Email this pagePrint Archive - 2003
January 6 January 13 January 20 January 27 February 3 February 10 February 17 February 24 March 3 March 10 March 17 March 24 March 31 April 7 April 14 April 21 April 28 May 5 May 12 May 19 May 26 June 2 June 9 June 16 June 23 July 7 July 14 July 21 July 28 August 4 August 11 August 18 August 25 September 1 September 8 September 15 September 22 September 29 October 6 October 8 October 13 October 20 October 27 November 3 November 10 November 17 December 1 December 8 December 15 December 29January 6, 2003
HUD's 2003 Resolution: Crackdown on FHA Fraud
January 6, 2003The Department of Housing and Urban Development's internal investigation unit is leading a crackdown on fraud in the Federal Housing Administration single family program. (Read More)
Residential Segregation Still Prevalent
January 6, 2003In one of the most exhaustive studies of residential segregation ever undertaken, the Census Bureau has found that the United States is still very much racially divided. (Read More)
Lehman Expands Subprime
January 6, 2003The Lehman Brothers-owned Aurora Loan Services is doing a swift little business in 'Alt-A' lending and is now looking to expand its presence in subprime. (Read More)
Buy at the Top? Merrill Says Yes
January 6, 2003Most investors avoid buying mortgage stocks at the peak of a refinancing wave, fearing they may be buying at high prices. But that consensus may be out of date, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. (Read More)
Statistics At a Glance
January 6, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (Aurora Loan Services) Third Qtr Res. Production: $ 3,848 Third Qtr. 'Alt A' Volume: $ 2,103 Third Quarter Subprime Volume: $43 Corres. Production %: 66% Wholesale Production %: 29% Retail Produnction %: 5% Parent: Lehman Brothers Source: Quarterly Data Report. Questions? Email: Paul.Muolo
Delinquency Rates: Based on No. of Loans Serviced at 9-30-02
January 6, 2003(part 1of 2) No. Lns Pct Loans Pct 30+ Rk Organization Name Serviced Past Due Days 1 Pulte Mortgage 6,273 0.29% 0.22% 2 Guardian Mtg Co. 23,145 0.57% 0.35% 3 Washington Fed Savs 39,035 0.65% 0.26% 4 Capitol FS & LA 54,254 0.86% 0.00% 5 Plymouth Savs Bk 22,059 0.90% 0.74% 6 Union Bank of CA 27,583 1.09% 0.82% 7 CUNA Mtg Corp. 89,050 1.29% 0.94% 8 Associated Mtg 97,593 1.31% 1.15% 9 Astoria FS & LA 75,764 1.33% 0.90% 10 USAA Fed Sav Bk 166,136 1.41% 1.00% Totals: 20,267,424 5.03% 2.37% (part 2 of 2) Pct 60+ Pct 90+ Foreclo- Rk Days Days sures 1 0.03% 0.03% 0.00% 2 0.10% 0.08% 0.04% 3 0.10% 0.29% 0.00% 4 0.60% 0.06% 0.20% 5 0.11% 0.04% 0.01% 6 0.15% 0.01% 0.11% 7 0.15% 0.10% 0.10% 8 0.05% 0.12% 0.00% 9 0.15% 0.15% 0.13% 10 0.15% 0.05% 0.21% Totals: 0.80% 0.81% 0.54% Notes: Firms ranked by % of loans past due. (Read More)
Quicken Settles Online Application Dispute with FTC
January 6, 2003Quicken Loans has agreed to a new disclosure format with regard to pre-approvals to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that the online lender failed to provide "adverse action" notices that a loan had been denied. (Read More)
GSEs Pass Test That Now Counts
January 6, 2003Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac easily passed their first official risk- based capital test for the third quarter, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. (Read More)
FHA Sets New Loan Ceiling
January 6, 2003The Department of Housing and Urban Development has officially increased the limits on single-family mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. As of Jan. 1, the new "floor," or basic mortgage limit, is $154,896, while the maximum, or "ceiling," in high- cost areas is $280,749. (Read More)
Home Builder Scandal Prompts Reform Legislation in Kentucky
January 6, 2003A member of the Kentucky House of Representatives has introduced a bill for the 2003 session as a result of the Erpenbeck scandal that would change how closings are done. (Read More)
FHA, VA Will Insure Loans in Floodplains
January 6, 2003The Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs have announced they will do their part to keep loan originations rolling even though the federal government stopped issuing flood insurance policies after midnight Dec. 31. (Read More)
Editorial: New Year, New Opportunities
January 6, 2003We'll know soon enough, when our colleagues at Mortgagestats.com get finished crunching the numbers, whether or not the industry hit the astounding figure of $2.5 trillion in volume last year. What we do know for sure is that the halcyon year of 2002 is done and in the books, and that it's time to think about what this new year will bring. (Read More)
Open Forum: The Multidistrict Question
January 6, 2003On Dec. 20, 2002, the Federal Housing Finance Board adopted Resolution 2002-63, eliciting information from the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks regarding the changing financial services industry and its effect on terms of membership in the banks. The board voted 4-1 to approve the resolution, with director Franz S. Leichter voting no. The following is chairman John T. Korsmo's prepared opening statement on the resolution and presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Buyers Should Have a Sense of Hope But Remain on Guard in 2003
January 6, 2003A new year generally is an opportunity to psychologically wipe the proverbial slate clean and make a fresh start, and I find that tends to generate a sense of hope in investors. (Read More)
SEC Approves New Clearinghouse
January 6, 2003The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the establishment of a new company named the Fixed Income Clearing Corp. (Read More)
Moody's Refines CDO Rating Approach
January 6, 2003Because "market value CDOs" increasingly are using new assets that carry short price histories, Moody's Investors Service has refined its approach to rating collateralized debt obligations to incorporate more precise models of volatility. (Read More)
Agency Prepay Speeds May Have Peaked
January 6, 2003Prepayment rates for agency mortgage-backed securities were mixed in the November reporting period, suggesting that speeds have peaked and should begin to slow broadly in December, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. (Read More)
NY Mixed-Use Housing Funded
January 6, 2003The New York Housing Development Corp. will contribute $12.2 million in tax-exempt bond financing for the construction of the Clinton Parkview Apartments, a $19.4 million unique blend of housing prices for low- to middle-income residents in Midtown Manhattan. (Read More)
Freddie Mac Has Bilingual Product for Hispanics
January 6, 2003Freddie Mac unveiled a bilingual credit education program aimed at teaching Hispanics how to manage money, use credit and become homeowners. (Read More)
$2 Billion in Volume for Fixed-to-Float Loan
January 6, 2003Freddie Mac has funded about 200 to 300 loans, worth about $2 billion in all (as of mid-December), featuring the fixed-to-float interest rate option that the government-sponsored enterprise introduced earlier this year, according to Mitchell Kiffe, Freddie Mac's vice president for multifamily production. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: Gordon DuGan
January 6, 2003Gordon DuGan has been named co-chief executive of W.P. Carey & Co., New York. In this role, Mr. DuGan, who was previously president of the company, will oversee the company's operations and coordinate its corporate strategies with chairman W. Polk Carey. He recently coordinated a $172 million commercial mortgage-backed securitization of properties owned by the W.P. Carey Group. Mr. DuGan joined the corporate real estate financing firm in 1988 as assistant to the chairman, the company reports. (Read More)
Capstead Sends Prepayments Back to Investors in Its Stock
January 6, 2003Capstead Mortgage, a real estate investment trust that invests in adjustable-rate mortgages, has seen so much of its portfolio prepay that it is sending cash back to investors in the form of a big dividend. (Read More)
Fitch Sees Rebound For Banks, Thrifts
January 6, 2003Fitch Ratings believes that over the next several quarters, community banks and thrifts "are primed for a rebound, but should still hold their own should the economy grow less than anticipated." (Read More)
100 Years of Change Seen by U.S. Census
January 6, 2003A lot has changed in the last 100 years. (Read More)
Nevada Fastest Growing Again
January 6, 2003For the 16th consecutive year, Nevada was the fastest growing state in the union during the 12-month period ending July 1, according to the latest population estimates from the Census Bureau. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
January 6, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 134.5; Change: -1.4 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk-lo 52 wk-hi 1-2-03 Aames (AMSF) 0.30 1.90 1.10 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 17.49 12.73 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 7.60 14.55 9.26 Household (HI) 20.00 63.25 28.28 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 7.75 13.48 11.65 New Century (NCEN) 11.80 35.05 26.52 Novastar (NFI) 15.00 35.75 30.80 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 8.54 2.89 Provident Financial (PFGI) 21.46 31.64 26.56 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 12.61 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. % Chg from 52-wk Lo P-E Ratio Aames (AMSF) 7% 267% na American Business Fin. (ABFI) 9% 100% 4.7 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) -4% 22% na Household (HI) 1% 41% 7.3 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) -4% 50% 6.8 New Century (NCEN) -4% 125% 4.6 Novastar (NFI) -6% 105% 9.0 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 9% 41% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 2% 24% 22.9 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 2% 55% na Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low.(1)% change from 52-week low. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer Source: Mortgagestats.com Copyright c 2003 Thomson Media. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Funding the Line
January 6, 2003With origination volumes surging in 2002, many originators were figuratively - if not literally - waiting in line to, well, get a warehouse line ow that it's 2003, there is some question as to whether these volumes will continue at the same blistering pace, but most believe that originations this year will remain fairly strong. (Read More)
Origination Surge Fuels Demand
January 6, 2003Origination volunes have been surging, fueling demand for warehouse lines and, for a number of mortgage lenders, while October was very good and a record setting month, November was just as good, if not better. (Read More)
Warehouse, Correspondent Closer
January 6, 2003The narrowing gap between correspondent and warehouse lending departments has become even narrower, according to William L. Beschel and Elsa Martinez, principals at Warehousing Advisory Services Inc., Pasadena, Calif. (Read More)
The Size of Warehouse Market
January 6, 2003($ in millions) Firm Year-end 2002 (e) $ 55,200 Year-end 2001 $ 48,043 Year-end 2000 $ 40,472 Year-end 1999 $ 43,342 Notes: The eMID assumes that it has a 60% capture rate on warehouse firms. Volumes, for the most part, exclude gestation repos volumes of Wall Street firms. (e) Estimate based on production growth in the primary market. (Read More)
Investec's First So. African Securitization's Proceeds to Repay Facility
January 6, 2003Moody's Investors Service's office, New York, has assigned definitive long-term national scale ratings to the first securitization of South African home loans originated by Investec Private Bank. (Read More)
Cendant Gets Credit Line
January 6, 2003Cendant Corp. here has received a new $2.9 billion three-year revolving credit facility. (Read More)
IG Slams Cendant on FHA Endorsement
January 6, 2003A government audit of Cendant Mortgage Corp. found the nationwide Federal Housing Administration lender couldn't keep up with rapid growth and violated FHA rules by submitting almost 1,200 delinquent loans for federal mortgage insurance. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
January 6, 2003MIEC Index: 145.5; Change: 1.7 (part 1 of 2) 12-26-02 1-2-03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk-lo Alltel (AT) 52.95 53.00 0% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. 52.70 53.36 1% 37.60 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 24.76 25.33 2% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 51.63 52.71 2% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 34.73 35.54 2% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 66.96 66.52 -1% 58.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 60.32 61.24 2% 52.60 Golden West (GDW) 73.12 73.69 1% 56.20 Household (HI) 28.12 28.29 1% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 37.92 37.64 -1% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 41.65 42.85 3% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 27.71 26.54 -4% 11.80 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 18.73 18.78 0% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 47.42 48.61 3% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 30.16 30.92 3% 24.82 Radian Group (RDN) 36.68 38.53 5% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.53 9.99 5% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 37.13 37.97 2% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 35.70 35.66 0% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk-hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P-E Ratio Alltel (AT) 63.25 50% 22.26 Countrywide Financial Corp. 55.00 42% 11.52 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 39.68 66% 15.07 Centex Corp. (CTX) 63.09 38% 7.98 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 58% 27.55 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 13% 10.99 Freddie Mac (FRE) 69.50 16% 8.12 Golden West (GDW) 73.75 31% 12.24 Household (HI) 63.25 41% 7.32 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 38.30 49% 7.87 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 28% 6.95 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 125% 4.56 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 16% 7.95 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 17% 21.79 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 25% 8.26 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 31% 9.02 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 27% 17.22 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 23% 11.90 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 28% 10.10 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
(back to top)
January 13, 2003
Delinquencies May Have Peaked...But FHA, B/C Overdues Remain High
January 13, 2003The number of homeowners who are behind on mortgage payments declined in every major category during the third quarter of last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. (Read More)
LSI on Block, Fidelity National Looking?
January 13, 2003Lender's Service Inc. here, one of the largest "closing" services firms in the U.S., is on the auction block again, National Mortgage News has learned. (Read More)
Loan-Level Idea Dropped
January 13, 2003Federal agencies have quietly dropped two controversial proposals that would have required additional reporting by subprime lenders and limited fees on Federal Housing Administration single-family loans. (Read More)
HUD: GSEs 'Low Impact'
January 13, 2003Loan purchases by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had very little impact on the revitalization of underserved neighborhoods in Cleveland during the 1990's, according to a research paper funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Read More)
Industry Likes Stimulus Plan
January 13, 2003Passage of the economic stimulus package has become a major priority for the new Congress and housing trade groups are generally pleased that President George Bush has come up with a bold and aggressive plan. (Read More)
At A Glance
January 13, 2003(Delinquency Rates Come Down) 3rd Q 2nd Q Conventional 3.04% 3.20% Prime 2.54% 2.64% Subprime* 14.28% 15.67% FHA 11.62% 11.81% VA 7.81% 8.00% *Note: The MBA says its current database of subprime loans may not be representative of the entire subprime universe. (Read More)
Fannie, Freddie Tops Among Soft Money Donors
January 13, 2003(part 1 of 2) Company Name Nat'l Rank Amt Donated '01-'02 Freddie Mac 9 $2,875,615 American Int'l (1) 22 $1,569,218 Citigroup (2) 24 $1,471,255 Ameriquest (3) 25 $1,455,000 Fannie Mae 27 $1,330,836 (part 2 of 2) Company Name Amt Donated in '99-'00 Pct Chg Freddie Mac $2,398,250 20% American Int'l (1) $1,036,760 51% Citigroup (2) $1,556,510 -5% Ameriquest (3) na na Fannie Mae $1,188,650 12% Notes: National rank is for the 2001-2002 election cycle. (Read More)
Congress Moves Toward Speedy Renewal of Flood Insurance Program
January 13, 2003The House has approved a one-year extension of the flood insurance program by voice vote and sent the bill (H.R. 11) to the Senate for final passage. (Read More)
MGIC: Earnings Fall As Persistency Drops
January 13, 2003Earnings for the fourth quarter at MGIC Investment Corp. here are down from the same period last year as persistency continues to decrease and delinquencies continue to increase. (Read More)
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Gave $4.2 Million in Soft Money
January 13, 2003Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac donated at least $4.2 million in soft money during the last election cycle, according to figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. (Read More)
Morgan Stanley Looks To Ramp Up Conduit
January 13, 2003Investment banker Morgan Stanley is joining the stampede of Wall Street firms that are looking to ramp up their residential mortgage production operations. (Read More)
Editorial: Figuring It Out
January 13, 2003In housing as in the general economy, a plethora of figures gets released each week or month, providing a snapshot of how that area is trending. What do the latest ones tell us? (Read More)
Open Forum: Deflation a Threat to Growth
January 13, 2003Mr. Greenspan recently addressed the Economic Club of New York regarding issues for monetary policy xcerpts of his speech are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Don't Want to Talk About a 'Bubble?' Try "Tiny Bubbles"
January 13, 2003After listening to a number of experts' mortgage industry forecasts last week, I have to say that one of the things I have become most fascinated by is the "elephant in the room" phenomenon surrounding the "housing bubble." (Read More)
Letter to the Editor
January 13, 2003To the Editor: Thanks for writing about ACORN's report on subprime lending. I'd like to correct one misunderstanding. You wrote: "A number of consumer advocacy groups like ACORN often equate charging a higher rate to borrowers who have subprime credit histories with abusive or 'predatory' lending." (Read More)
Advocates: Extra Credits Needed to Boost Redevelopment in Chicago
January 13, 2003As large public housing redevelopment projects move to fruition, community developers here perceive that they're having trouble tapping into a key federal program that helps fund low-income housing development. (Read More)
Law Paves Way for Terror Insurance, But at What Cost?
