United Wholesale named No. 1 wholesale lender for 4th straight year

United Wholesale Mortgage was the No. 1 wholesale lender for the fourth consecutive year.

Data compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication, shows the Pontiac-based subsidiary of United Shore Financial Services led by CEO Mat Ishbia produced $41.5 billion in loan volume in 2018, a 41 percent increase from 2017.

United also outpaced Bank of America to become the fourth-ranked overall mortgage lender in the country. United now sits behind Quicken Loans, Wells Fargo and Chase for overall mortgages. It also had 22 percent of wholesale market share, more than the next seven top wholesale lenders combined. The company closed 145,000 home loans throughout the country.

Instead of selling mortgages directly to consumers, United works with mortgage brokers that offer several different mortgages to consumers.

"The huge growth we’ve experienced speaks volumes about how much the mortgage broker channel is growing and thriving,” Ishbia said in a news release.

The company outgrew its former headquarters in Troy, moving 2,700 employees to a new $85-million, 600,000-square-foot building in June. The company hired 500 people in 2018 and plans to hire another 800 this year.

bnoble@detroitnews.com