Given that the mortgage industry had its best year ever for originations in 2020, it would naturally follow that individual loan officer production for the year would break some records. For the first time in the 23-year history of the Top Producers survey, there is a billion dollar producer at the top of the list.

Christopher Gallo, a senior loan officer at NJ Lenders Corp. in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., did slightly under $1.02 billion for 2020. In the prior year, Gallo was our No. 2 originator with $346.6 million in volume.

Overall, 204 originators produced over $100 million, compared with 85 one year ago.

This year’s No. 400 producer logged over $53 million in production, compared with last year, when the person with that ranking originated nearly $36 million.

The latest data from Fannie Mae has mortgage lenders total volume in 2020 at $4.5 trillion, while the Mortgage Bankers Association has $3.8 trillion. In either case, that beats 2003’s $3.7 trillion as the best year ever.

The rankings are open to mortgage loan officers and mortgage brokers who work at depository, nonbank and mortgage brokerage firms in the United States.

Some of the changes the pandemic forced on the industry are a good thing, said Michael Rodriguez, the broker and owner of Platinum Capital Mortgage, Salinas, Calif., who finished second in the rankings.

For example, video conferencing platforms, such as Zoom, have become ubiquitous for meeting with clients and referral partners.

“This allowed us to expand our mortgage reach geographically and tap into outside markets that would otherwise not have been reached,” Rodriguez said. “We plan to continue to use this medium in the future.”

At least one producing branch manager said his office is prepared for the expected lower loan volumes in 2021.

Todd Struyk, who heads up a Bay Equity Home Loans office in San Diego said that his office, like many others all across the industry, had to increase the number of team members last year.

“But now we have the right team on board to continue with the market demands and I believe we are so efficient we can stick with the team we have if the market goes up or down,” Struyk said.

In the 2021 Top Producers survey, just over one-quarter of the respondents completely agreed that the housing market was moving in the right direction, with the same share of people being neutral. Another 36% generally agreed with the statement. But one year prior, 35% completely agreed with that statement, while just 18% were neutral and 46% gave responses in between.

While a small percentage, 9% in this year’s survey, provided a negative response to that question, it’s triple the share that was bearish on housing in the 2020 survey.

Among those who think 2021 will be a good year for the housing business was Chad Cantrell, branch manager for Certainty Home Loan’s Huntsville, Ala. location. He expects increased demand for both purchase and refinance loans this year.

“Low rates inspire first-time homebuyers to enter the market,” he added.

On the other hand, Lee Utley a mortgage loan originator at FBC Mortgage’s Jacksonville, Fla. location, said that plans for 2021 included preparing for sales growth this year “while being mindful of a possible future cooling off in the housing market.”

Respondents were also slightly more pessimistic when it came to the U.S. economy, compared with the prepandemic environment when the 2020 survey was taken.

In this year’s survey, 38% were neutral in their responses about the statement that the American economy was moving in the right direction.

Just over four-in-10 were on the agree side of the spectrum while 19% were on the disagree side.

But when the 2020 survey was taken, 81% felt the economy was moving in the right direction, with 38% saying they completely agreed. Another 16% were neutral and just 4% disagreed.

Rhonda Faulk, senior loan officer for Certainty in Niceville, Fla., plans to focus on purchases and new construction. Niceville is near the Elgin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle.

“The strong economy secured by large military presence is projected to increase demand in 2021,” Faulk said. “The military further assures that the housing marketing keeps moving with frequent reassignments.”

If anything, refi loans are not a big part of her business plan.

“My refinance focus is primarily for my past customers, to nurture that relationship by checking in with them to see if I can save them money or help them achieve their goals,” Faulk said.