January 13, 2003Although the recently enacted legislation providing a federal backstop for terrorism insurance is expected to provide relief to the commercial real estate industry by making the insurance more widely available, there is still uncertainty about the pricing of the insurance. (Read More)
Simon Renews Hostile Bid for Taubman
January 13, 2003Simon Property Group is proceeding with its $18 per share offer for Taubman Centers, disregarding Taubman's latest rejection of the Simon proposal. (Read More)
CRE Transactions at a Glance
January 13, 2003* AFC Realty Capital has arranged a 10-year, $14 million, non- recourse fixed rate loan for a 76,000 sq. foot, Staten Island, N. Y., office property. (Read More)
Ken Beyer Takes Reins at MortgageRamp
January 13, 2003When MortgageRamp chief technology officer Ken Beyer stepped up to take over the top executive position from Mike Greco, he promised to change how the company does business. (Read More)
Linux Making Inroads In Capital Markets
January 13, 2003Some leading firms in the capital markets are embracing Linux-based systems for fundamental applications such as basic infrastructure, e-mail and printer servers, according to a recent report from IDC Financial Services here. Some mortgage bankers are also looking into the platform, but are not yet moving as quickly. (Read More)
Rollout for Commercial Platform
January 13, 2003Midland Loan Servicing says it has completed the testing of its Enterprise loan servicing platform and will begin marketing it in earnest to other commercial mortgage loan servicers next year. Stacey M. Berger, Midland's executive vice president, told National Mortgage News, "We're ready to declare victory." (Read More)
Killer App Fans: Think About E-Mail
January 13, 2003Even as mortgage lenders spend millions on complicated loan origination and servicing technology to make their operations run better, cheaper and faster, the killer application may already be in their arsenals: e-mail. (Read More)
Moody's Lowers Transamerica Debt
January 13, 2003Moody's Investors Service has lowered certain Transamerica Finance Corp. ratings and suggested that the real estate lender and information provider might eventually be put up for sale. (Read More)
Georgia Law Could Move Problem Loans into MBS Deals
January 13, 2003Standard & Poor's is concerned that mortgages not purchased by the government-sponsored enterprises due to Georgia's strict new lending law may increasingly be placed in securitized transactions it rates. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: Keith Johnson
January 13, 2003Mr. Johnson has been named to the newly-created position of executive vice president and chief operating officer of Washington Mutual Inc.'s specialty finance group, which provides multifamily lending, commercial asset management, commercial real estate lending, mortgage banker financing, home builder finance and commercial capital markets services. He previously was head of the group's Commercial Capital Markets division, where he was instrumental in developing the company's capital markets program and initiating its commercial mortgage-backed securities origination program. (Read More)
U.K. Lenders Express Confidence
January 13, 2003Confidence among specialist financial advisers and mortgage brokers in the United Kingdom approached its all-time high on Dec. 25, according to the Paragon Mortgages Financial Advisor Confidence Tracking Index. (Read More)
Latin American MBS Issuance Falls in '02
January 13, 2003Latin American mortgage- and asset-backed securities issuance decreased 34% in 2002, according to Moody's Investors Service here. (Read More)
GMAC-RFC's Pendleton to Retire
January 13, 2003Warehouse lending veteran Larry Pendleton has announced his retirement from GMAC-RFC - but not for another year. (Read More)
Dexma Transaction Volume Grows 300%
January 13, 2003Dexma, creator of the Transaction Director technology platform, reports that the volume of mortgage business traveling across its system tripled during 2002. (Read More)
Dexma Transaction Volume '02
January 13, 2003Month Loans Jan 52381 Feb 53992 Mar 59231 Apr 68932 May 72769 Jun 77433 Jul 106072 Aug 135669 Sep 163033 Oct 194071 Nov 160838 Dec 142991 Source: Dexma Copyright c 2003 Thomson Media. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Radian Suffers Title Insurance Setback
January 13, 2003Radian Guaranty Inc., Philadelphia, has lost another round in its efforts to have California insurance regulators approve its Radian Lien Protection product. Conversely, for the American Land Title Association, the group has once again deflected a potential challenge to its industry's survival. (Read More)
MISMO Releases eMortgage 1.0 Guide
January 13, 2003The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization eMortgage Workgroup has released eMortgage Guidelines and Recommendations version 1.0. (Read More)
Selected 30-Year Fixed-Rate Prepayments
January 13, 2003(For December 2002 Period) Cpn Year WAC Factor Dec '02 Nov '02 Fannie Mae 6.50 2002 6.97 .837 42.7 38.9 Fannie Mae 6.50 2001 7.03 .619 62.1 59.4 Fannie Mae 6.50 1998 7.07 .377 64.2 61.7 Fannie Mae 6.50 1996 7.17 .279 61.9 59.9 Freddie Mac 6.50 2002 6.92 .820 44.0 41.7 Freddie Mac 6.50 2001 7.00 .619 62.6 62.0 Freddie Mac 6.50 1998 7.07 .376 64.3 62.7 Freddie Mac 6.50 1996 7.11 .283 63.7 61.3 Source: Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary Prepayment rates rose in the December reporting period for Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities and were mixed for Freddie Mac MBS, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary, contrary to the analysts' expectations that speeds had peaked in November. Speeds of 30-year Fannie Mae 6.0%, 6.5%, and 7.0% coupons in the 2001 vintage rose by constant prepayment rates of about 3 CPR, and most seasoned Fannie Mae vintages held steady or sped up modestly, said analysts Dale Westhoff and Bruce Kramer. For Freddie Mac MBS, speeds were "much more muted." (Read More)
Tax Plan's Impact on REITs Unclear
January 13, 2003At least one research firm believes that it is too early to gauge the impact on real estate investment trusts of a proposed Bush administration dividend tax cut plan that is in the development stage. (Read More)
D.C. Minority Lender for Sale
January 13, 2003Independence Federal Savings Bank here saw its share price shoot up more than 40% last Wednesday after the company announced it had retained Keefe, Bruyette & Woods as its investment banker. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
January 13, 2003MIEC Index: 149.0; Change: 3.5 (part 1 of 2) 1-2-03 1-9-03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk-lo Alltel (AT) 53.00 54.50 3% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC)53.36 54.34 2% 37.60 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 25.33 27.17 7% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 52.71 53.11 1% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 35.54 34.74 -2% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 66.52 68.46 3% 58.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 61.24 63.20 3% 52.60 Golden West (GDW) 73.69 74.70 1% 56.20 Household (HI) 28.29 28.50 1% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 37.64 37.35 -1% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 42.85 45.58 6% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 26.54 29.75 12% 11.80 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 18.78 20.20 8% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 48.61 48.24 -1% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 30.92 31.85 3% 24.82 Radian Group (RDN) 38.53 40.45 5% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.99 10.66 7% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 37.97 39.30 4% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 35.66 36.65 3% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk-hi % Chg fr 52 wk P-E Ratio Alltel (AT) 59.76 54% 22.89 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 55.00 45% 10.10 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM 39.60 78% 16.17 Centex Corp. (CTX) 63.09 39% 8.04 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 54% 26.92 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 16% 11.31 Freddie Mac (FRE) 69.50 20% 8.38 Golden West (GDW) 74.90 33% 12.40 Household (HI) 63.25 42% 7.38 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.20 48% 7.81 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 36% 7.39 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 152% 5.12 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 25% 8.55 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 16% 21.63 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 28% 8.51 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 38% 9.47 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 36% 18.38 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 28% 12.31 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 32% 10.38 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
January 13, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 140.4; Change: 5.9 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk-lo 52 wk-hi 1-9-03 Aames (AMSF) 0.34 1.90 1.54 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 16.71 13.90 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 7.60 14.55 9.38 Household (HI) 20.00 63.25 28.52 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 7.80 13.48 11.78 New Century (NCEN) 11.80 35.05 29.79 Novastar (NFI) 15.00 35.75 31.18 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 8.54 3.00 Provident Financial (PFGI) 21.46 31.64 27.13 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 13.30 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. % Chg from 52-wk Lo P-E Ratio Aames (AMSF) 40% 353% na American Business Fin. (ABFI) 9% 118% 5.2 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 1% 23% na Household (HI) 1% 43% 7.4 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 1% 51% 6.8 New Century (NCEN) 12% 152% 5.1 Novastar (NFI) 1% 108% 9.1 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 4% 46% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 2% 26% 23.4 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 5% 63% na Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low.(1)% change from 52-week low. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (Read More)
(back to top)
January 20, 2003
GSE Bought $1 Trillion '02 Loans
January 20, 2003Fannie Mae acquired a mind boggling $1.09 trillion in home mortgages in 2002 - almost as much as the entire industry originated in 2000. (Read More)
GNMA Revamps Ginnie Mae II Security
January 20, 2003The Government National Mortgage Association has revamped its 18-year-old Ginnie Mae II securities program to improve the pricing on federally guaranteed mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Net Off by 52%
January 20, 2003A big writedown in the value of Fannie Mae's derivatives reduced its fourth-quarter net earnings by 52% compared to a year earlier, but favorable margins and a strong business environment boosted operating income. (Read More)
Agency Invests In 138th Shop
January 20, 2003Fannie Mae has invested $1 million in Broadway Financial Corp., a community-oriented savings bank that originates mortgages in South Los Angeles and an area known as Mid-City. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Mortgage Purchases 2001-2002
January 20, 2003($ in Mils) (part 1 of 2) Year- Mort. Port. Portfolio MBS MBS Acq'd Month Holdings Growth Rate Purch. By Others Dec $705,167 17.00% $26,620 $39,984 Total 01 na 16.10% $180,583 $344,739 Aug '02 $746,744 5.10% $14,447 $36,042 Sept $751,423 8.90% $19,204 $44,819 Oct $751,347 -0.10% $19,043 $62,280 Nov $760,759 16.10% $33,535 $47,791 Dec $790,800 59.20% $51,947 $45,884 YTD na 12.90% $245,039 $478,260 %chg 12-01-12 12% na 95% 15% (part 2 of 2) Year- Multi- Total Port MBS Total Month Fam(1) Purch.(2) Issued(3) Purch.(4) Dec $1,374 $36,769 $66,604 $103,373 Total 01 $8,143 $270,584 $525,322 $795,907 Aug '02 $473 $23,123 $50,489 $73,612 Sept $406 $33,518 $64,023 $97,541 Oct $556 $32,853 $81,323 $114,176 Nov $676 $47,807 $81,326 $129,133 Dec $1,188 $67,891 $97,831 $165,722 YTD $7,491 $370,641 $723,299 $1,093,940 %chg 12-01-12 -14% 85% 47% 60% Notes: (1) Multifamily volume listed above represents portfolio purchases only. (2) Includes mortgage securities purchased. (3) MBS originated by lenders only. (4) Total purchases includes product purchased for portfolio and lender originated MBS. (Read More)
U.S. Mortgage-Backed Securities
January 20, 2003(part 1 of 2) 1-1-02 -- 12-31-02 Proceeds* Mkt # of Managers ($Mil) Rk Sh Issues UBS Warburg 105923.8 1 13.8 99 Bear Stearns & Co Inc 92647.9 2 12.1 154 Lehman Brothers 86255.3 3 11.2 139 Credit Suisse 1st Bosto 84528.1 4 11 111 Goldman Sachs & Co. 72587.2 5 9.5 70 Citigroup-SSB 72436.7 6 9.4 73 Royal Bank of Scotland 51735.7 7 6.7 70 Banc of America Securit 46832.1 8 6.1 79 Morgan Stanley 35819.5 9 4.7 46 Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc 29459.7 10 3.8 45 (part 2o f 2) 1-1-01 -- 12-31-01 Proceeds* Mkt # of Managers ($Mil) Rk Sh Issues UBS Warburg 89314.6 1 15 113 Bear Stearns & Co Inc 77976 3 13.1 125 Lehman Brothers 62275.5 6 10.4 125 Credit Suisse 1st Bosto 67162 4 11.3 119 Goldman Sachs & Co. 83156.8 2 13.9 64 Citigroup-SSB 63102 5 10.6 81 Royal Bank of Scotland 35065.3 8 5.9 64 Banc of America Securit 37795.2 7 6.3 69 Morgan Stanley 8064 12 1.4 26 Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc 24356.8 9 4.1 62 * Full to Book Manager (Equal if Joint). (Read More)
Flood Insurance Program Is Back in Business
January 20, 2003Insurance companies resumed processing federal flood insurance applications last week after President George Bush signed a bill that reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program for one year. The bill (H.R. 11) retroactively reauthorizes the NFIP to Dec. 31, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency's authority to issue flood insurance policies lapsed due to a congressional oversight. But the House and Senate quickly corrected this oversight by passing H.R. 11 during the first week of the new Congress. (Read More)
Morgan Hires Bank 1 Executive for Conduit
January 20, 2003Investment banker Morgan Stanley has hired the national sales manager of Bank One Arizona to manage its residential conduit. (Read More)
MBS Volume Tops Old Record by 28% as Issuance Passes $700 Billion
January 20, 2003Mortgage-backed securities underwriting volume in the United States totaled $767.64 billion in 2002, up 28.6% from the $597.05 billion recorded in 2001, according to Thomson Financial, a National Mortgage News affiliate. (Read More)
Fannie Vice Chair Gorelick Departing
January 20, 2003Fannie Mae vice chair Jamie Gorelick is leaving the secondary giant in July to serve on a new bipartisan commission that will investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. (Read More)
Editorial: Revolution 1.0
January 20, 2003The Mortgage Industry Standard Maintenance Organization gets a big tip of the hat for its recent release of its long-awaited eMortgage Guidelines 1.0. Perhaps an alternate name for the package could be Revolution 1.0. (Read More)
Open Forum: Behind the Do Not Call Rule
January 20, 2003Mr. Muris appeared before the Committee on Energy and Commerce regarding Do Not Call Amendments to the FTC'S Telemarketing Sales Rule xcerpts of his prepared statement are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Change May Not Necessarily Be Unhealthy for the Mortgage Industry
January 20, 2003Perhaps the biggest concern - at least on the part of those that have benefited of late from the market's status quo - has been that the economy will improve, rates will rise, refinancing will stall and times will get tougher for the mortgage business. (Read More)
Impairment Pops Up In 4th Qtr Earnings
January 20, 2003As early earnings reports started to come in last week, it was clear that many lenders were once again seeing "impairment" to their mortgage servicing rights as a result of refinancing activity. (Read More)
Michigan Law Will Pre-Empt Local 'Predatory Lending' Statutes
January 20, 2003Gov. John Engler has signed a bill that will pre-empt any laws enacted by Michigan municipalities to regulate the activities of the state's mortgage industry. The mortgage industry leaders eagerly anticipated the governor's signature on House Bill 6121, which became effective upon signing. (Read More)
S&P Expects Modest Drop in Issuance
January 20, 2003Mortgage-backed securities issuance in 2003 is likely to fall short of 2002's record-breaking highs, but remain relatively strong as subprime and second lien volumes partially offset moderating refinancing, Standard & Poor's has reported. (Read More)
Global CMBS Strength Offsets U.S. Decline
January 20, 2003In spite of problems relating to the pricing and availability of terrorism insurance, which especially impacted single-property deals, 2002 was a good year for the issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)
Freddie Mac's Mortgage Lending Platform Uses GATORs Technology
January 20, 2003BCE Emergis, the Canadian firm Freddie sold its online assets to late last year, has announced that after a two-year collaboration with General American Corp., Freddie's electronic partner network will be based on GAC's GATORs technology, which BCE will license. The addition of third-party mortgage services to its loanprospector.com Web portal is the first step in Freddie Mac's plan to provide an end-to-end online environment for mortgage originators. (Read More)
Vendor Interfaces to DataTrac
January 20, 2003Document Processing Systems Inc., a provider of residential mortgage closing document services, has launched a new interface linking its Direct-Docs on the Web doc prep application to Del Mar Database's DataTrac mortgage banking software. (Read More)
Freddie: LP Evaluates 8.2M Loans in '02
January 20, 2003Freddie Mac has reported that its Loan Prospector automated underwriting service evaluated its 25 millionth loan in 2002, one of some 8.2 million loans run through the system during the period. (Read More)
Loan Prospector Volume
January 20, 2003Year Volume 1995 38,248 1996 203,424 1997 528,809 1998 2,070,000 1999 3,030,000 2000 3,080,000 2001 7,380,000 2002 8,200,000 Source: Freddie Mac Copyright c 2003 Thomson Media. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Advanced Collateral Joins FNC Network
January 20, 2003Advanced Collateral Solutions, Bloomington, Minn., has formed strategic alliance with FNC here that will make ACS accessible to FNC's clients through the service provider's integration with FNC's Collateral Management System. (Read More)
Merrill Says Annaly Is a Stock to Buy
January 20, 2003Despite high volatility related to interest rate movements, analysts at Merrill Lynch say that Annaly Mortgage Management represents a 'buy' opportunity for investors. (Read More)
Mortgage Banking Helps National City
January 20, 2003Analysts at Sandler O'Neill say National City Corp., Cleveland, has benefited from strong mortgage banking revenue, and that contribution is expected to continue in the near term. (Read More)
REITs Look Good Compared to Other Stocks in 2002
January 20, 2003Equity real estate investment trusts outperformed the S&P 500 index in 2002 with a total return of 4.0%, compared to a total return decline of 22.2% for the S&P 500, according to SNL Financial. Sectorwise, retail REITs turned in the best performance for the period, and multifamily REITs the worst. (Read More)
Creativity Required to Finance Mixed-Income Housing in New York City
January 20, 2003Housing specialists find mixed-income developments a viable solution to providing long-term affordable housing - if one is ready to face the challenge of combining complex financing with social needs. (Read More)
Availability of Financing Will Shape New York Construction Prospects
January 20, 2003Financing is "the big question" when it comes to how the construction market in this city will shape up this year, according to a report released by the New York Building Congress last month. (Read More)
Financing for NY Development
January 20, 2003Fannie Mae and J.P. Morgan Chase Bank have agreed to credit enhance $44 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by the New York City Housing Development Corp. for the development of a 231-unit apartment building in East Harlem. (Read More)
Hovnanian Acquires Another Builder
January 20, 2003Builder Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., here, has acquired Brighton Homes, Houston, Texas, for an undisclosed cash price. (Read More)
GMAC Commercial Restructures Office
January 20, 2003GMAC Commercial Holding Corp., GMAC Financial Service' s commercial real estate financing arm, has formed a new "office of the chairman" that will serve as the company's "senior decision-making body" and named four top executives to the office. (Read More)
Trizec to Take Over Landmark Sears Tower
January 20, 2003Trizec Properties will be assuming ownership of the Sears Tower in January 2003 "with the passage of time" and not as an option, Timothy Callahan, president and CEO of the real estate investment trust stressed in a Trizec conference call. (Read More)
Berkeley Economist Foresees Another Dip into Recession in '03
