MERS Near 50% Market Share.(Mortgage Electronic Registry System)

Executives at the electronic registry that tracks ownership of mortgage servicing rights believe that about half of all loans being made today are being registered on the system.

Since its inception, more than 22 million mortgage loans have been registered on MERS, the industry-owned utility that is modeled on the book entry system of tracking ownership of stock shares.

R.K. Arnold, president and CEO of MERS, said that about half of all new loans are now going on the system with MERS designated as the original mortgagee. Tracking actual ownership of the beneficial interest in the loans is done on the electronic registry.

Last month, Mr. Arnold told MSN that MERS is being required in three different ways in the marketplace. Some firms require MERS registration if they purchase a loan. Others offer originators an incentive for registration, and others have created disincentives if loans are not registered.

"We are seeing, more and more out in the secondary market, a pricing differential between registered and nonregistered loans," Mr. Arnold said.

And Mr. Arnold believes that MERS' market penetration will continue to grow and eventually will account for almost all loans sold into the secondary market.

Twenty-nine of the top 30 loan originators are registering loans on MERS, he said. MERS has more than 1,500 member companies.