Big bank mortgage portfolios continue to dwindle

• According to the OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, the reporting banks (BofA, JPM, CIT, Citibank, HSBC, PNC, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo) were servicing at year-end 21.5M first-lien mortgages totaling $3.7T in UPB - down a full 14% from two years earlier. It also represents just 41% of all first-lien mortgage debt in the U.S.
• Though the size is shrinking, quality is improving, with 94.1% of the mortgages in the portfolio current vs. 93.9% a quarter earlier. Loss mitigation plunged, with 35.1K mortgage mods in Q4 vs. 47.6K a year earlier.
• Among those watching with interest: Ocwen Financial (NYSE:OCN), Nationstar Mortgage (NYSE:NSM), Walter Investment (WAC).