Arvest mortgage loans top $1 billion — again

Arvest Bank announced Wednesday (Jan. 12) that for the eighth consecutive year, the bank originated more than $1 billion in new mortgage loans.

Refinanced mortgages made up 70 percent of this year’s total, and the bank also reached a record of more than 53,000 loans in their servicing portfolio, noted the statement. Arvest’s mortgage servicing increased by more than 7% in the value of home loans from $5.5 billion in 2009 to $5.9 billion in 2010.

With a staff of 130 mortgage loan officers spread across 230 banking locations in four states, the bank originated mortgage loans totaling $1.78 billion in 2010 compared to $1.94 billion in 2009, or a decrease of less than 8%.

In terms of loan volume, the bank originated 12,415 loans compared with 13,248 in 2009, or a decrease of 6%. Both of these measurements, while down over the previous year, are significantly better than the reported national trends.

“The surprisingly low mortgage rates helped thousands of people improve their financial position by refinancing and also enabled many to buy homes at once again, record low interest rates,” Steven Plaisance, Arvest Mortgage executive vice president, said in the statement.

Arvest Bank operates more than 230 bank branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas through a network of 16 locally managed banks, each with its own board of directors and management. These banks operate in 90 communities with 12-hour weekday banking at most locations. Arvest operates a mortgage company, asset management company, insurance division and mortgage servicing company.