January 20, 2003Ken Rosen, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, believes that there is a 60% chance that the economy will slide back into recession in 2003 and a 40 % chance of a "slow recovery." (Read More)
Staying Afloat
January 20, 2003It's no secret that delinquency and default rates have edged up during the last two years. A slow economy, widespread corporate layoffs, and mounting consumer debt have conspired to put some homeowners under water financially. (Read More)
Fiserv Buys Default Services FirmTo Enhance Asset Sales Technology
January 20, 2003Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, WI, has acquired Lenders Financial Services, Agoura Hills, Calif., a nationally recognized provider of default mortgage management products and services. (Read More)
London Bridge Creates New Interface
January 20, 2003London Bridge Group has completed a data integration tool developed for its LenStar default management attorney referral system called the LenStar Black Box. Designed for both attorneys and lenders, the tool provides a bi-directional interface between a customer's servicing or case management system and the Internet version of LenStar. (Read More)
Investors Show Growing Interest in 'Reperforming' Loan Market
January 20, 2003An investor base for "scratch and dent" mortgage loans is growing, which may be good news for servicers and issuers working with re- performing and subperforming mortgage loans. (Read More)
Subprime Delinquency Rates at 9-30-02
January 20, 2003(Based on Number of Loans Serviced) (part 1 of 3) Rank Organization Name 1 Washington Mutual 2 Homecomings-GMAC-RFC 3 Fairbanks Capital Corp. (Read More)
Prime Delinquency Rates at 9-30-02
January 20, 2003(Based on Number of Loans Serviced) (part 1 of 3) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Pulte Mortgage Englewood, CO 2 Guardian Mortgage Richardson, TX 3 Washington Fed Savings Seattle, WA 4 Capitol FS & LA Topeka, KS 5 Plymouth Savings Bank Middleboro, MA 6 Union Bank of Californ San Diego, CA 7 Downey Savings & Loan Newport Beach, CA 8 CUNA Mortgage Corp. Madison, WI 9 Associated Mortgage Depere, WI 10 Astoria FS & LA Lake Success, NY 11 USAA Federal Savings Bk San Antonio, TX 12 Metropolitan B & T Highland Hills, OH 13 State Employees CU Raleigh, NC 14 B.F. Saul Mtg.- Chevy Chase Bank Bethesda, MD 15 CDC Mortgage Capital New York, NY 16 AmSouth Mortgage Birmingham, AL 17 NVR Mortgage Finance Pittsburg, PA 18 Midwest Loan Services Houghton, MI 19 TCF Mortgage Corp. Minneapolis, MN 20 America First CU Riverdale, UT (part 2 of 3) No. Lns Pct Loans Pct 30+ Rk Serviced Past Due Days 1 6,273 0.29% 0.22% 2 23,145 0.57% 0.35% 3 39,035 0.65% 0.26% 4 54,254 0.86% 0.00% 5 22,059 0.90% 0.74% 6 27,583 1.09% 0.82% 7 87,661 1.17% 0.69% 8 89,050 1.29% 0.94% 9 97,593 1.31% 1.15% 10 75,764 1.33% 0.90% 11 166,136 1.41% 1.00% 12 20,296 1.42% 0.84% 13 50,633 1.75% 1.22% 14 65,855 1.78% 1.21% 15 6,680 1.79% 1.20% 16 312,496 1.80% 0.83% 17 3,592 1.95% 1.20% 18 6,454 2.00% 2.00% 19 80,547 2.10% 1.30% 20 7,336 2.20% 0.91% Top 20 Totals: 1,242,442 1.47% 0.89% Totals Submitted: 20,358,67 5.01% 2.36% (part 3 of 3) Pct 60+ Pct 90+ Foreclo- Rk Days Days sures 1 0.03% 0.03% 0.00% 2 0.10% 0.08% 0.04% 3 0.10% 0.29% 0.00% 4 0.60% 0.06% 0.20% 5 0.11% 0.04% 0.01% 6 0.15% 0.01% 0.11% 7 0.16% 0.33% ** 8 0.15% 0.10% 0.10% 9 0.05% 0.12% 0.00% 10 0.15% 0.15% 0.13% 11 0.15% 0.05% 0.21% 12 0.17% 0.11% 0.30% 13 0.30% 0.20% ** 14 0.27% 0.20% 0.10% 15 0.24% 0.22% 0.13% 16 0.26% 0.64% 0.06% 17 0.30% 0.10% 0.35% 18 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 19 0.30% 0.20% 0.30% 20 0.52% 0.59% 0.18% Top 20 Totals: 0.80% 0.81% 0.10% Totals Submitted: 0.80% 0.81% 0.54% Notes: Foreclosures are included in the 90+ day rate. Firms ranked by % of loans past due. (Read More)
Law Firm Sees Rising Foreclosure Referral Business
January 20, 2003Contrary to conventional wisdom, not all recessions lead to an increase in defaults and foreclosures, according to a real estate attorney here who heads a national trade group of foreclosure attorneys. (Read More)
USFN Schedules Events for 2003
January 20, 2003The USFN, a trade group representing mortgage banking attorneys, plans a number of industry seminars this year. (Read More)
Setback Fails to Deter Interest in Europe
January 20, 2003Although Alltel, Little Rock, Ark., and Bradford & Bingley, West Yorkshire, England, have recently dissolved their U.K. third-party loan administration partnership and consultants have called the United Kingdom a challenging market in which to introduce U.S.-style servicing outsourcing, at least two providers in the states still believe the European market holds default management-related opportunities for U.S. (Read More)
Foreclosures Hit New Record?
January 20, 2003The bad news is that the number of home loans in foreclosure reached a record high in the third quarter. The good news is that fewer loans were in foreclosure than during the second quarter. (Read More)
'02 Vintage Pushes Default Rate Down
January 20, 2003Despite a slow economy, Moody's Investors Service says that last year's subprime mortgage loans pooled into securities are performing significantly better than other recent vintages. (Read More)
Banks See Improvement in Consumer Credit Woes
January 20, 2003Delinquency rates on home equity loans, lines of credit and mobile home loans all declined or stayed flat in the third quarter as banks saw modest improvement in consumer loan problems overall, according to a quarterly survey from the American Bankers Association. (Read More)
S&P Expects Rise in Commercial Delinquency Rate
January 20, 2003A rise in commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquencies is anticipated by Standard & Poor's. Although commercial mortgage-backed securities have performed well creditwise in the last decade, their performance is tied to the state of the economy. (Read More)
Moody's Finds Small Town Blues
January 20, 2003The smaller the town, the greater the chance a commercial mortgage loan will become delinquent, according to a Moody's Investors Service study of commercial mortgage-backed securities. (Read More)
Lenders Ambiguous About Going Electronic with Default Documents
January 20, 2003Now under evaluation by the federal government is the question of whether notices of housing foreclosures, repossessions and defaults should be given legal standing if sent out in electronic form. (Read More)
LOGS Promotes Three Executives
January 20, 2003LOGS Financial Services, which offers outsourced default management services for lenders, has promoted three senior executives. (Read More)
INFO1 Partners with Transamerica
January 20, 2003INFO1 Holding Company, a national provider of credit information for the mortgage industry, has formed a strategic alliance with Transamerica Flood Hazard Certification, one of the nation's largest flood zone determination companies. Under the agreement, INFO1 will resell Transamerica's flood determination services. (Read More)
Cendant Mortgage Agrees to Indemnify HUD on FHA Losses
January 20, 2003Cendant Mortgage Corp. has agreed to indemnify the Department of Housing and Urban Development for actual and future losses on approximately 1,000 Federal Housing Administration loans that were improperly endorsed for federal mortgage insurance. (Read More)
OFHEO Director Concerned About Rate Risk at GSEs
January 20, 2003The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight director is raising concerns about the continuing growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's investment portfolios and their ability to manage the interest rate risk associated with holding long-term mortgage assets. (Read More)
N.J. Lender Hires Ex-Bear MGD as Advisor
January 20, 2003Homestar Mortgage Services here, a fast growing residential lender, has hired former Bear Stearns senior managing director Dale Kurland as an advisor. (Read More)
Subprime Lenders Forming a Group
January 20, 2003A group of subprime lenders has formed the Coalition for Fair and Affordable Lending in the hope that it can obtain federal legislation that will set a national standard for nonconforming mortgage lending. (Read More)
B&C Lender's Rates Quite Low
January 20, 2003It used to be that subprime lenders were known for charging borrowers at least five points above the conventional rate. But no more. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
January 20, 2003MIEC Index: 147.5; Change: -1.5 (part 1 of 2) 1-9-03 1-16-03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk-lo Alltel (AT) 54.50 51.70 -5% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)54.34 53.15 -2% 37.60 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 27.17 26.62 -2% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 53.11 53.66 1% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 34.74 33.43 -4% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 68.46 68.80 0% 58.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 63.20 63.68 1% 52.60 Golden West (GDW) 74.70 74.43 0% 56.20 Household (HI) 28.50 28.36 0% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 37.35 37.64 1% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 45.58 44.25 -3% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 29.75 27.78 -7% 11.80 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 20.20 20.17 0% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 48.24 47.02 -3% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 31.85 30.75 -3% 24.82 Radian Group (RDN) 40.45 40.72 1% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 10.66 10.86 2% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 39.30 39.94 2% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 36.65 35.16 -4% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk-hi % Chg fr 52 wk P-E Ratio Alltel (AT) 58.50 46% 21.72 Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC) 55.00 41% 9.87 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM 38.75 74% 15.84 Centex Corp. (CTX) 63.09 40% 8.13 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 49% 25.91 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 17% 11.37 Freddie Mac (FRE) 69.50 21% 8.44 Golden West (GDW) 74.94 32% 12.36 Household (HI) 63.25 42% 7.34 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.20 49% 7.87 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 32% 7.32 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 135% 4.78 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 25% 8.54 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 13% 21.08 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 24% 8.22 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 39% 9.53 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 38% 18.72 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.5 30% 12.52 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 26% 9.96 (1) % change from 52-week low. Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
People
January 20, 2003CALIFORNIA Irvine-Greenlight Financial has named Jeffrey Lisinicchia as CFO. (Read More)
(back to top)
January 27, 2003
Wow! Wells Shatters Production Record by 65%
January 27, 2003Wells Fargo Home Mortgage shattered its own record for a single company's annual lending volume last year. The company produced $333 billion of loans in 2002, a whopping 65% increase from a year earlier. (Read More)
LOCs at GMAC Approach $10B
January 27, 2003As the production market goes, so goes the warehouse lending market, and what a year it's been for the nation's No. 1 provider of warehouse lines to mortgage bankers, GMAC-RFC. (Read More)
Bush Stimulus May Cut Rates
January 27, 2003The Mortgage Bankers Association is putting its full weight behind the president's economic stimulus plan, which it feels may lower interest rates, and the trade group is making passage of a predatory lending bill a major priority this year. (Read More)
Is GA Closing for Business?
January 27, 2003Legislation is expected to be introduced here today that would help alleviate some of the legal liabilities surrounding the now infamous Georgia Fair Lending Act, which apparently is grinding all secondary market business in the state to a halt. (Read More)
Freddie Mac to Restate Nets
January 27, 2003Freddie Mac caused a bit of a stir in the market last week when it announced that it would restate earnings for 2002, 2001 and possibly 2000 due to a reinterpretation of hedge accounting done under its prior (now defunct) auditor Arthur Andersen. (Read More)
Internet Originations Explode in 3Q
January 27, 2003Third-quarter 2002 data provided by our affiliate, the Quarterly Data Report, indicate that the Internet, while still a wildly successful business-to-business wholesale lending channel, has moved beyond B2B to become a viable origination channel for retail mortgage lenders - and in a big way. On average, retail online originations for the top 20 reporting lenders more than doubled, growing 126% overall. (Read More)
Wells Fargo
January 27, 2003(Production Volumes: To Infinity and Beyond!) Year Prod Vol # of Loans Avg Ln Size 2002 $333,000 1,700,000 $195,882 2001 $202,000 1,103,753 $174,284 2000 $63,567 488,882 $150,694 1999 $81,994 602,400 $136,112 1998 $109,459 817,601 $133,867 1997 $55,270 445,601 $124,035 (Production volumes in millions, others in units.) Notes: Wells produces loans through three different channels: retail, wholesale, and correspondent. (Read More)
Top Retail Online Originators in Q3-02
January 27, 2003($ in Mils) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Credit Ind. Calabasas, CA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 E*Trade Menlo Park, CA 4 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 5 ABN Amro Mtg Ann Arbor, MI 6 Quicken Loans Livonia, MI 7 E-Loan Dublin, CA 8 GMAC Mtg Horsham, PA 9 Bank of America Charlotte, NC 10 HomeBanc Mtg Corp. Atlanta, GA (part 2 of 2) Online Retail Online Retail Pct Rk Orig Vol Q3-02 Orig Vol Q3-01 Chg 1 $5,250 $3,516 49% 2 $3,953 $1,095 261% 3 $1,846 $1,291 43% 4 $1,776 na na 5 $1,599 $94 1603% 6 $1,154 $606 90% 7 $1,108 $709 56% 8 $938 $498 88% 9 $586 $127 361% 10 $517 $349 48% Notes: QDR defines an online origination as any new loan where the consumer applied or pre-applied online. Some firms such as Countrywide include their tele-sales numbers in with their online volume. (BC) Company is heavily involved in subprime lending. (Read More)
Advocates Say Bush Tax Plan Undermines Low-Income Housing Credit
January 27, 2003President George Bush's proposal to end double taxation of corporate dividends could severely undercut demand for low-income housing tax credits and possibly cut off a primary source of federal funding for the construction and renovation of affordable rental housing, according to housing advocates and some members of Congress. (Read More)
Fidelity to Buy Lender's Service in Bid to Bundle More Business
January 27, 2003In a deal the parties said would create "the best solution provider in the business," Fidelity National Financial Inc. has announced its agreement to acquire Lender's Service Inc. (Read More)
Lehman Veteran Joins Appintell
January 27, 2003Stephen Gott has been named CEO of St. Louis-based Appintell, a provider of data integrity and risk management solutions for the consumer lending industry. Mr. Gott's responsibilities in the new position will include the planning and executing of strategies for growing demand of the company's suite of products. (Read More)
Editorial: Never a Dull Moment
January 27, 2003Attendees of the annual Mortgage Technology Conference to be held later this week in Miami should be in the right place at the right time to get a sense of what direction the new year may bring in industry automation. (Read More)
Open Forum: Benefits and Obligations of GSEs
January 27, 2003Mr. Falcon recently offered an assessment of federal policy and expectations regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the Exchequer Club in Washington xcerpts of his speech are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
GSE's Planned Earnings Restatement Raises More FAS 133 Questions
January 27, 2003Freddie Mac and its new auditors are considering restating their earnings going back a couple years for the better and I want to be calm and even hopeful about this. But I, like investors in the market last week, have found myself being a little unsettled by it. (Read More)
Hanover Trade Gets FDIC Web Auction Nod
January 27, 2003HanoverTrade Inc., Chicago, has been selected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to be its private-label provider of website- based asset auctions. (Read More)
NAHB Praises FHA for Opening Door to More New Home Financing
January 27, 2003Effective immediately, the Federal Housing Administration will no longer require approval of an entire planned unit development as a precondition for insuring mortgages on houses in that particular project. (Read More)
Home Builders Want Secondary for ADC
January 27, 2003Armed for the first time with data showing the superior performance of construction loans, the National Association of Home Builders is stepping up its pursuit of additional sources of production financing. (Read More)
NAHB Backs MFP Enhancement
January 27, 2003The National Association of Home Builders has given its "strong support" to the plan by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago's plan to add a shared funding enhancement to its highly successful Mortgage Finance Partnership program. (Read More)
Immigration Changes Won't Hurt Housing
January 27, 2003Fears that a change in immigration policy could throw cold water on the hot housing market are unfounded, according to the director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. (Read More)
Builders Leave Big Money in Las Vegas
January 27, 2003Last week's National Association of Home Builders convention will leave the fastest growing town in America at least $140 million richer. (Read More)
Raines Warns of Housing Shortage in Years Ahead
January 27, 2003For Fannie Mae chairman Franklin Raines, the worry isn't about a housing price bubble. It's the about housing supply. (Read More)
NAHB Could Revise Its Forecast Upward
January 27, 2003Buoyed by the latest housing starts report, the chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders is thinking about boosting his already rosy housing forecast for 2003. (Read More)
Marshall & Swift Buys LoopNet's AppraiserLoop
January 27, 2003Marshall & Swift Inc., a provider of residential and commercial real estate cost data and appraisal technologies, has purchased LoopNet's Internet-based subscription service, AppraiserLoop. The deal will give LoopNet, a commercial real estate information services provider, more time to focus on its online commercial listing service online, while it gives Marshall & Swift a tool that combines a variety of data sources and management tools into one comprehensive package. (Read More)
CASA Being Used For First Liens
January 27, 2003Principal Residential Mortgage Inc., Des Moines, ranked 12th among national lenders by volume according to NMN affiliate, the Quarterly Data Report, has selected Case Shiller Weiss to implement a customized collateral risk assessment system. CSW is a unit of Fiserv Inc. (Read More)
Credit Suisse Selects New Portfolio Product
January 27, 2003Credit Suisse First Boston will be the first user of Factual Data Corp.'s DISSCOScan portfolio evaluation tool for its due diligence efforts in the evaluation of bulk loan purchases prior to securitization. (Read More)
AFSA to Develop Voluntary Standards for Electronic Consumer Contracts
January 27, 2003American Financial Services Association, a trade group for many of the nation's largest consumer credit companies, has announced plans to develop voluntary standards for the transmission, storage, service and certification of electronic contracts. (Read More)
Experts Question How New CMBS Structures Will Hold Up in Court
January 27, 2003Standard & Poor's is concerned that the legal and structural provisions that some forms of CMBS securitization are built on have never been tested. (Read More)
Roundup: Moody's Puts CMBS on Watch
January 27, 2003The ratings on the most subordinate class from each of nine commercial mortgage-backed transactions have been placed on watch for possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)
WaMu Capital to Open NYC Office
January 27, 2003WaMu Capital Corp., a fixed-income institutional broker-dealer and subsidiary of mortgage lending giant Washington Mutual, has reported that it will be opening a New York sales office in Midtown Manhattan by the end of March. (Read More)
Roundup: Fitch Ratings Downgrades Several Classes of GMAC CMBS Deals
January 27, 2003Four classes of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-C3, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)
S&P: Reforms Failing to Stimulate Hong Kong Market
January 27, 2003While this special administrative region within China has been working to address its mortgage-related challenges, on the whole, the outlook for the market this year is "somewhat bleak," according to S&P. (Read More)
Bank Group Forms New Risk Committee
January 27, 2003The American Bankers Association has created an operating risk committee to help bankers reduce losses and comply with new capital requirements established by the international Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. (Read More)
Demand Down in the U.K.
