HousingWireHousingWire
Mat Ishbia, CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the top U.S. mortgage lender, unveiled on Tuesday the company’s ambitious goal to reach $280 billion in mortgage production by 2028.
That is more than double the $137.8 billion UWM originated in 2024, a year in which the wholesale lender posted a 28% year-over-year increase despite heightened competition and persistently high mortgage rates.
The target also far exceeds the combined 2024 production of the year’s second- and third- largest lenders. Pennymac, second in the ranking and best known for its correspondent business, originated $115 billion in 2024, up 16.5% year over year. Rocket Mortgage, which does the bulk of its business as a direct-to-consumer lender, ranked third with $95.8 billion, a 25.9% increase from 2023.
Ishbia has reiterated that UWM plans to achieve its growth organically, rather than through mergers and acquisitions like some of its peers. Rival Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, recently announced agreements to acquire real estate platform Redfin and Mr. Cooper, the largest servicer in the country by some distance.
UWM is “a build-versus-buy type of company, ” Ishbia told analysts in the first-quarter earnings call.
The lender has been steadily increasing its operational capacity and is positioning itself to benefit from refinancing opportunities when rates decline. UWM is also in hiring mode, with a long-term focus on growth. After peaking at 8,000 employees in 2021 and dipping to 6,000 in 2022, its workforce grew to 6,700 in 2023 and surged to 9,100 in 2024.
During a company rally on Tuesday, Ishbia announced plans to promote 4,500 employees—about half of UWM’s current workforce—within the next three years.
UWM is also investing heavily in technology, product innovation, and operational processes to better support its broker partners. Ishbia set a goal for the broker channel to reach a 33% market share within three years, up from its current 27.8%.
In response to the competitive dynamics in the market, UWM has decided to bring its mortgage servicing operations in-house, following the termination of its relationship with Mr. Cooper after the latter’s $9.4 billion deal to sell to Rocket. UWM aims to achieve a 90% “perfect service” score from brokers and borrowers in three years.
In Q1 2025, the company produced $32.4 billion in mortgages. But the lender expects Q2 originations to rise between $38 billion and $45 billion. UWM ended the first quarter with $2.4 billion of available liquidity, including $485 million in cash and borrowing capacity.
