United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has continued to boast success in the mortgage market, with executives noting it saw the “third year as the number one mortgage company in America, the fourth year as the largest purchase lender, and the 10th year as the number one wholesale lender” in its recent Q4 and 2024 full year earnings report.
The company reported a net income of $40.6 million in Q4, up from the $31.9 million seen in Q3 but still down from the $59.8 million seen in Q2 and the impressive $141.1 million seen in Q1.
Mat Ishbia, Chairman and CEO of UWMC, noted that success this quarter came in during October when they did $17 billion in production following a drop in mortgage rates for a few weeks.
Total loan origination volume was $38.7 billion for Q4 2024, down slightly from the $39.5 billion reported in Q3. Of this total, $21.9 billion came from purchase originations, a small drop from the $26.2 billion seen in Q3, the $27.2 billion seen in Q2 and the $22.1 billion seen in Q1.
As for the full year, UWM reported a net income of $329.4 million in 2024, well above the net loss of $69.8 million reported at the end of in 2023.
The company also saw $139.4 billion in total loan originations for 2024, clocking in about 22% higher than 2023’s $108.3 billion and 8.6% higher than the $127.3 billion seen back in 2022. Purchase originations counted for $96.1 billion of this volume, beating out 2023’s volume of $93.9 billion and what executives previously called the company’s “best purchase year of all time.”
“The unique thing about UWM is that our business is strong enough that we can simultaneously win big now while also preparing for the future, whether it be interest rates dropping, consumer trend changing, new technology or even regulatory changes,” said Ishbia. “2024 was the lowest home sales year since 1995 and UWM had our best purchase year of all time. We actually think that might be the highest of all time for any direct lender in history, but either way, we had an amazing 2024.”
During the quarterly earnings call, questions were brought up from participants about UWM’s increase in operating expenses in Q4, which was larger than originally anticipated.
Ishbia attributed this to investments into the company’s future by putting money toward new initiatives, technologies and/or partnerships, adding that the investments “are not even a thought in my mind” when juxtaposed against opportunities for growth.
“We continue to invest in cutting edge technology, including AI and investing in our people. Our business model is to win and so these are investments, not expenses and in the big scheme of things,” he explained. “These little investments that we’re talking about are going to pay such huge dividends, just like we’ve always done. It’s not like our expenses will go up more, but these were investments. 2024 was an investing year and a technology building year, and 2025 is a dominant year.”
The company’s stock was down at press time, however, trading about 7% lower.
Looking ahead, executives estimate Q1 2025 production to be in the $28 to $35 billion range, with the expectation of a typical slow winter buying season putting a damper on mortgage activity.
“Our priorities remain the same, build the best technology and provide the best service to the broker channel. Take incredible care of our team members and clients by treating them like family, win every single day by dominating on purchase and staying prepared for a shift in rates and continue to reward our shareholders,” concluded Ishbia. “I’m very proud of what we did in 2024 and I’m excited about 2025 now.”