January 27, 2003Although United Kingdom mortgage lending has been "consistently strong" since June, demand for home equity and purchase loans appears to have begun to weaken somewhat, the British Bankers Association reported. (Read More)
United Kingdom Leads Growing European MBS Market
January 27, 2003European securitization of mortgage and non-mortgage assets combined exceeded analysts' expectations in 2002 despite the presence of global credit concerns, Moody's Investors Service's office here has reported. (Read More)
Trusts Expected to Offer MBS Deals in Singapore
January 27, 2003Property trusts here are expected to become active issuers of commercial mortgage-backed securities debt over time, bolstering volumes in this market, Standard & Poor's has reported. (Read More)
Mills Buys Six Retail Properties
January 27, 2003The Mills Corp. is acquiring six retail properties in two different transactions for a total purchase price of approximately $621 million. (Read More)
Moody's Downgrades Two CMBS Deals
January 27, 2003Two classes of LB Commercial Mortgage Trust commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1998-C4, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)
S&P Surprised by Strong CMBS Performance
January 27, 2003The delinquency performance of North American commercial mortgage-packed securities last year was impressive and "somewhat surprising" in view of the economic slump, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)
CRE Transactions at a Glance
January 27, 2003* GMACCM has provided $32.5 million in floating rate financing for the acquisition of the 176,327 sq. foot The Prime Outlets of Puerto Rico retail center. (Read More)
Charter Mac to Pay $338 Million For Ownership of Related Capital
January 27, 2003Charter Mac is acquiring Related Capital Co. in a transaction valued at up to $338 million that will enable the multifamily financier to become a "self-advised and self-managed company." (Read More)
Analyst Trims Estimate for First Merit's 2003 Business
January 27, 2003First Merit Corp., Akron, Ohio, banking company, saw first-quarter earnings fall shy of expectations, and analysts at Sandler O'Neill have trimmed their estimate for First Merit's 2003 performance as well. (Read More)
Thornburg Doubles Earnings; Celebrates 10 Yrs on the NYSE
January 27, 2003Niche lender Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., last week announced 2002 earnings of $120 million, compared to $58.5 million in 2001, and earnings per common share of $2.60, an increase of 24% compared to $2.09 in 2001. (Read More)
GreenPoint Sees 23% Rise in 2002 Income
January 27, 2003GreenPoint Financial reported record net income of $5.53 per diluted share from continuing operations in 2002, up 23% from $4.50 per diluted share in 2001. (Read More)
Fiserv Reports Record Earnings
January 27, 2003Fiserv, a provider of both loan origination and loan servicing systems as well as other banking related technology, has reported record earnings for 2002. (Read More)
People
January 27, 2003CALIFORNIA Los Angeles-Richard Hart and Kevin Wieland have joined Legg Mason Real Estate Investors Inc. as principals in the firm's Los Angeles office. Messrs. Hart and Wieland will be responsible for originating new investments for the company. (Read More)
Cities Object to Federal Pre-Emption
January 27, 2003City governments around the country are introducing and passing resolutions opposing any effort by the federal government to pre-empt state or local predatory lending laws. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
January 27, 2003MIEC Index: 144.0; Change: -3.5 (part 1 of 2) 1-16-03 1-23-03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk-lo Alltel (AT) 51.70 48.99 -5% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 53.15 54.08 2% 37.60 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 26.62 25.05 -6% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 53.66 53.82 0% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 33.43 32.68 -2% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 68.80 67.55 -2% 58.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 63.68 60.93 -4% 52.60 Golden West (GDW) 74.43 73.92 -1% 56.20 Household (HI) 28.36 27.39 -3% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 37.64 38.07 1% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 44.25 43.63 -1% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 27.78 28.05 1% 11.80 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 20.17 19.49 -3% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 47.02 47.78 2% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 30.75 29.56 -4% 24.82 Radian Group (RDN) 40.72 37.74 -7% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 10.86 11.2 3% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 39.94 35.76 -10% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 35.16 34.49 -2% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk-hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P-E Ratio Alltel (AT) 58.50 39% 20.58 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 55.00 44% na J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 64% 14.91 Centex Corp. (CTX) 63.09 40% 8.15 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 45% 23.85 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 15% 10.70 Freddie Mac (FRE) 69.20 16% 8.08 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 32% 12.27 Household (HI) 63.25 37% 8.50 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.20 51% 7.96 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 30% 7.22 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 138% 4.82 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 21% 8.25 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 15% 15.12 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 19% 7.90 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 28% 8.83 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 42% 19.31 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 16% 10.96 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 24% 8.51 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
WaMu Reports Record EPS, Lending Volume
January 27, 2003Citing both record mortgage lending volume of $275 billion and strong deposit growth, Washington Mutual reported fourth-quarter earnings of $969 million, and record earnings per share of $1.03 for the fourth quarter of 2002. On a per share basis, fourth-quarter earnings are up 6% from the same period a year earlier, WaMu said. (Read More)
$119B for AAMG; Mortgage.com Zooms
January 27, 2003ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc. here set a company record with $119 billion in volume for 2002, and its Mortgage.com operation is the fastest growing unit of the business. This is up 44% from the 2001 total of $83 billion. In the fourth quarter alone, the various production channels of AAMG did $40.95 billion. (Read More)
Third Party Online Originators in Q3-02
January 27, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Credit Industries Calabasas, CA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 ABN Amro Mortgage Ann Arbor, MI 4 WMC Mortgage Corp. (BC) Woodland Hills, CA 5 Principal Residential Mtg Des Moines, IA 6 CitiMortgage, Inc. St. Louis, MO 7 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 8 Ohio Savings Bank, F.S.B. Cleveland, OH 9 IndyMac Bancorp, Inc. Pasadena, CA 10 GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Novato, CA (part 2 of 2) Online B2B Online B2B Percent Rank Origination Q3/02 Origination Q3/01 Change 1 $22,452 $12,382 81% 2 $21,381 $1,761 1114% 3 $19,550 $11,780 66% 4 $7,470 $345 2067% 5 $5,256 na na 6 $4,709 $2,235 111% 7 $4,060 na na 8 $3,871 na na 9 $3,304 $3,485 -5% 10 $3,170 na na Top 10 Totals: $95,223 31,988 198% Submitted Total: $101,936 35,296 189% Notes: Third-party volume consists of wholesale and correspondent volume done over the internet. Some firms report online TPO volumes in different ways which may account for discrepancies. (BC) This firm produces most subprime loans. (Read More)
RESPA Split Idea May Not Work
January 27, 2003The idea of splitting the Department of Housing and Urban Development's settlement services bundling proposal into two packages does not appear to be a compromise that will appease the major antagonists in the debate over mortgage reform. (Read More)
ARM Lender Posts Record '02 Volume
January 27, 2003Golden West Financial, parent of World Savings Bank, reported record mortgage lending volume and earnings-per-share growth in 2002. (Read More)
MPF Reports 68% Growth Last Year
January 27, 2003The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago's Mortgage Partnership Finance program ended 2002 with $41.7 billion of loans outstanding, and the Chicago FHLB says the program is gaining market share. (Read More)
(back to top)
February 3, 2003
FNF Set to Purchase Alltel
February 3, 2003Fidelity National Financial here, which has been on an acquisition binge, struck again last week - this time, agreeing to buy the financial services division of technology giant, Alltel, Little Rock, Ark. (Read More)
BoA GSE Exit Highlights Concern
February 3, 2003A little more than a year ago, Freddie Mac threw down the gauntlet on "guarantee fee" discounts, telling its seller-servicers that it was establishing a fee floor of 16 basis points. (Read More)
Principal Shuts Down Retail
February 3, 2003In what may be a sign of the future of the retail mortgage business, Principal Residential Mortgage Inc. here announced it will close its 78 traditional retail loan production offices. (Read More)
FNM Grows, Controls Risk
February 3, 2003Fannie Mae chairman Franklin Raines, in a Webcast Wall Street conference here last week, sought to convince investors that the government-sponsored enterprise is a relatively low-risk company with a dominant position as a low-cost provider in the market for mortgages outstanding - a market that he said is growing long term at a rate faster than many others. (Read More)
Freddie Has Record Year for Purchases
February 3, 2003Freddie Mac acquired $91.22 billion in home mortgages during December, yet another record month for the secondary market giant. (Read More)
'Tech Should Court Borrowers'
February 3, 2003While lenders should be proud of their accomplishments over the past year, William Newman, CEO of ABN Amro Mortgage Group, told the audience as the keynote speaker at the 6th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference here last week that lenders should take care not to give too much credit for last year's lending environment to their own efforts. (Read More)
Top Residential Lenders and Their GSE Preferences
February 3, 2003(Dollars in Billions) (Strategic Alliances) Current Lender 2002 Favorite Rank Name Annual Volume GSE (1) 1 Wells Fargo $333 Freddie Mac 2 Wash. Mutual $306 Fannie Mae 3 Countrywide $250 Fannie Mae 4 Chase (p) $154 Fannie-Freddie 5 ABN Amro $119 Freddie Mac TOTALS: $1,162 Notes: Annualized volume is for 2002 and does NOT represent how much in loans the lender sold to either GSE. (1) "Favorite GSE" was determined by NMN analyzing HMDA data, judging whether a lender sold disproportionate amount of its conventional production to one or the other. (p) Preliminary. (Read More)
Freddie Mac Mortgage Holdings-Purchases
February 3, 2003($ in Mils) (2001-2002) (part 1 of 2) Year- Total Retained PCs Held Port. Grwth Month Portfolio in Port Rate (1) Sep-01 $470,850 $291,646 18.00% Oct $477,588 $296,499 6.20% Nov $483,911 $300,806 8.90% Dec $491,719 $301,961 11.90% Total-Bal. 01 $491,719 $301,961 14.40% Sep-02 $530,694 $327,835 3.60% Oct $536,389 $327,295 0.00% Nov $549,380 $334,172 7.30% Dec $568,173 $339,194 19.70% YTD Total-Ba $568,173 $339,194 13.30% %chg 12-01-12-02 16% 12% na (part 2 of 2) Year- Single-Famil Total Mtg Mtg PC Month Delinq. Purch (2) Issuance Sep-01 0.38% $35,710 $32,666 Oct 0.38% $36,786 $31,646 Nov 0.40% $44,397 $38,958 Dec 0.41% $61,299 $50,532 Total-Bal. 01 na $475,091 $389,611 Sep-02 0.38% $57,793 $46,369 Oct 0.39% $73,639 $60,516 Nov 0.40% $74,340 $62,354 Dec na $91,223 $73,184 YTD Total-Ba na $642,397 $547,046 %chg 12-01-12-02 na 49% 45% Notes: (1) Portfolio growth rate is an annualized rate.(2) Preliminary. (Read More)
Freddie Closes Record Amount Of Multifamily
February 3, 2003Freddie Mac has closed 2002 with a "record" $14.3 billion in multifamily lending volume, the government-sponsored enterprise has reported. (Read More)
Critics Resume Calls for GSE Scrutiny
February 3, 2003Attacks on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are coming early this year as FM Watch and the Financial Services Roundtable issued warnings and reports about the continued growth of the government-sponsored enterprises and the risks they could pose to the financial system. (Read More)
GFLA Relief Introduced
February 3, 2003Legislation was introduced here last week that would give mortgage funders and investors some relief from the Georgia Fair Lending Act. (Read More)
OTS Pre-Empts NY Lending Laws
February 3, 2003The Office of Thrift Supervision has pre-empted New York state's anti-predatory lending law so that federally chartered thrifts and their operating subsidiaries will not be bound by the state's lending restrictions. (Read More)
Chairman of FHLB Regulator Counters Efforts to Restrict His Reach
February 3, 2003By a 3-2 vote, Federal Housing Finance Board chairman John Korsmo easily beat back an attempt by two Democratic board members to curb his powers in running the agency. (Read More)
Editorial: Hitting a Home Run
February 3, 2003We've been covering the mortgage industry for nearly two decades now, and we've never seen anything like it. You could compare it to baseball's home run record. It was an amazing thing when Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' decades-old single-season home run record by nine, making the record 70. And it was also amazing when, a couple of seasons later, Barry Bonds topped McGwire, with 73 round-trippers. (Read More)
Open Forum: Housing Demand Still Strong
February 3, 2003Secretary Martinez addressed the National Association of Home Builders at their annual convention in Las Vegas recently xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Higher Price Target and Risk Expected After Countrywide's Record 2002
February 3, 2003Countrywide Financial Corp. reported earnings per share growth of 50% compared to 2001 and set numerous company records in 2002. (Read More)
Net Income Rises at Three MIs After Decline at One
February 3, 2003While the nation's largest mortgage insurer reported a decline in net income between 2001 and 2002, its other three publicly traded competitors all said their net income increased during that time. (Read More)
Originations, MSR Gains Help Offset Charges at J.P. Morgan Chase
February 3, 2003J.P. Morgan Chase reported a net loss of $387 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.20 per share, as charges related to Enron litigation and merger costs weighed down positive results from the company's consumer banking unit. (Read More)
Farmer Mac Meets Goals Yet Suffers
February 3, 2003Farmer Mac says its fourth-quarter earnings were in line with analysts estimates, but the market responded unfavorably to news that accounting standards for derivatives and hedging activities reduced net income by $1.8 million in the fourth quarter of last year. (Read More)
'Immigrants, Etc., To Help Revive Sluggish Rentals'
February 3, 2003Despite challenges of a sluggish economy and strong incentives for homebuying, long-term forecasts for the rental housing market remain positive as demographic growth is expected to fuel demand from sources such as minorities, so-called lifestyle renters and immigrants. (Read More)
Nehemiah Donates $1 Million to HomeAid
February 3, 2003The Nehemiah Corp. has raised the ante of gift-giving. (Read More)
Wembley Asset Management
February 3, 2003Warehouse Outstandings: $200 million-$300 million (approximate, as of 1-24) Products Funded: conforming, jumbo, Alt A General Profile of Clientele: Mortgage bankers nationwide minimum net worth of $1 million Source: Wembley Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Post WTC, U.K.-Owned Warehouse Firm Proves Mettle
February 3, 2003U.S. mortgage warehouse services provider Wembley Asset Management, a subsidiary of the London-based ICAP plc (aka Garban Intercapital), first attempted to get started in August 2001 when it moved into the World Trade Center just about a month before the Manhattan skyscrapers were destroyed by terrorists. (Read More)
NAHB Fears Stimulus Plan's Long-Term Impact Might Hurt Housing
February 3, 2003The National Association of Home Builders is having trouble getting behind President Bush's economic stimulus package. (Read More)
Clayton Sees Decline in Net
February 3, 2003Manufactured housing company and mortgage services provider Clayton Homes Inc. has reported net income for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2002 of about $31 million, down 8% from the same fiscal period last year. Clayton notes that "last year's results included a nonrecurring two cent per share servicing gain from a $900 million portfolio acquisition." (Read More)
Weicher: No More FHA Disruptions
February 3, 2003Though the insurance premium to obtain the government's backing on apartment loans could go up in fiscal 2004, the program won't come to a grinding halt, Federal Housing Administration commissioner John Weicher said here last week. (Read More)
Texas Builder To Lead NAHB
February 3, 2003C. Kent Conine, a home and apartment builder from Dallas, has been elected 2003 president of the 205,000-member National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)
Commercial/MF Lending: War Tides Threaten
February 3, 2003In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers, commercial real estate lenders made obtaining a government backstop for terrorism insurance a priority. (Read More)
Evolution Spawns Mezzanine Use
February 3, 2003Paul Turovsky, fund manager for Deutsche Bank's DB Realty Mezzanine Investment Fund II, found the task of raising capital for a real estate mezzanine investment fund easier the second time around. (Read More)
Study: Don't Put All Eggs in Home Basket
February 3, 2003A new study done by economist Jack Goodman for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts rebuts the view that owning a house voids the merits of investing in real estate investment trusts. (Read More)
Moody's: Tempered Optimism for CRE
February 3, 2003All major commercial property types were either stable and in strong condition, or showed slight improvement, based on data gathered through the third quarter of 2002, according to Sally Gordon, the principal author of Moody's Investors Service's "Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities: Red-Yellow-Green Update" released earlier this month. (Read More)
Top Commercial Mortgage Lenders
