The NMLS recently released its NMLS Mortgage Industry Report 2014 Q3 Update. According to the report, there were 343,800 state-licensed mortgage loan originators (MLOs) during the 2014 third quarter, a 10 percent increase from 311,589 in the 2013 third quarter. During the same period, the number of state-licensed mortgage companies dropped 1.2 percent, from 16,076 in third quarter 2013 to 15,887 in third quarter 2014. Meanwhile, the number of licenses held by those companies increased by 4 percent, from 34,663 to 36,107.

The surge in MLO state licenses reflects the growth the independent mortgage banking industry is experiencing as a result of increased access to warehouse credit and less exposure to regulation than big banks. Note that the number of MLO state licenses is not an accurate measure of the number individual MLOs because MLOs can be licensed in multiple states. The proliferation in state licenses for mortgage companies may also signal that non-depository lenders are expanding their territories.

In addition, according to the NMLS data, the number of federally registered MLOs is 393,981, and the number of federally registered institutions is 10,502.