Figure Loan Volume Rises 135% After Kiavi Deal

Figure Technology Solutions just did the math on owning a fix-and-flip lender, and the totals got a lot bigger. The blockchain-based lending platform said third-quarter Loan Marketplace volume hit $5.8 billion, a 135% jump from a year earlier, according to its earnings release filed with the SEC ^[2].

About $677 million of that came from Kiavi, which lends to property investors and joined Figure on September 1 ^[2]. HousingWire noted the year-ago quarter was $2.5 billion ^[1].

How the quarter stacked up

• Figure Connect, the company's capital-light marketplace, handled $4.3 billion of volume, up 276% from a year earlier ^[1][2].
• Net revenue climbed 84% to $287 million, up from $156.4 million a year before, HousingWire reported ^[1].
• Kiavi brings about $8 billion of annual run-rate volume in residential transition loans and DSCR loans, Figure said ^[2].
• The board raised the share buyback authorization by $200 million, to $400 million in total ^[2].

But profit did not keep pace. Net income held at $89.3 million versus $89.8 million a year earlier, and the margin fell to 31% from 57% ^[1]. Part of that gap is a one-time $31 million tax benefit in the earlier quarter ^[2]. Figure also earned less per loan: its gross take rate slid to 3.9% from 5.2% ^[2]. Without Kiavi, standalone volume was $5.1 billion, growth of 107% according to CEO Michael Tannenbaum on the earnings call ^[1].

What it means for you

Kiavi's loans fund house flippers and rental buyers, so this deal puts more fintech money behind that kind of borrower. Fix-and-flip hard money ran about 9.99% as of June 30, per the National Private Lenders Association ^[3]. On a $300,000 interest-only loan, that is roughly $2,498 a month, by our math. Compare that with the 7.11% Freddie Mac 30-year rate for a regular homebuyer ^[3].

Zoom out

Figure built its business on HELOCs and now says Kiavi pushes it into a market worth more than $200 billion, per Tannenbaum ^[1]. Lenders that can sell loans to outside buyers, rather than hold them, are growing fastest while rates stay high.