fargo reported $5.95 billion in quarterly profit and $21.87 billion in revenue, while JPMorgan reported $15.3 billion in net income. Their overall performance reflects multiple businesses, including consumer lending, deposits, credit cards and investment banking, and should not be treated as a direct proxy for mortgage profitability.
Wells Fargo cautioned in its SEC supplement that the financial data are preliminary and may change before the company files its Form 10-Q. Its October 13 earnings announcement directs investors to the SEC filing and quarterly materials. JPMorgan’s earnings release likewise details its broader third-quarter performance.
Both reports cover lending through September 30, before the latest increase in mortgage rates. They therefore offer a picture of mortgage activity entering the fourth quarter rather than a measurement of how borrowers or lenders have responded to October’s higher financing costs. Subsequent quarterly disclosures will show whether the sequential slowdown in originations persists and whether the banks’ servicing portfolios continue to diverge.