February 3, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (In 3rd Quarter 2002) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 GMAC Commercial Mtg Corp. Horsham, PA 2 L.J. Melody & Co. Houston, TX 3 Washington Mutual Bank Seattle, WA 4 NorthMarq Capital, Inc. Bloomington, MN 5 iCap Realty Advisors Chicago, IL 6 Principal Capital RE Investors Des Moines, IA 7 ARCS Commercial Mtg Co. Calabasas Hills, CA 8 Legg Mason RE Services Philadelphia, PA 9 Reilly Mortgage Group, Inc. McLean, VA 10 Churchill Mortgage Corp. Los Angeles, CA (part 2 of 2) Rank 3Q-02 Volume 3Q-01 Volume % Chg 1 $4,678 $6,480 -28% 2 $2,189 $1,561 40% 3 $1,502 $686 119% 4 $832 $940 -11% 5 $565 $771 -27% 6 $555 $505 10% 7 $466 $910 -49% 8 $465 $783 -41% 9 $356 $371 -4% 10 $341 $322 6% Notes: Results may vary because some firms would not disclose volumes. Want to be on this list? (Read More)
MF Lender Introduces Products to Cushion Downturn
February 3, 2003Since 2002, American Mortgage Acceptance Co. has been responding to an ongoing flat market by shifting gears to more diverse revenue sources and less "capital-intensive" products. (Read More)
ABA Making Freddie Mac Part Of Its List of GSE Partnerships
February 3, 2003The American Bankers Association, whose membership represents 90% of all banking assets in the U.S., has signed a secondary marketing agreement with Freddie Mac. (Read More)
LandSafe Hits Historic High
February 3, 2003LandSafe Inc. here said it had the best results in the company's history for 2002, whether measured by total revenue, earnings before income taxes or by the total number of orders processed or closed. The company had total revenue of $159 million and earnings before taxes of $70 million. It is a subsidiary of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif. (Read More)
Vendee Loan Program on Hold
February 3, 2003The Department of Veterans Affairs halted is "vendee loan" program last week, which was used to finance sales of VA-foreclosed single- family homes. (Read More)
GAO Finds FHFB Exams of FHLBs to Be Insufficient
February 3, 2003Federal Housing Finance Board examinations of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks have been largely superficial over the past five years and only recently has the agency taken the necessary steps to beef up its examiner force, according to a draft report by the General Accounting Office. (Read More)
Restatement Clouds Record Earnings
February 3, 2003Freddie Mac reported record earnings for 2002 and said that it may have to restate earnings upward, but its stock price faltered last week as skittish investors decided to wait for the fog to clear on the company's ongoing audit of its financial results. (Read More)
FNF Reports $531.7 Million in Earnings
February 3, 2003IRVINE, CA-Fidelity National Financial here, the nation's largest title insurance underwriter, reported 2002 net earnings of $531.7 million or $5.38 per share, up from $305.5 million or $3.15 per share from the year before. In the fourth quarter, FNF earned $174.9 million or $1.77 per share vs. $92.3 million or $0.95 per share for the last three months of 2001. Both the quarter and annual results are company records, said its chairman and chief executive William P. Foley II. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
February 3, 2003MIEC Index: 139.3; Change: -4.7 (part 1 of 2) 1-23-03 1-30-03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 48.99 46.26 -6% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. 54.08 54.73 1% 37.60 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 25.05 23.03 -8% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 53.82 53.12 -1% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 32.68 30.81 -6% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 67.55 63.45 -6% 58.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 60.93 55.77 -8% 52.60 Golden West (GDW) 73.92 71.73 -3% 56.20 Household (HI) 27.39 26.13 -5% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 38.07 38.39 1% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 43.63 42.35 -3% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 28.05 27.66 -1% 11.80 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 19.49 19.11 -2% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 47.78 46.17 -3% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 29.56 28.11 -5% 24.82 Radian Group (RDN) 37.74 35.81 -5% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 11.20 11.14 -1% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 35.76 34.95 -2% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 34.49 33.58 -3% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk-hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P-E Ratio Alltel (AT) 58.30 31% 15.62 Countrywide Financial Corp. 55.70 46% 8.43 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 51% 28.78 Centex Corp. (CTX) 63.09 39% 7.02 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 37% 22.48 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 8% 10.05 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.50 6% 7.01 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 28% 11.72 Household (HI) 63.25 31% 8.11 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.45 52% 8.03 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 26% 7.01 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 134% 3.99 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 18% 7.92 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 11% 14.61 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 13% 7.41 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 22% 8.12 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 42% -30.94 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 14% 10.72 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 21% 8.29 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
Tech Seen as Remaining a Challenge
February 3, 2003After providing a wealth of evidence proving that technology has been a powerful force for positive change in the mortgage industry, keynote speaker Gary Clark, chief information officer for IndyMac Bank, told attendees of Thomson's 6th Annual Mortgage Technology Conference here that significant technology-related challenges still exist for mortgage lenders. (Read More)
IndyMac Net Earnings Reach $143 Mil
February 3, 2003IndyMac Mortgage Holdings Inc. here, the holding company for IndyMac Bank, has reported record net earnings of $143 million ($2.41 per share) for 2002, compared with $116.4 million ($1.84 per share) in 2001. (Read More)
Principal Residential and Its Production Channels
February 3, 2003(Third Quarter) ($ in millions) Production Percent of Channel Volume Total Production Retail $1,552 14% Wholesale $2,448 22% Corres. $7,129 64% TOTALS $11,129 100% Notes: Production volume is for third quarter only. (Read More)
(back to top)
February 10, 2003
Coalition Seeking MI Deductibility
February 10, 2003The mortgage insurance industry has formed a new coalition to lobby for the tax deductibility of mortgage insurance premiums, National Mortgage News has learned. (Read More)
Falcon Out, Brickell In, at OFHEO
February 10, 2003Investment banker and derivatives expert Mark C. Brickell has been picked by the White House to head the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)
Budgeting B&C into FHA
February 10, 2003The unveiling of the president's budget for fiscal year 2004 last week provided a few surprises for Federal Housing Administration lenders - including a new loan product that is designed to reach subprime borrowers and reward them for making monthly mortgage payments on time. (Read More)
CRE Lending Up Last Quarter
February 10, 2003Commercial mortgage originations surged in last year's final quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported here last week. (Read More)
Calif. Threatens Wells' License
February 10, 2003The California Department of Corporations has issued a letter of intent to revoke the residential mortgage lending license of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., Des Moines, Iowa. (Read More)
Top Residential Originators in Q4-02
February 10, 2003(Dollars in Mils) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Wells Fargo Home Mtg Des Moines, IA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 Countrywide Fin’l Corp. Calabasas, CA 4 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 5 ABN Amro Mortgage Ann Arbor, MI 6 Bank of America Charlotte, NC 7 National City Mortgage Miamisburg, OH 8 GMAC Mortgage Horsham, PA 9 Cendant Mortgage Mt. Laurel, NJ 10 Homecomings/GMAC-RFC Bloomington, MN Rk Organization Name Location 11 Principal Residential Mtg Des Moines, IA 12 Flagstar Bank, FSB Troy, MI 13 CitiMortgage, Inc. St. Louis, MO 14 First Horizon Home Loans Irving, TX 15 SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. Richmond, VA (part 2 of 2) Orig Vol Orig Vol Pct Mkt Rk Q4/02 Q4/01 Chg Sh 1 $112,581 $71,965 56% 11.93% 2 $108,600 $54,943 98% 11.51% 3 $102,103 $49,441 107% 10.82% 4 $60,857 $50,400 21% 6.45% 5 $40,580 $28,415 43% 4.30% 6 $31,880 $22,843 40% 3.38% 7 $29,488 $20,567 43% 3.13% 8 $25,144 $15,253 65% 2.67% 9 $19,203 $13,851 39% 2.04% 10 $17,199 $11,554 49% 1.82% Orig Vol Orig Vol Pct Mkt Mkt Share Rk Q4/02 Q4/01 Chg Sh % pt +/- 11 $16,535 $11,919 39% 1.75% -0.22% 12 $15,577 $11,034 41% 1.65% -0.17% 13 $15,052 $9,811 53% 1.60% -0.03% 14 $13,681 $8,237 66% 1.45% 0.09% 15 $11,270 $7,300 54% 1.19% -0.01% Notes: Preliminary. Some firms had not filed survey data with NMN by press time last Thursday. Market share cut based on estimated Q4 production of $943.44 billion. (1) Citicorp now owns First Nationwide Mortgage. (Read More)
Bush Administration Calls for GSEs to Increase Minority Homeownership
February 10, 2003The Bush administration wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to devote more of their resources to increasing homeownership opportunities for minorities. (Read More)
2 Top Lenders Pledge $500B Each to AH
February 10, 2003Following closely on the heels of a $500 billion commitment to underserved communities by J.P. Morgan Chase, Countrywide Home Loans Inc. has announced that it will be expanding its previous $100 billion pledge to increase low-income and minority homeownership to $600 billion in funding for "previously underserved Americans" through 2010. (Read More)
Framework Becomes a Subsidiary of Its Biggest Client, Bank of America
February 10, 2003Framework Inc., the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based technology firm and developer of the LendWare credit fulfillment platform, has been acquired by Bank of America, its biggest client. (Read More)
Editorial: The Refi Boom and the Internet
February 10, 2003Is it possible that when the refinancing boom comes to an end, as it inevitably will, that this will choke off the current blooming of the Internet as an originations channel? (Read More)
Open Forum: Terrorism Risk Insurance
February 10, 2003Undersecretary Fisher recently spoke before the Worldwide Conventions and Business Forums in New York on the topic of successfully managing terrorism insurance risk xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Falcon's Parting Call for Insolvency Receivership Appointment Authority
February 10, 2003In his last public speech before leaving office, departing Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight director Armando Falcon stressed that OFHEO should have legal authority to close and appoint a receiver for a government-sponsored enterprise in the event that one becomes insolvent. (Read More)
GSEs Agrees to Add Disclosures on MBS
February 10, 2003Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said that come this spring they will begin making six additional "pool specific" disclosures on the mortgage-backed securities they issue. (Read More)
LendingTree: Investors Weigh Record Earnings vs. a Rate Change
February 10, 2003LendingTree Inc. reported its second consecutive quarter of positive earnings per share and three years of sequential quarterly revenue growth when it released its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2002. During the quarter, the company earned $5.6 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. During the same quarter in 2001, the company incurred a GAAP loss of $0.29 per share. (Read More)
eMortgage Alliance Goes Paperless
February 10, 2003Docutech Corp. here has joined with four other vendors to announce formation of the eMortgage Alliance offering to deliver a completely paperless mortgage solution today. (Read More)
Atlanta FHLB Gets OK on MF Plan
February 10, 2003The Atlanta Federal Home Loan Bank has received regulatory approval to expand its Affordable Housing Multifamily Participation program so that it can invest up to $100 million in multifamily loan participations. (Read More)
Is Green Banking the Next Big Thing?
February 10, 2003Specialists are calling earth-friendly projects and services, or "green banking," the next big trend in the mortgage market since affordable housing. (Read More)
Employment May Determine CRE Origination Volumes
February 10, 2003Though commercial mortgage originations ended 2002 on a fairly high note, the market isn't likely to exhibit any real power until this year's final quarter, according to economists at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Commercial Real Estate Finance-Multi-Family Housing Convention here last week. (Read More)
Employment in Metro Markets
February 10, 2003Lost jobs: 71 Lost 10,000+ jobs*: 17 Gained jobs: 41 Gained 10,000+ jobs*: 5 * Included in the figure above. (Read More)
Looking for the Next Subjective Commercial-Multifamily Opportunity
February 10, 2003Like beauty, opportunity is in the eye of the beholder. At least it is for panelists discussing their strategies at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Commercial Real Estate Finance-Multi-Family Housing Convention here last week. (Read More)
Fannie's Investments In MF Top $22 Billion
February 10, 2003Fannie Mae's multifamily investments for 2002 have topped $22 billion, the government-sponsored enterprise has reported. (Read More)
MBA Names GMAC Top CRE Servicer
February 10, 2003GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa., tops the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual ranking of commercial loan servicers. (Read More)
Key CRE Changes Its Name to KeyBank Real Estate Capital
February 10, 2003Key Commercial Real Estate, a unit of KeyBank National Association, has been renamed KeyBank Real Estate Capital, to better reflect the broader scope of its operations, and some key personnel changes have been made at the commercial real estate lending company. (Read More)
Cities Perceived as the Linchpin in Efforts to Secure Prosperity
February 10, 2003sAmerica's cities were held out here last week as the key to the nation's future prosperity. (Read More)
CMSA/MBA Aiming For Data Standards
February 10, 2003The Commercial Mortgage Securities Association has jointly announced with the Mortgage Bankers Association that the contents of the CMSA Investor Reporting Package (IRP) will be incorporated into the MISMO data dictionary. (Read More)
Criimi Financing with Brascan Aims to Provide a Foundation for Growth
February 10, 2003Criimi Mae has finalized a financing with Brascan Real Estate Finance Fund, a private investment company, that is expected to provide the commercial mortgage-backed securities investing company with a platform for growth. (Read More)
Ginnie Mae Funds Come Out Ahead
February 10, 2003Mutual funds chiefly invested in Ginnie Mae securities topped the rankings of mortgage funds in 2002, recording an average cumulative total return of 8.35%, according to data from Lipper Inc., New York. (Read More)
Selected national mortgage fund performance
February 10, 2003(part 1 of 3) Latest Total 1 Year Fund Net Assets 12-31-01 / 12-31-02 Name ($Mil) Cum Tot Ret (%) Adjustable Rates Mortgage Funds Evergreen Adj Rt;I 1124 4.46 Evergreen Adj Rt;A 1508.3 4.21 Evergreen Adj Rt;IS 969.9 4.2 Tr Credit Un:Govt 1135.2 4.01 Sm Barney Adj Rate;A 726.2 3.66 Average-Total 14472.5 3.55 Ginnie Mae Funds SunAmerica:GNMA;A 239.3 11.54 SunAmerica:GNMA;B 173 10.8 SunAmerica:GNMA;II 115.1 10.79 PaydenFunds:GNMA 169.4 9.9 ING GNMA Inc;Q 0.2 9.86 Average-Total 67492.4 8.35 U.S. Mortgage Funds TCW Galileo:TR Bd;N 42.9 11.08 TCW Galileo:TR Bd;Instl 126.6 11.04 Community Qual Invest 266.1 10.6 One Group:Mtge Secs;I 915 10.02 One Group:Mtge Secs;A 2.2 9.88 Average-Total 15730 8.13 (part 2 of 3) 1 Quarter Fund 9-30-02 / 12-31-02 Name Rank Cum Tot Ret (%) Adjustable Rates Mortgage Funds Evergreen Adj Rt;I 1 0.8 Evergreen Adj Rt;A 2 0.74 Evergreen Adj Rt;IS 3 0.74 Tr Credit Un:Govt 4 0.88 Sm Barney Adj Rate;A 5 0.61 Average-Total 13 0.62 Ginnie Mae Funds SunAmerica:GNMA;A 1 1.61 SunAmerica:GNMA;B 2 1.44 SunAmerica:GNMA;II 3 1.35 PaydenFunds:GNMA 4 1.66 ING GNMA Inc;Q 5 0.47 Average-Total 65 1.17 U.S. Mortgage Funds TCW Galileo:TR Bd;N 1 1.38 TCW Galileo:TR Bd;Instl 2 1.52 Community Qual Invest 3 0.77 One Group:Mtge Secs;I 4 1.13 One Group:Mtge Secs;A 5 1.24 Average-Total 73 1.11 (part 3 of 3) 5 Years Fund 12-31-97-12-31-02 Name Rank Cum Tot Ret (%) Rank Adjustable Rates Mortgage Funds Evergreen Adj Rt;I 2 33.17 1 Evergreen Adj Rt;A 3 N-A N-A Evergreen Adj Rt;IS 3 31.55 2 Tr Credit Un:Govt 1 30.26 3 Sm Barney Adj Rate;A 6 29.24 4 Average-Total 13 28.41 10 Ginnie Mae Funds SunAmerica:GNMA;A 5 44.68 2 SunAmerica:GNMA;B 13 40.02 6 SunAmerica:GNMA;II 26 N-A N-A PaydenFunds:GNMA 4 N-A N-A ING GNMA Inc;Q 60 N-A N-A Average-Total 66 36.98 41 U.S. Mortgage Funds TCW Galileo:TR Bd;N 17 N-A N-A TCW Galileo:TR Bd;Instl 6 47.28 2 Community Qual Invest 69 N-A N-A One Group:Mtge Secs;I 37 N-A N-A One Group:Mtge Secs;A 27 N-A N-A Average-Total 80 36.86 57 Source: Lipper, a Reuters company Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Roundup: Moody's Pegs CMBS Worldwide Total for 2002 at $104 Billion
February 10, 2003Commercial mortgage-backed securities issuance worldwide totaled $104 billion in 2002, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)
Anti-Predatory Act Introduced In New Mexico Senate
February 10, 2003New anti-predatory lending legislation was introduced last week in the New Mexico legislature that was reportedly modeled after legislation already drafted in California, North Carolina, Georgia and New York. (Read More)
Delta Reports $17.6 Million Net Income for 2002
February 10, 2003Delta Financial Corp. here reported net income of $17.6 million for 2002, the first annual profit the once-troubled firm has posted since 2000. This now makes five consecutive profitable quarters for Delta. (Read More)
Hurt in 1998, Two Lenders Who Hung on Until 2002 Found It Paid Off
February 10, 2003During the middle 1990s, the subprime industry, spurred on by Wall Street's appetite for its product, was in growth mode. (Read More)
Home Equity Securitizations Viewed as Increasing But Slower than '02
February 10, 2003Home equity securitizations in 2003 should reach $130 billion, only slightly less than last year's record breaking volume of $132 billion, Moody's Investors Service has reported. (Read More)
Moody's and Fitch Make GFLA Moves
February 10, 2003Moody's Investors Service and Fitch, in separate announcements last week, said they would give heightened scrutiny to investor liability for securitized residential mortgages as a result of the Georgia Fair Lending Act. (Read More)
'Monthly Late Pays Rise 1%-6% on HE ABS'
February 10, 2003Monthly delinquencies have increased 1%-6% on a relative basis for almost all vintages of fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgage pools backing subprime, home equity asset-backed securities, Credit Suisse First Boston has reported. (Read More)
Would You Like to Get More NMN Data?
