For the first time ever, credit unions originated more than 8% of all U.S. mortgages originated in any given three month period, Callahan and Associates announced in May. The previous record had been just over 5%.

Lydia Cole, director of industry analysis for the firm, said that credit unions hit this high point during the first quarter of this year to credit union mortgage executives attending a mortgage lending regional workshop in Orlando, Fla. The firm reported that credit unions originated $26 billion in first-mortgage loans, which included both purchase money loans and refinancings. That figure ranked the industry as a whole as the third largest mortgage lender in the country, behind Wells Fargo and Chase Bank. 

Robert Dorsa, president of the American Credit Union Mortgage Association, attributed the accomplishment to what he called very hard work on the part of credit unions that have committed to make mortgage loans. "We haven't seen a big jump in the numbers of credit unions that are offering mortgages," he said, "so the increase is coming from credit unions that are doing everything they can with what they have got."