Uwm Originations Rise 17% To $163b As Refi Wave Lifts 2025 Volume

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) closed $163.4 billion in mortgages in 2025, up 17% from 2024, as lower rates fueled a refinancing rebound. The company also invested heavily to strengthen its servicing platform, including its pending acquisition of Two Harbors and a strategic investment in Bilt.

Despite higher volume, net income declined to $244 million in 2025, down from $329.4 million a year earlier, according to filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released Wednesday.

After a period focused on record-setting production, UWM executives are now shifting attention toward execution by emphasizing pricing discipline, broker loyalty and competitive positioning, Jefferies analysts said in a research note.

In a statement, Mat Ishbia — UWM’s chairman, CEO and president — mentioned the company’s scale, low-cost model, in-house servicing, the deal to acquire Two Harbors and the strategic collaboration with Bilt  “These moves accelerate broker channel growth, drive borrower retention, and strengthen our leadership position,” Ishbia added. 

Purchase loans remained the largest share of UWM’s production in 2025 at $93.2 billion, down from $96.1 billion in 2024. Refinancing volume, however, jumped to $70.3 billion — up from $43.4 billion in prior year and a reflection of lower rates. 

In its servicing portfolio, UWM ended the year with $240.8 billion in unpaid principal balance (UPB), down from $242 billion in 2024. The weighted average coupon of the servicing book stood at 5.65% at year’s end.

During an earnings call Wednesday morning, Ishbia said the Bilt partnership “is going to allow our brokers to not only acquire consumers earlier and expand the volume at the top of our funnel for lead flow, but also keep some mortgage brokers top of mind through the whole process.” 

He also described the pending Two Harbors acquisition and the transition to bringing servicing fully in house as “strategic inflection points, not just operational improvements” for the company.

“The initiatives position us to expand our dominance, deliver high quality leads to our brokers, increase the recapture rate, while lowering cost per recaptured loan and more, data-driven personalization tools for our brokers. You can think about our servicing platform as both a growth and retention engine,” he added. 

UWM did not hold a live Q&A session with analysts following prepared remarks. Ishbia said that format does not necessarily “do justice” to explaining the complexity of its business and instead encouraged analysts to review its SEC filings for additional details on strategy.

A UWM spokesperson sent a statement to HousingWire to clarify that decision.

“We’ve taken questions on our earnings calls in the past, and while we believe we have the industry’s superior business model, the short-form Q&A on these calls doesn’t do justice to the strength of our company,” the statement read.

Fourth-quarter surge driven by refis

UWM reported total fourth-quarter production of $49.6 billion, up from $41.7 billion in the third quarter. As rates declined further in the fourth quarter, refinances outpaced purchase originations.

Refi volume nearly doubled to $30.7 billion in Q4 2025 compared to $16.5 billion in Q3, while purchase production fell from $25.2 billion to $18.9 billion during the same period.

Gain-on-sale margin compressed to 122 basis points in Q4, down from 130 bps in the third quarter. Still, net income rose sharply to $164.5 million, compared to $12.1 million in Q3.

Jefferies analysts noted that both origination and servicing results exceeded consensus expectations. They also highlighted an increase in the nonfunding debt-to-equity ratio, reflecting secured credit lines tied to the pending Two Harbors acquisition.

“Mix shifted modestly toward government production Y/Y (gov’t +8%, conventional -8%), consistent with greater refi activity and rate sensitivity within the broker channel rather than share loss,” the analysts wrote.

UWM ended the quarter with $1.8 billion in available liquidity, including $503 million in cash and borrowing capacity.

For the first quarter of 2026, UWM expects total revenue between $650 million and $850 million.

Ishbia added that he remains optimistic about market conditions, noting that policymakers are seeking ways to improve affordability and lower rates. “UWM will be the clear beneficiary of all these changes,” he said.