February 10, 2003Each week, NMN brings you the top rankings from our comprehensive surveys of the mortgage industry. (Read More)
Ney Pushing to Pre-Empt State Moves
February 10, 2003Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, the new chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee on housing, plans to make a big push to pass a predatory lending bill that provides consumer protections and pre-empts state predatory lending laws. (Read More)
Legislation Moving to 'Fix' GFLA
February 10, 2003Legislation has been introduced here in both the House and Senate to alleviate some of the misery mortgage funders and investors are feeling from the Georgia Fair Lending Act. (Read More)
GE to Acquire the U.K.'s First National
February 10, 2003GE Consumer Finance, the consumer credit services business of General Electric Co., has agreed to acquire United Kingdom-based First National's secured and unsecured lending business from Abbey National plc for PN848 million (about $1.39 billion). (Read More)
Crime Doesn't Pay for Ex-PinnFund CEO
February 10, 2003Former subprime CEO Michael J. Fanghella was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week for his role in the collapse of mortgage banker PinnFund USA, Carlsbad, Calif. (Read More)
Top Residential Loan Producers in CA
February 10, 2003($ in Mils) Lender CA Mtg Vol No. of Loans WaMu $51,256 188,010 Wells Fargo $50,279 222,396 Countrywide $35,596 193,746 Bank of America $29,524 165,217 1st Nationwide-Citi (1) $17,853 85,763 Notes: Represents 2001 volume. 2002 data won't be available until August 2003. However, on a national basis loan volumes increased by 25% from 2001 to 2002. (1) First Nationwide was bought by Citigroup in late 2002. The volumes here represent First Nationwide's volume in California and excludes Citi's. (Read More)
Principal Sells Retail Branches to American Home Mortgage
February 10, 2003When making the announcement that Principal Residential Mortgage was closing its retail branch network, its president Paul Bognanno was careful to say that the timing of the move was during a high point in the cycle to allow the 500 displaced workers to find other positions in the mortgage industry. (Read More)
People
February 10, 2003CALIFORNIA Los Angeles-Richard Hart and Kevin Wieland have joined Legg Mason Real Estate Investors Inc. as principals in the firm's Los Angeles office. Messrs. Hart and Wieland will be responsible for originating new investments for the company. (Read More)
(back to top)
February 17, 2003
Retention Rates as Low as 8%?
February 17, 2003It's no secret that the two-year-old refinance boom has wreaked havoc on servicing portfolios, but one industry expert says mortgage bankers are doing an extremely poor job of retaining their own customers. (Read More)
Mozilo: End Downpayment Requirement
February 17, 2003Angelo Mozilo would eliminate downpayments to reach deeper into emerging housing markets. (Read More)
RBC Selling Net Branches
February 17, 2003RBC Mortgage, Chicago, which is trying to become a wholesale giant, is in the throes of shedding its "net branch" division, National Mortgage News has learned. (Read More)
Greenspan: No Break for GSEs
February 17, 2003When it comes to securities regulation, Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be treated the same as other publicly traded corporations. (Read More)
Servicing Continues to 'Deconsolidate'
February 17, 2003Group Market Share Period Top 10 50.40% 4Q 2002 Top 10 51.52% 3Q 2002 Top 10 53.11% 2Q 2002 Top 10 53.74% 1Q 2002 Top 10 49.60% 4Q 2001 Top 10 48.59% 1Q 2001 Top 10 41.76% 1Q 2000 Top 10 24.95% 4Q 1995 Notes: Market share is based on servicers' percentage of all outstanding residential receivables in the U.S. at the end of a given quarter. (Read More)
Delinquency Rates Based - Total Past Dues 12/31/02
February 17, 2003(part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Bank of Hawaii Honolulu, HI 2 Washington Federal Savings Seattle, WA 3 Capitol FS & LA Topeka, KS 4 Plymouth Savings Bank Middleboro, MA 5 USAA Federal Savings Bank San Antonio, TX 6 Astoria FS & LA Lake Success, NY 7 CUNA Mortgage Corp. Madison, WI 8 Sterling Capital Mortgage Co. Houston, TX 9 AmSouth Mortgage Birmingham, AL 10 Metropolitan Bank & Trust Highland Hills, OH (part 2 of 2) Number of % loans Rk Organization Name Loans Serviced past due 1 Bank of Hawaii 37,267 0.63% 2 Washington Federal Savings 37,124 0.69% 3 Capitol FS & LA 53,304 0.92% 4 Plymouth Savings Bank 21,862 1.08% 5 USAA Federal Savings Bank 163,871 1.48% 6 Astoria FS & LA 70,443 1.50% 7 CUNA Mortgage Corp. 93,110 1.64% 8 Sterling Capital Mortgage Co. 19,659 1.72% 9 AmSouth Mortgage 320,591 1.75% 10 Metropolitan Bank & Trust 19,814 1.76% Notes: Firms ranked by % of loans past due. (Read More)
Rep. Ney Proposes Federal Pre-Emption of Predatory Laws
February 17, 2003Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, has introduced his long-awaited predatory lending bill, which lenders are hoping will lead to enactment of a national lending standard that pre-empts state and local initiatives to stop abusive lending practices. (Read More)
FDIC Closes SoPac; Warehouse Affected
February 17, 2003Banking regulators have closed Southern Pacific Bank here, a move that affects the depository's warehouse lending operation. (Read More)
Fidelity National Closes on LSI, Alltel Next
February 17, 2003Fidelity National Financial here last week closed on its acquisition of Lender's Service Inc., a closing services firm based in Pittsburgh. (Read More)
LSI at a Glance
February 17, 20032002 Revenue: $155 million Appraisal Netork: 8,500 suppliers Clients: 23 of 25 Largest Lenders Source: LSI Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Freddie: Disclosures Not a Privacy Issue
February 17, 2003Freddie Mac announced details about new data it will provide to investors, and a spokesperson for the company said the inclusion of credit scores will not run afoul of consumer privacy rules. (Read More)
Editorial: Striking a Balance
February 17, 2003Balance sheets are a familiar concept in the mortgage business or any other industry. But there are other balances we'd do well to pay attention to. Striking a balance between attaining personal and financial goals was a big theme at the recent Foundation Marketing mortgage sales seminar in Delray Beach, Fla., which was co-sponsored by our affiliate publications Broker and Origination News. (Read More)
Open Forum: 'Housing Bubble' Is Hot Air
February 17, 2003Mr. Raines addressed the National Association of Home Builders at their annual conference in Las Vegas last month. Excerpts of his speech warning about the affordable housing shortage are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
New Financing Players Could Hedge Flight-to-Quality Issues
February 17, 2003With new government warnings about the possibility of terrorism, stocks slipping a bit due to the market's uncertainty about geopolitical tensions and The Bond Market Association calling for debt traders to make an effort to keep things going in all contingencies, I found myself thinking last week about the effects of past global concerns on the mortgage industry, specifically the falls of 2001 and 1998. (Read More)
Ginnie Mae Raises Privacy Concern with Regard to Credit Score Disclosure
February 17, 2003Ginnie Mae is facing possible privacy issues if it discloses credit scores on individual loans to mortgage-backed securities investors as recommended by a federal interagency task force on MBS disclosures. (Read More)
Coalition Urges New FHA Program
February 17, 2003A coalition of nine housing organizations is calling on the Bush administration and Congress to help revitalize the Federal Housing Administration and Ginnie Mae and to support a new multifamily production program. (Read More)
Fitch Drops Mortgage Insurance Industry to 'Negative'
February 17, 2003Fitch Ratings here has dropped its outlook on the entire private mortgage insurance industry from "Stable" down to "Negative." (Read More)
Moody's Expects Jumbo Volume to Fall
February 17, 2003A survey of major private-label issuers indicates that they believe the volume of new jumbo residential mortgage-backed securities will fall 10% to 20% from 2002's record high in 2003, Moody's Investors Service has reported. (Read More)
Prepays Slow for Most Classes of MBS
February 17, 2003Prepayment rates for agency mortgage-backed securities slowed down in January for most conventional 30-year coupons and vintages, according to the Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. (Read More)
Selected 30-Year Fixed-Rate Prepayments
February 17, 2003(For January 2003 Period) Cpn Year WAC Factor 3-Jan 2-Dec Fannie Mae 6.5 2002 6.98 0.8 42 42.7 Fannie Mae 6.5 2001 7.02 0.574 59 62.1 Fannie Mae 6.5 1998 7.07 0.348 61.1 64.2 Fannie Mae 6.5 1996 7.17 0.259 58.1 61.9 Freddie Mac 6.5 2002 6.92 0.782 42.9 44 Freddie Mac 6.5 2001 7 0.574 59 62.6 Freddie Mac 6.5 1998 7.06 0.348 60.5 64.3 Freddie Mac 6.5 1996 7.11 0.263 58.2 63.7 Source: Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary. (Read More)
Roundup: 'First' Synthetic Realty Deal
February 17, 2003A nonconforming mortgage specialist and investment manager affiliated with State Street Global Alliance LLC has launched what it says is the first real estate-backed synthetic guaranteed investment contract in the market. (Read More)
BMA Creates CMO Format
February 17, 2003The Bond Market Association has reported that it has facilitated the development of a new file format for monthly reporting of payment data for private label collateralized mortgage obligations and asset-backed securities. (Read More)
MBS Placed on Watch
February 17, 2003Six classes from five single-asset commercial mortgage-backed securities deals have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings due to interest shortfalls related to terrorism insurance costs. (Read More)
CHDC Offers Incentives to 'Responsible Home Ownership' Participants
February 17, 2003Community Housing Development Corp., a pioneer in downpayment gift providing, does not find growing market competition that intimidating. (Read More)
Saxon Selects Synygy EIM Software
February 17, 2003Synygy Inc. here, a provider of tools used to manage incentive compensation - which the company calls enterprise incentive management (EIM) software - has signed a deal with Saxon Capital Inc., Glen Allen, VA, a residential mortgage lending and servicing company. Under the agreement, the lender will use Synygy's software solutions to manage variable compensation plans for its subsidiary mortgage lending companies, Saxon Mortgage Inc. and America's MoneyLine Inc. (Read More)
Dynatek Partners with United Guaranty
February 17, 2003Dynatek Inc. here, a provider of mortgage lending software and developer of the MORvision system, has signed a contract with United Guaranty Corp., Greensboro, N.C., a mortgage insurance and risk management firm. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: Douglas Freeman
February 17, 2003Mr. Freeman, the chief executive of NetBank Inc., Atlanta, has added the job of chairman to his responsibilities. He replaces T. Stephen Johnson. Mr. Freeman was the chief executive of mortgage wholesaler Resource Bancshares Mortgage Group when NetBank acquired that company. After the acquisition was completed, Mr. Freeman took over the chief executive's job at NetBank, which had been making a number of purchases of mortgage banking companies. Prior to buying RBMG, NetBank acquired Market Street Mortgage Corp. Later it acquired Meritage Mortgage Corp., a retail, non-conforming lender. Mr. Johnson will remain on the board as chairman emeritus. (Read More)
FNC and ValueAmerica Partnership Provides Bundled Services
February 17, 2003With pending RESPA Reform likely to approve bundled services, collateral information infrastructure provider FNC (www.fncinc.com) has announced an alliance with ValueAmerica (www.valuamericaconsulting.com) to streamline the settlement process. (Read More)
BridgeSpan Expands TX Processing Center
February 17, 2003BridgeSpan Inc., a company providing technology and services to the real estate settlement and mortgage closing process, says it will relocate some of its employees to and then hire more for its national processing center here. (Read More)
NAHB Splits on Recommendations of Millennial Housing Commission
February 17, 2003When it comes to the Federal Housing Administration, the National Association of Home Builders supports a separate-but-equal doctrine. (Read More)
Builders Optimistic About Multifamily
February 17, 2003Builders and managers of multifamily properties are "cautiously optimistic" about their prospects over the next six months, according to a new group of indices from the National Association of Home Builders. (Read More)
MBA Seeks Diversity At Servicing Meeting
February 17, 2003When mortgage lenders gather for the MBA's annual national mortgage servicing conference in New Orleans, they may find they have plenty of things to argue about. (Read More)
Mardi Gras Time
February 17, 2003Sometimes it seems as if the last two years have been Mardi Gras time for the mortgage industry. (Read More)
Alltel Demonstrates Default Payoff
February 17, 2003Victoria Yee, product manager in Alltel's default solutions division, believes that mortgage servicers can achieve financial benefits by employing technology to make default management more efficient. (Read More)
Preservation Hall Tops Long List of Music Venues in the Big Easy
February 17, 2003New Orleans' image as a festive city flavored with intrigue has long been interlinked in pop culture with is its music. Examples include the Dixieland jazz played in the 1973 James Bond spy film "Live and Let Die," the zydeco performed in the 1987 Hollywood mystery/romance "The Big Easy" and the tap dancing street performer featured in the 1987 horror/mystery thriller "Angel Heart." (Read More)
Former Defense Secretary Highlights Speaker List
February 17, 2003William Cohen holds an unusual position in the history of American politics. He's a former Republican U.S. senator and a former Cabinet member in a Democratic administration. (Read More)
Hilton Riverside Hotel Hosts Sizzling Confab
February 17, 2003The Hilton New Orleans Riverside is more than just a hotel, it's a complex located adjacent to one of New Orleans premier shopping venues and across the street from a major casino. (Read More)
Orion Has Technology Initiatives to Talk About at the Conference
February 17, 2003Orion Financial Group here, creator of DocPro! software for recording real estate documents, is preparing for major changes in its industry. (Read More)
Cheap Eats Compete with Famous Restaurants for Culinary Distinction
February 17, 2003New Orleans is considered by many to be the eating capital of the world. Some of the best restaurants and some of the more notable celebrity chefs are located in the Crescent City. (Read More)
Freddie's Performance Profiles Offer Recognition
February 17, 2003Freddie Mac's new head of servicing says that for executives who manage operational units, getting recognition for a job well done is often difficult. Everyone notices when a mortgage servicing department is plagued by mistakes, but it is difficult to make senior management take notice of incremental improvements in a smoothly-run shop. (Read More)
Fitch Executives Offer Advice for Navigating New Orleans' Charms
February 17, 2003If you are looking to get both global expertise in servicing and get tips that ensure you have a good time while at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's National Mortgage Servicing Conference, you might want to look up Fitch Ratings' representatives at their exhibit hall booth while you're there. (Read More)
FKNC Reps Will Be at Servicing
February 17, 2003Fort Knox National Company, a provider of electronic payment solutions, has relocated its headquarters to a larger, state-of-the-art facility to accommodate its growth. The move won't be too much of an inconvenience for FKNC's 275 employees, however. The new headquarters is just three miles from the old one. (Read More)
Top Subservicers at 12/31/02
February 17, 2003(part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 Dovenmuehle Mortgage (E) Schaumburg, IL 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Des Moines, IA 3 Cenlar Ewing, NJ 4 Aurora Loan Services, Inc. Aurora, CO 5 Wendover Financial Services Corp. Greensboro, NC 6 Countrywide Financial Corporation Calabasas, CA 7 Alliance Mortgage Company Jacksonville, FL 8 GMAC Mortgage Horsham, PA 9 Flagstar Bank, FSB Troy, MI 10 CUNA Mortgage Corp. Madison, WI 11 LoanCare Servicing Center/Essex Norfolk, VA 12 Waterfield Mortgage Fort Wayne, IN 13 Graystone Mortgage Corporation Sudbury, MA 14 Security Savings Mtg. Corp. Canton, OH 15 Cendant Mortgage Mt. Laurel, NJ 16 Resource Bancshares/Netbank Columbia, SC 17 Guaranty Residential Austin, TX 18 Midwest Loan Services Houghton, MI 19 U.S. Bank Home Mtg./Firstar Bloomington, MN 20 Towne Mortgage Co. Sterling Heights, MI (part 2 of 2) Subservicing Volume % Rank 12/31/2002 12/31/2001 change 1 $44,000 $41,000 7% 2 $35,627 $63,189 -44% 3 $30,000 $30,000 0% 4 $27,958 $18,040 55% 5 $20,166 $14,735 37% 6 $11,138 $9,086 23% 7 $11,047 $10,537 5% 8 $7,894 $2,983 165% 9 $7,831 $6,674 17% 10 $3,652 $2,879 27% 11 $3,216 $1,851 74% 12 $2,082 $504 313% 13 $2,068 $1,413 46% 14 $2,045 $1,978 3% 15 $1,773 $1,608 10% 16 $1,324 $4,271 -69% 17 $1,165 $1,410 -17% 18 $975 $511 91% 19 $751 $1,155 -35% 20 $147 na na Top 20 Totals: $214,859 $213,824 0.50% Notes: (1) WaMu is subservicing HomeSide's receivables which are still owned by NAB but are being sold to WaMu. (Read More)
Schedule of Events at the MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference
February 17, 2003Tuesday, February 25 7:30 AM-7:00 PM Registration Conference and Workshop Registration First Flr. Conv. Registration Counters Tuesday, February 25 4:00 PM-6:00 PM Committee Meeting HUD/VA Subcommittee Meeting Oak Alley Room, Third Floor Tuesday, February 25 4:00 PM-7:00 PM Other Exhibit Hall Open Hilton Exhibition Center, Second Floor Tuesday, February 25 6:00 PM-7:00 PM Reception Welcoming Reception in Exhibit Hall Hilton Exhibition Center, Second Floor Wednesday, February 26 7:30 AM-8:30 AM Breakfast Freddie Mac Breakfast Grand Ballroom A, First Floor Wednesday, February 26 7:30 AM-6:30 PM Registration Conference Registration First Flr. Conv. Registration Counters Wednesday, February 26 8:45 AM-10:15 AM General Session Opening General Session: "Countering Terrorism: The Voice of Experience" (Read More)
Ocwen Loses $7.9 Million in Fourth Quarter Despite Core Profitability
February 17, 2003Ocwen Financial Corp. reported a net loss of $7.8 million in the fourth quarter, up from a loss of $6.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2001. (Read More)
Record Volume Fuels Flagstar's Earnings
February 17, 2003Flagstar Bancorp Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings of $32.1 million ($1.03 earnings per share), up from $29 million ($0.95 EPS) for the same period in 2001, mostly driven by a record mortgage production volume of $15.6 billion, or $4.6 billion higher than the previous year. (Read More)
Boom Lures New Banks to Mortgages
February 17, 2003In these flush times in the mortgage industry, a pair of banks has started their own residential mortgage lending units, while another bank and two shell companies purchased mortgage originators. (Read More)
Republic Sees Strong Growth
February 17, 2003Republic Bancorp Inc. reported net earnings of $13.74 million, a 12% increase, compared to $12.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2001. (Read More)
Vanguard Creates Broker Partnerships
February 17, 2003The business plan of Vanguard National Mortgage and Title Inc. here is to aggregate the mortgage broker industry by rolling up firms into the first national partnership in this sector. (Read More)
Quicken Loans Files Suit Against Calif.
