Arvest Mortgage Company Announces Record-Breaking Year

Arvest Bank announced its mortgage lending and servicing activities for 2012 via press release Monday afternoon, and the numbers are record-breaking.

Arvest said it originated more than 17,000 mortgage loans – both refinance jobs and purchase money loans – totaling $2.56 billion in 2012. That’s a jump of about 62 percent from 2011’s total of $1.58 billion.

Purchase loans were behind much of the growth, spiking about 37 percent, from $597 million in 2011 to $818 million in 2012. Arvest said that’s “significantly higher” than the 9 percent national increase projected by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

“We see this increase in purchase money transactions as a positive sign and recognize that homebuyers are looking for local lenders who will focus on customer service after the loan is originated,” Arvest Mortgage’s president and COO Steven Plaisance said in the release.

Plaisance added Arvest is further encouraged by the increase in purchase loans, and “its impact on the local housing market and the economy.”

Arvest, which said it services 99 percent of its mortgage loans, also touted a record-breaking year in terms of its servicing portfolio. The portfolio reached about 62,000 loans, according to the release, with the total outstanding balance increasing about 12 percent, from $6.3 billion in 2011 to $7.1 billion last year.