July 15, 2009

For the last two years, housing has been at the center of the banking industry’s troubles. But for at least one quarter, it will help lift its results.Even as banks remain cautious about lending and millions of borrowers still risk losing their homes, the mortgage business is returning as one of the most lucrative corners of the financial industry, The New York Times’s Eric Dash writes.

The clearest evidence is emerging this week, as the biggest U.S. banks report their second quarter numbers.As independent mortgage companies and brokers shut their doors last fall, and major players like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo swallowed up troubled rivals, lending profit margins widened.