LAS VEGAS – The share of mortgages held at credit unions by CU members hit 5.2% as of June 30, which one industry insider said is both good news and bad news.
For years credit union mortgage share has scuffled along at 2% to 3%, much to the dismay of Bob Dorsa, president of the American Credit Union Mortgage Association and advocate for increased CU participation in the mortgage lending market. During ACUMA’s Annual Conference here Thursday, Dorsa told Credit Union Journal the 5.2% figure is to be welcomed as an improvement, but, “The bad news is, refis are going to tail off, and as interest rates rise, it will make things more difficult. Instead of resting on our laurels, we need to keep pushing,” he asserted.
The next goal for CUs should be 10% mortgage share, Dorsa declared. He compared the recent increase to weight loss, in that the first few pounds are easy. “Now it will take hard work. Five percent is good, but that still means 95% of credit union members have their mortgage elsewhere.”
To increase market share, Dorsa said CUs must embrace the slogan “Real Estate is Local” and get involved with Realtors in their areas. “Realtors lost a lot of their lenders in the last year, and credit unions are still open, still lending,” he observed. “We have to tell our story, because a lot of people still don’t know what credit unions are.”
