Hey, I’ve got news for you: 2023 is half over. Sometimes reality bites, and vendors and lenders can’t sit there, wringing their hands, waiting for things to get better on their own. Are lenders suddenly going to make huge margins on lots of volume in the second half? Are LOs who were doing 2-3 loans a month in the first half suddenly going to do 4-6? Are vendor reps suddenly going to double their clients? Are rates going to plummet? Is the number of houses for sale going to skyrocket? Banks, credit unions, and depositories are certainly doing something. An analysis of call reports shows that mortgage banking income at banks and thrifts increased by 36 percent on a sequential basis. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo individually more than doubled their MB income from the fourth quarter to the first. Others, like Truist and PNC followed, as Inside Mortgage Finance points out. That said, to the surprise of no one, mortgage-banking income at banks and thrifts was down 38 percent