February 17, 2003Claiming that the State of California wrongfully disregards federal law by preventing lenders from charging interest to borrowers from the date the loan is closed, Quicken Loans, Livonia, Mich., has filed suit against Demetrios A. Boutris in his official capacity as the Commissioner of the State of California's Department of Corporations. (Read More)
Year End Commercial Servicing Survey (Period Ending 12/31/02)
February 17, 2003Ranking by Total Master and Primary Servicing Volume. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Earnings in 4th Qtr '02
February 17, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Net Earnings Net Earnings Net Earnings Organization Name Q4/02 Q4/01 Freddie Mac $1,703.00 $1,364.00 Washington Mutual, Inc. $969.00 $842.00 Fannie Mae $952.00 $1,969.00 Household International, Inc. $338.20 $533.20 Countrywide Financial Corp. $254.90 $161.00 Golden West Financial $249.40 $228.00 Fidelity National $174.90 $92.30 Pulte Homes $171.90 $119.40 Centex Corp. $155.90 $96.10 Charter One $145.70 $135.10 MGIC Investment Corp. $137.50 $161.00 Green Point Financial $131.90 ($562.20) Radian Group $107.80 $96.10 G. E. Mortgage Insurance $103.00 $76.00 Sovereign Bancorp Inc. $93.10 $73.50 PMI Group $84.30 $82.10 First American Corporation $82.80 $52.30 NVR Inc. $78.90 $67.00 Banknorth Group, Inc. $77.10 $61.60 Ryland Group $67.50 $44.90 New York Community Bancorp $64.40 $42.50 Doral Financial Corporation $64.20 $42.50 Astoria Financial Corp. $61.10 $54.80 New Century Financial Corp. $54.30 $23.30 Downey Savings & Loan $40.00 $39.10 Washington Federal, Inc. $37.10 $35.40 IndyMac Bancorp, Inc. $36.00 $36.00 Thornburg Mortgage $35.20 $21.50 Impac Mortgage Holdings $22.10 $19.40 Capstead Mortgage Corporation $20.40 $28.70 NovaStar $17.30 $6.20 People's Bank $17.10 $7.20 American Home Mortgage $13.50 $9.60 NetBank, Inc. $12.60 $2.90 Triad Guaranty Insurance $12.00 $10.20 Saxon Capital $11.80 ($1.30) First Republic Bank $7.10 $7.30 Lending Tree, Inc. $5.60 ($4.00) E-Loan $5.00 $1.90 Matrix Bancorp ($1.70) $4.30 Total $6,613.90 $6,079.90 (part 2 of 2) Net Earnings Percent Sector Organization Name Change Type Freddie Mac 25% Housing GSE Washington Mutual, Inc. 15% Thrift&/Mortgage Banker Fannie Mae -52% Housing GSE Household International, Inc. -37% Subprime Lender Countrywide Financial Corp. 58% Mortgage Banker Golden West Financial 9% ARM/Portfolio Lender Fidelity National 89% Title/Closing Services Pulte Homes 44% Homebuilder/lender Centex Corp. 62% Homebuilder/lender Charter One 8% Conventional Lender MGIC Investment Corp. -15% Mortgage Insurance Co. (Read More)
People
February 17, 2003CALIFORNIA Irvine-Lynn Halstead has been named senior vice president of national lending and acquisitions for Option One Mortgage Corp. In this newly created position, she oversees a business channel that forms partnerships with financial institutions, including national and regional banks, to allow them to offer nonprime loans. She will also continue to oversee Option One's bulk acquisition channel, which specializes in the purchase of performing nonprime loan pools on a servicing-released basis. (Read More)
Household Dumps $3.8B in Servicing
February 17, 2003Subprime giant Household International here sold $3.8 billion of residential receivables in the fourth quarter for an undisclosed sum. (Read More)
ABA Unit Offers Pool Insurance
February 17, 2003A for-profit subsidiary of the American Bankers Association is going to provide a form of pool insurance for Mortgage Partnership Finance loans that is expected to make the Federal Home Loan Bank secondary market program more attractive for small community banks. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
February 17, 2003MIEC Index: 134.7; Change: -2.2 (part 1 of 3) 2/6/2003 2/13/2003 Wkly % Chg Alltel (AT) 45.10 43.24 -4% Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 53.56 53.35 0% J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 22.27 21.4 -4% Centex Corp. (CTX) 52.20 52.5 1% Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 31.19 29.55 -5% Fannie Mae (FNM) 63.13 62.43 -1% Freddie Mac (FRE) 55.09 54.14 -2% Golden West (GDW) 73.26 73.47 0% Household (HI) 26.42 27.01 2% LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 36.74 36.53 -1% MGIC (MTG) 40.77 41.13 1% New Century (NCEN) 28.08 27.88 -1% IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 19.01 18.65 -2% Wells Fargo (WFC) 45.50 45.46 0% PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 27.84 27.41 -2% Radian Group (RDN) 34.64 34.14 -1% NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 10.45 9.82 -6% Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 32.99 31.15 -6% Washington Mutual (WM) 34.84 34.33 -1% (part 2 of 3) 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi Alltel (AT) 35.33 58.3 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 37.6 55.82 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 15.26 38.75 Centex Corp. (CTX) 38.31 63.09 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 22.5 47.24 Fannie Mae (FNM) 58.85 84.1 Freddie Mac (FRE) 52.6 68.5 Golden West (GDW) 56.2 76.4 Household (HI) 20 63.25 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 25.25 39.45 MGIC (MTG) 33.6 74.4 New Century (NCEN) 13 35.05 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 16.14 26.89 Wells Fargo (WFC) 41.5 54.84 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 24.82 44 Radian Group (RDN) 29.4 55.56 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 7.86 18.51 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 30.79 48.5 Washington Mutual (WM) 27.8 39.98 (part 3 of 3) % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 22% 14.6 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 42% 8.22 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 40% 26.75 Centex Corp. (CTX) 37% 6.94 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 31% 21.56 Fannie Mae (FNM) 6% 9.89 Freddie Mac (FRE) 3% 6.81 Golden West (GDW) 31% 12 Household (HI) 35% 8.38 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 45% 7.64 MGIC (MTG) 22% 6.8 New Century (NCEN) 114% 4.02 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 16% 7.73 Wells Fargo (WFC) 10% 14.38 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 10% 7.23 Radian Group (RDN) 16% 7.74 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 25% -27.27 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 1% 9.55 Washington Mutual (WM) 23% 8.47 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
(back to top)
February 24, 2003
Fannie Seeking Conseco Servicing
February 24, 2003Fannie Mae has put in a "floor bid" for the servicing platform of Conseco Finance Corp., a subprime-manufactured housing lender whose parent is in bankruptcy. (Read More)
Monster 2002: Lenders Fund $2.78 Trillion
February 24, 2003A year ago, residential lenders were preparing for a decent, but down year. Boy, were they ever wrong. (Read More)
GSEs Seeking Loan Standard
February 24, 2003Freddie Mac has joined Fannie Mae in supporting legislative efforts to establish a national lending standard that protects borrowers from predatory lending. (Read More)
Credit Ratings Of MBS Are Up
February 24, 2003Refinancing not only generated record issuance of mortgage securities last year, it also lifted the credit quality of outstanding MBS, according to Standard & Poor's. (Read More)
MSRs Cause CFC 'Negative'
February 24, 2003Fitch Ratings has placed the debt of Countrywide Financial Corp., parent of the nation's third largest mortgage lender, on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)
Freddie Pays Servicers More
February 24, 2003Freddie Mac will increase the financial rewards for lenders that score well on Freddie Mac's servicer performance profiles. (Read More)
Private MBS Issuance
February 24, 2003($ in Billions) Year Prime Subprime 1997: $63.5 $52 1998: $134.8 $82.6 1999: $92.9 $60 2000: $70.3 $55.9 2001: $159.4 $93.8 2002: $314.2 $134 Source: S&P Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Industry Production in '02 Shatters All Records
February 24, 2003($ in Billions) $ of Prod Avg 30-Yr Vol Inc. fr Year in Yr Rate Prev Yr 2002 $2,787 6.00% 35% 2001 $2,066 6.91% 93% 2000 $1,067 8.10% -12% 1999 $1,214 7.71% -22% 1998 $1,550 6.95% 80% 1990 $458 10.13% na 1980 $133 13.77% na 1970 $35 na na Notes: Volumes represent loans funded. Funders include mortgage bankers, commercial banks, thrifts, credit unions and others. Some commercial banks and thrifts fund through wholly-owned mortgage banking subsidiaries. A percentage change figure in parenthesis indicates a decline from the previous year. (Read More)
Top Online Originators in Q4-02
February 24, 2003(part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Countrywide Financial Calabasas, CA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 ABN Amro Mortgage Ann Arbor, MI 4 Principal Residential Mtg Des Moines, IA 5 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 6 CitiMortgage, Inc. St. Louis, MO 7 Ohio Savings Bank Cleveland, OH 8 IndyMac Bancorp Pasadena, CA 9 GreenPoint Mtg Funding Novato, CA 10 SunTrust Mortgage Richmond, VA 11 E*Trade Menlo Park, CA 12 Quicken Loans, Inc. Livonia, MI 13 WMC Mortgage Corp. (BC) Woodland Hills, CA 14 Alliance Mortgage Company Jacksonville, FL 15 Navy FCU Merrifield, VA 16 GMAC Residential Holding Horsham, PA 17 E-Loan Dublin, CA 18 New Century Fin'l Corp. Irvine, CA 19 Bank of America Charlotte, NC 20 HomeBanc Mortgage Corp. Atlanta, GA (part 2 of 2) Online Orig Online Orig Pct Rk Vol Q4-02 Vol Q4-01 Chg 1 $42,934 $23,514 83% 2 $38,157 $6,107 525% 3 $31,564 $17,206 83% 4 $8,441 $5,613 50% 5 $7,360 na na 6 $6,183 $2,651 133% 7 $5,134 na na 8 $4,843 $3,632 33% 9 $3,932 $735 435% 10 $3,745 $2,103 78% 11 $2,392 $2,016 19% 12 $1,418 $956 48% 13 $1,383 $507 173% 14 $1,274 na na 15 $1,097 $387 183% 16 $1,083 $734 48% 17 $1,000 $900 11% 18 $1,000 $177 465% 19 $997 $335 198% 20 $627 $462 36% Top 20 Submitted $164,564 $68,035 142% Totals Submitted $175,727 $69,805 152% Notes: QDR defines an online origination as any new loan where the consumer applied or pre-applied online. Some firms, such as Countrywide, include their tele-sales numbers in with their online volume which distorts the results. (BC) company is heavily involved in subprime lending. (Read More)
Most Federal Home Loan Banks Wary of Multi-District Membership
February 24, 2003Only five of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks support the concept of multidistrict membership (MDM) and two of those district banks are pushing for a limited form of MDM, according to recent correspondence with the Federal Housing Finance Board. (Read More)
OCC Sides with Wells Fargo Bank in California Fee Dispute
February 24, 2003The federal regulator of national banks has intervened on behalf of Wells Fargo Bank N.A. in a legal dispute with a California regulator over alleged mortgage lending violations. (Read More)
Equity Loans At Issue in Europe
February 24, 2003The European Mortgage Federation has voiced concerns about the European Commission's consumer credit directive that includes a request that home equity loans be excluded from it. (Read More)
Editorial: A Comeback for Servicing?
February 24, 2003Servicing has been in the doldrums for the last couple of years, as most of the light and the heat in the business has been concentrated on the originations side. But all that may be about to change. (Read More)
Open Forum: Income Gains Boost Housing
February 24, 2003Chairman Greenspan recently testified before the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs regarding the Federal Reserve Board's semiannual monetary policy report xcerpts of his testimony are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Will Fannie Mae's Customization Effort Have 'PrepaymentPower'?
