MADISON, Wis. – First quarter 2003 data for CUNA Mutual Mortgage Corp. shows the company is benefiting from continued low mortgage rates and mortgage traffic, just like the rest of the credit union industry. As of April 30, CUNA Mutual Mortgage had 98,888 loans in its servicing portfolio, worth $9.8 billion. Just four months prior, on Dec. 30, 2002, the company had 93,110 loans, representing $9.02 billion in its servicing portfolio. For the first quarter 2003, CMMC funded 8,871 loans, totaling $1 billion. That compares to 6,427 loans totaling $685.5 million in first quarter 2002. In addition, CMMC originated 14,583 loans totaling $1.76 billion for first quarter 2003. For the same period 2002, it originated 6,311 loans for $709.5 million. Overall, CUNA Mutual Mortgage Corp. provided more than $4.7 billion in mortgage loan origination services to CUs in 2002. Its previous record in 2001 was $3.1 billion. In the last month of the year alone, CMMC set another record – it funded more than $446 million mortgage loans. The previous record set in December 2001 was $260 million. The company set another milestone last year when it reached $8.8 billion in loans serviced. "These numbers reflect the booming real estate lending market, and all indications are that 2003 results will surpass the records set in 2002," said Dan Rotert, svp and chief operating officer of CUNA Mutual Mortgage Corp., noting that by various estimations, mortgage lending for the year is anticipated to reach $3.5 to $3.7 trillion nationally this year. "It's a whole new ball game in the mortgage lending industry. We're seeing new precedents. Never before have rates been lower and volumes higher. CUNA Mutual Mortgage Corporation is inventing new and better ways to address the pace in the marketplace. We're outperforming last year's results by a startling degree because we've taken on several new internal initiatives to reduce friction in the origination process and to get more loans funded. We've streamlined various underwriting functions and we're bringing new procedures to the closing process to bring quicker execution." [email protected]