The top five banks had a combined second-lien loan volume of more than $95 billion at the end of December 2024.

If you need a mortgage, there's an army of lenders out there. But figuring out which is the right one can be difficult. Do you want to go with a brick-and-mortar bank or an online lender?

Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks reported an average profit of $443 on each loan they originated in 2024, up from an average loss of $1,056 per loan ...