Freedom Mortgage is nowhere near the size of behemoths like Citigroup Inc. or Bank of America Corp., yet last year it originated more mortgages than either of them, the Wall Street Journal reported. With nearly $51.1 billion in mortgage originations, according to industry research group Inside Mortgage Finance, it is now the 11th-largest mortgage lender in the U.S., up from No. 78 in 2012. Its rise points to a bigger shift in the home-lending business to specialized mortgage lenders that fall outside the banking sector. Such nonbanks, critically wounded in the housing crisis, have re-emerged to become the market’s dominant players, with 52 percent of U.S. mortgage originations, up from 9 percent in 2009. Six of the 10 biggest U.S. mortgage lenders today are nonbanks, according to the research group. (Subscription required.)
