In the last edition of the Mortgage Industry Directory we asked a rhetorical question: "The party is over. What next?" Of course the party really didn't end in 2004. In fact the mortgage juggernaut kept right on rolling along with residential funders producing a second best ever $2.79 trillion in home mortgages. In 2005 the industry is set to produce about $2.8 trillion. What happened to the slow-down?

Housing and mortgages have been the twin pillars holding up the U.S. economy for five years running. Just when it appears the "party is over" it gets another set of sea legs. Low rates are a key driver, for sure, but investors have been pouring millions (if not billions) into real estate (both residential and commercial) because they feel the stock market stinks. Chances are the "easy" money has already been made in real estate but that hasn't stopped consumers and hedge funds from jumping on the bandwagon, hoping to get one last squeezing of the grapes.

Another key driver to the continued success of the mortgage business is the ability of home lenders to create and market new instruments — particularly "interest-only" and "payment option" loans. These two products, though, have received a ton of criticism in the general media because the loans don't allow the consumer to build equity. These instruments also allow speculators to play the "rent receipts vs. mortgage payments" game.

And what about the housing "bubble"? Sick of hearing about it? Some markets (California, New England, Washington, D.C.) indeed look a bit frothy. What does all this mean for lenders? Well, that's why you need the MID. Once again, we rank the top lenders and servicers in the business while providing important contact information and in-depth analysis.

Even with some of the steam coming out of the market, the next few years look decent for mortgage bankers, brokers, and servicers. The "alternative products" market looks good — as does the home equity and subprime niches. Just how hot is subprime? Read our chapter. Where's the industry headed? Read chapter 1.

The future of mortgage banking looks good but that doesn't mean just anyone can make money at it. This is the 11th year we've published the MID and the feedback continues to be positive. Mortgage professionals continue to thirst for information — not just rankings but analysis as well as contact names, telephone numbers, detailed channel breakdowns, and technology-related information.

Much of the contact information and statistics contained in this edition of the MID is culled from exclusive survey information gathered by the research staffs of National Mortgage News and Origination News in Washington, D.C. As always, we'd like to thank all the firms and their employees who were kind enough to provide information. Besides surveys, we complemented our listings by using public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and figures compiled by Federal banking and housing regulators.

Again, we would like to take this opportunity to let you know we are not always perfect. Certain companies will not appear in this edition because they declined to participate. Others may have fallen through the cracks because of a name change, a change in telephone numbers or a relocation. At any time during the year feel free to let us know who you are and what you're up to. We want to know about every lender, everywhere.

Paul Muolo, Editor & Publisher
(Paul.Muolo@SourceMedia.com)