February 24, 2003Fannie Mae chairman Franklin Raines has made it clear to investors that the government-sponsored enterprise is interested in providing more customized mortgage products. (Read More)
Fannie January Purchases Near Record And Annual Volume Hit New High in '02
February 24, 2003Fannie Mae started the new year right by purchasing a near-record $163.9 billion of loans in January. (Read More)
Fannie mae Holdings-Purchases
February 24, 2003(2001-2002) (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Year- Mort. Port. Portfolio MBS MBS Acq'd Month Holdings Growth Rate Purchases By Others June '02 $662,998 19.30% $16,630 $34,189 July $675,154 24.40% $20,191 $28,314 August $684,022 17.00% $13,436 $33,450 Sept $686,801 5.00% $10,588 $32,832 Oct $693,476 11.50% $13,512 $26,953 Nov $696,218 5.20% $18,186 $35,916 Dec $705,167 17.00% $26,620 $39,984 Total 01 na 16.10% $180,583 $344,739 June '02 $740,590 -0.50% $8,231 $34,989 July $743,369 3.80% $10,618 $31,731 August $746,744 5.10% $14,447 $36,042 Sept $751,423 8.90% $19,204 $44,819 Oct $751,347 -0.10% $19,043 $62,280 Nov $760,759 16.10% $33,535 $47,791 Dec $790,800 59.20% $51,947 $45,884 Total 02 na 11.90% $245,039 $478,260 Jan-03 $810,609 34.60% $42,858 $63,788 YTD na 34.60% $42,858 $63,788 %chg 01-02-02-03 13% na 57% 91% (part 2 of 2) Year- Multi- Total Port MBS Total Month Family(1) Purch.(2) Issued(3) Purch.(4) June '02 $631 $24,430 $50,818 $75,248 July $815 $26,082 $48,505 $74,587 August $615 $22,111 $46,886 $68,997 Sept $465 $16,016 $43,421 $59,437 Oct $505 $20,220 $40,466 $60,686 Nov $383 $25,389 $54,102 $79,491 Dec $1,374 $36,769 $66,604 $103,373 Total 01 $8,143 $270,584 $525,322 $795,907 June '02 $414 $16,310 $43,220 $59,530 July $413 $17,586 $42,349 $59,935 August $473 $23,123 $50,489 $73,612 Sept $406 $33,518 $64,023 $97,541 Oct $556 $32,853 $81,323 $114,176 Nov $676 $47,807 $81,326 $129,133 Dec $1,188 $67,891 $97,831 $165,722 Total 02 $7,492 $370,641 $723,299 $1,093,940 Jan-03 $879 $57,281 $106,646 $163,927 YTD $879 $57,281 $106,646 $163,927 %chg 01-02-02-03 24% 57% 76% 69% Notes: (1) Multifamily volume listed above represents portfolio purchases only. (2) Includes mortgage securities purchased. (3) MBSs originated by lenders only. (4) Total purchases includes product purchased for portfolio and lender originated MBS. (Read More)
Apgar: Don't Overlook Remodeling Sector's Importance
February 24, 2003The remodeling sector is the Rodney Dangerfield of the construction industry: It gets no respect. (Read More)
Moody's Downgrades German Deal
February 24, 2003Moody's Investors Service has downgraded certain of German lender Westdeutsche Immobilienbank's obligations that are secured by notes credit-linked to a pool of commercial mortgages. (Read More)
Roundup: CoStar Adds Information Unit
February 24, 2003CoStar Group Inc. has completed its acquisition of London-based Property Intelligence PLC. (Read More)
Aggregators Add Value by Cleansing Portfolio
February 24, 2003Dave Miller, a senior vice president at Cenlar FSB, sees two trends emerging in the subservicing business. (Read More)
Top CRE Servicers Keep Growing
February 24, 2003GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa., tops the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual ranking of commercial loan servicers. (Read More)
Top Residential Servicers
February 24, 2003(At December 31, 2002) (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 3) Rank Organization Name, Location 1 Washington Mutual, Seattle, WA 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Des Moines, IA 3 Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, CA 4 Chase Home Finance, Edison, NJ 5 Bank of America, Charlotte, NC 6 GMAC Mortgage, Horsham, PA 7 ABN Amro Mortgage, Ann Arbor, MI 8 National City Mortgage, Miamisburg, OH 9 Cendant Mortgage, Mt. Laurel, NJ 10 CitiMortgage, Inc., St. Louis, MO 11 Principal Residential Mortgage, Des Moines, IA 12 First Nationwide Mortgage Corp., Frederick, MD 13 Golden West Financial Corp.-World, Oakland, CA 14 Homecomings-GMAC-RFC, Bloomington, MN 15 SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., Richmond, VA 16 First Horizon Home Loans, Irving, TX 17 U.S. Bank Home Mtg.-Firstar, Bloomington, MN 18 Dovenmuehle Mortgage (E), Schaumburg, IL 19 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USA, Depew, NY 20 Branch Banking & Trust Co., Wilson, NC 21 Cenlar, Ewing, NJ 22 GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, Novato, CA 23 Flagstar Bank, FSB, Troy, MI 24 Aurora Loan Services, Inc., Aurora, CO 25 Charter One Bank, Cleveland, OH 26 Alliance Mortgage Company, Jacksonville, FL 27 Union Planters Mortgage, Cordova, TN 28 USAA Federal Savings Bank, San Antonio, TX 29 Wendover Financial Corp., Greensboro, NC 30 Regions Mortgage Co., Montgomery, AL (part 2 of 3) Servicing Volume % Rank 12-31-02 12-31-01 Change 1 $723,147 $496,704 45.59% 2 $570,312 $487,823 16.91% 3 $452,405 $336,627 34.39% 4 $429,020 $429,840 -0.19% 5 $264,518 $299,090 -11.56% 6 $198,637 $191,991 3.46% 7 $184,456 $146,464 25.94% 8 $123,099 $88,917 38.44% 9 $115,847 $98,800 17.25% 10 $115,400 $103,513 11.48% 11 $107,745 $80,531 33.79% 12 $102,473 $112,263 -8.72% 13 $69,448 $41,065 69.12% 14 $62,355 $50,596 23.24% 15 $57,100 $47,580 20.01% 16 $55,793 $47,499 17.46% 17 $52,387 $31,452 66.56% 18 $45,000 $41,000 9.76% 19 $44,350 $38,410 15.46% 20 $34,829 $28,952 20.30% 21 $30,000 $30,000 0.00% 22 $29,583 $25,774 14.78% 23 $29,418 $20,897 40.78% 24 $28,438 $18,059 57.47% 25 $27,423 $25,118 9.18% 26 $25,881 $24,450 5.85% 27 $25,221 $22,112 14.06% 28 $20,981 $19,622 6.93% 29 $20,587 $15,296 34.59% 30 $17,295 $19,060 -9.26% Submitted Totals: $4,063,148 $3,419,503 18.82% Total Receivable: $6,305,000 $5,600,000 12.59% (part 3 of 3) Market Mkt Sh Rank Share % pt. +-- 1 11.47% 2.60% 2 9.05% 0.33% 3 7.18% 1.16% 4 6.80% -0.87% 5 4.20% -1.15% 6 3.15% -0.28% 7 2.93% 0.31% 8 1.95% 0.36% 9 1.84% 0.07% 10 1.83% -0.02% 11 1.71% 0.27% 12 1.63% -0.38% 13 1.10% 0.37% 14 0.99% 0.09% 15 0.91% 0.06% 16 0.88% 0.04% 17 0.83% 0.27% 18 0.71% -0.02% 19 0.70% 0.02% 20 0.55% 0.04% 21 0.48% -0.06% 22 0.47% 0.01% 23 0.47% 0.09% 24 0.45% 0.13% 25 0.43% -0.01% 26 0.41% -0.03% 27 0.40% 0.01% 28 0.33% -0.02% 29 0.33% 0.05% 30 0.27% -0.07% Submitted Totals: 64.44% 3.38% Notes: Includes subservicing. Market share based on total estimated U.S. housing receivables of $6.305 trillion at 12-31-02. (Read More)
Year End Commercial Mortgage Servicing Survey
February 24, 2003(Period ending december 31, 2002) (Ranking by Total Master and Preliminary Servicing Volume) Amount Number Rank Company ($ Millions) of Loans 1 GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation $133,797 50,836 2 Wachovia Securities $83,640 13,876 3 Midland Loan Services, Inc. $74,050 13,634 4 CapMark Services L.P. $66,154 7,050 5 GEMSA Loan Services, L.P. $58,860 7,924 6 ORIX Capital Markets, LLC $36,227 7,983 7 Prudential Asset Resources $34,665 6,015 8 Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Servi $29,875 4,683 9 Washington Mutual Bank, FA $23,537 31,856 10 Bank of America .A. $19,963 8,907 Note: The MBA Commercial Mortgage Servicing Survey only includes member firms servicing loans for third parties or afiliated organizations. Copyright c 2003, 2001-1998 Mortgage Bankers Association of America. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
PMI Adds 'Diversification' Subsidiary
February 24, 2003The PMI Group Inc. here has created a new subsidiary, PMI Capital Corp., where all of its "diversification" businesses will reside. (Read More)
TBMA Hosts Meeting on War Threats
February 24, 2003The Bond Market Association and the New York chapter of the Risk Management Association will host a seminar on managing "event risk" in the face of a potential war in Iraq. (Read More)
Fitch Downgrades GE Deal
February 24, 2003Two classes of GE Home Equity 1997-HE 1 mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)
Household Clarifies Referral Policies
February 24, 2003Subprime mortgage company Household is looking into how its subsidiaries' branch offices "might expand their products" and is "reviewing the alignment" of its product lines with those of HSBC Holdings, the A-credit bank lender that is slated to acquire it. (Read More)
Conseco Hearing Is Set for March 5
February 24, 2003A hearing on the sale of the assets of Conseco Finance Corp. here has been scheduled for March 5th by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight
February 24, 2003Mr. MacManus has been appointed president of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., Horsham, Pa., and executive vice president of its parent company, GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. Mr. MacManus joined GMACCM in 1997 and was recently named executive vice president of its Proprietary Lending Group, the parent company said. He will head the North American operations of the holding company. (Read More)
Roundup: Deals Hit by Recent Downgrades
February 24, 2003The ratings on two classes of Banc of America Large Loan Inc.'s series 2002-FLT1 have been placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)
Portland Condos Going Up Despite Slump
February 24, 2003Oregon is mired in an economic slump, but observers would never know it from the amount of construction activity taking place in Portland. (Read More)
Credit 'Stabilizing' at J.P. Morgan Chase
February 24, 2003Nonperforming assets have likely stabilized at J.P. Morgan Chase, analyst Andrew Collins of US Bancorp Piper Jaffray said in a recent report. (Read More)
Is Fannie Mae's Stock Price Depressed?
February 24, 2003Analysts at Sandler O'Neill have reiterated their "buy" rating on Fannie Mae, saying the company's common stock "continues to trade at an increasingly depressed valuation despite its excellent historical and projected earnings growth." (Read More)
Analyst Not Bothered By CA Move on Wells
February 24, 2003Analysts at Sanford O'Neill have given Wells Fargo a 'Buy' rating and a 12-month price target of $52, saying that the state of California's threat to cancel Wells Fargo's mortgage banking license is just "political posturing." (Read More)
Caution Underlies Industry Support for FHA Subprime
February 24, 2003So far, mortgage industry reaction to the Bush administration budget proposal to create a Federal Housing Administration subprime loan product is generally positive, although there is underlying concern about the agency's capacity to manage such a program. (Read More)
ABN Amro Expands OneFee to Retail
February 24, 2003The popularity of its OneFee program has moved ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., Troy, Mich., to offer it to customers at one of its retail lending units, LaSalle Home Mortgage, Chicago. (Read More)
AFL-CIO Extends Initiative to 13 Million Members
February 24, 2003Thirteen million union members will be eligible for more affordable financing under a nationwide expansion of a two-year-old experimental mortgage program. (Read More)
NMN Co-Sponsors Frost, Abraham Sales Seminar
February 24, 2003A top producer in the origination industry is teaming up with a pioneer in sales "best practices" to explain their strategies for how to increase volume in a three-day marketing seminar targeted at originators. (Read More)
Bank One Pledges $12.5M to Arizona
February 24, 2003Bank One has announced a $12.5 billion community lending commitment to finance - in partnership with Fannie Mae - affordable housing and rehabilitation projects in Arizona's rural areas, Indian reservations and trust lands. (Read More)
Fannie Gets Corporate Governance Rating from S&P
February 24, 2003Fannie Mae has received a corporate governance rating of 9 from Standard & Poor's. (Read More)
Treasury Department Creates New Position
February 24, 2003Michael A. Dawson has been appointed to the newly-created Treasury Department position of deputy assistant secretary for critical infrastructure protection and compliance policy. In this position, he will oversee the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection as part of the administration's ongoing effort to strengthen the nation's safeguards against terrorist activities and financial crime. (Read More)
At a Glance
February 24, 2003(Countrywide Ratings Placed On Negative Watch) 'A' rated medium-term notes 'A-' rated preferred stock 'F1' commercial paper of Countrywide Home Loans 'A' convertible debenture rating of Countrywide Financial Corp. (Read More)
Top Retail Online Originators in q4-02
February 24, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Amount Number Rank Company ($ Millions) of Loans 1 GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation $133,797 50,836 2 Wachovia Securities $83,640 13,876 3 Midland Loan Services, Inc. $74,050 13,634 4 CapMark Services L.P. $66,154 7,050 5 GEMSA Loan Services, L.P. $58,860 7,924 6 ORIX Capital Markets, LLC $36,227 7,983 7 Prudential Asset Resources $34,665 6,015 8 Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Servi $29,875 4,683 9 Washington Mutual Bank, FA $23,537 31,856 10 Bank of America .A. $19,963 8,907 (part 2 of 2) Online Ret Online Ret Rank Orig Q4/02 Orig Q4/01 % Chg 1 $7,711 $4,996 54% 2 $5,662 $1,201 371% 3 $2,758 $357 673% 4 $2,392 $2,016 19% 5 $2,030 na na 6 $1,418 $956 48% 7 $1,097 $387 183% 8 $1,083 $734 48% 9 $1,000 $900 11% 10 $997 $335 198% Notes: NMN defines an online origination as any new loan where the consumer applied or pre-applied online. Some firms such as Countrywide include their tele-sales numbers in with their online volume. (Read More)
Fitch Expects Higher CMBS Delinquencies
February 24, 2003Delinquencies of loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities monitored by Fitch Ratings rose to 1.31% in the fourth quarter, and Fitch is forecasting rising delinquencies over the coming year, according to the rating agency. (Read More)
Roundup: Kmart, Builders Square Add to Worries
February 24, 2003Two classes of Asset Securitization Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1997-D5, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings and will remain on Rating Watch Negative. (Read More)
Roundup: Fitch Sees Problems with Franchise Loan Transaction
February 24, 2003Fourteen classes from three EMAC Owner Trust franchise loan transactions have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)
Thrift Lending Jumps 30% in 4Q
February 24, 2003Thrift originations of 1-4 family loans jumped 30% in the fourth quarter as the banking group set new production records for the quarter and for the year. (Read More)
NAR Blocks Bank Move on Realtor Turf
February 24, 2003The National Association of Realtors has out-lobbied the bankers on Capitol Hill and succeeded in temporarily blocking a rulemaking process that could lead to the entry of banking companies into the real estate brokerage business. (Read More)
Rates hit new low
February 24, 2003Refinancings, as measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, have held steady at 72%- 74% of applications in recent weeks as mortgage rates drifted down to survey-record lows in Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. (Read More)
SimCorp Offers Fixed-Income Software
February 24, 2003The U.S. subsidiary of Danish mortgage technology provider SimCorp A-S here has reported that it will be introducing an investment management system that handles fixed-income products to the North American market. Among the features of the system, which also handles equity instruments, are accounting frameworks that accommodate U.S. (Read More)
Rep. Baker Sees Possible Risk for Banks with Large GSE Holdings
February 24, 2003Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., wants the Federal Reserve Board to conduct a study on the risk of federally insured depository institutions holding large concentrations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac corporate debt securities and whether limits should be placed on those investments. (Read More)
Community Banks Sell Half of Loans
February 24, 2003More community banks and thrifts sold loans into the secondary market last year, but it still represented only 45% of their loan production, according to a survey by America's Community Bankers. (Read More)
Portfolio Lenders Urged to Prepare for Rising Rate Environment
February 24, 2003Portfolio lenders were warned here last week to get their balance sheets in order for a likely run-up in interest rates. (Read More)
ACB Outlines 2003 Goals
February 24, 2003America's Community Bankers has put the financial privacy of its customers at the top of its legislative agenda for 2003. (Read More)
Freddie Shorts Jump; Analyst Raises 'P' Word (Privatize)
February 24, 2003Short sellers trimmed their bets against most mortgage-related companies in January, with one notable exception: Freddie Mac. (Read More)
Shorts in Freddie Rise, Fall For Others
February 24, 2003(A Sample) Company Shares Shorted 1-15 Shares Shorted 12-13 % Change Freddie Mac 8,360,533 6,943,850 20.40% LendingTree 3,883,165 3,572,657 8.69% Countrywide 6,544,927 6,817,035 -3.90% Ocwen Financia 389,989 417,100 -6.50% Farmer Mac 3,093,730 3,380,562 -8.48% Notes: This is a sample table only and is not meant to reflect all publicly-traded firms in the mortgage space. A figure in parenthesis indicates a decline in short positions. Mid-February short positions should be out this week or next. (Read More)
Technology Leaders: Feeding lender demand : Special Report
February 24, 2003Last year was a tough one for technology firms, no doubt about it. (Read More)
Inside
February 24, 2003Next Wave 28 Fiserv's Sadu Thinakal talks about the effects of continued consolidation. (Read More)
Fiserv: Next Wave of Consolidation May Include Other Receivables
February 24, 2003Today, the people who service mortgage loans probably don't interact much with the people who service credit card or other types of consumer loans. But that may be changing, according to Sadu Thinakal, head of the South Bend, Ind.-based Fiserv's loan servicing unit. Fiserv recently added a feature to service home equity lines of credit to its MortgageServ loan administration technology and Mr. Thinakal thinks this type of added functionality may point to the future direction of servicing automation. (Read More)
Hanover Trade Releases New Analytics
February 24, 2003HanoverTrade Inc., a subsidiary of Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings Inc., has redesigned its Busch Analytics Valuation System and launched Hanover-Busch Analytics 6.0 servicing valuation software. (Read More)
A Top Origination Technology Provider Continues Its Growth
February 24, 2003Ellie Mae Inc., which owns two of the most widely-used origination systems in the business, has recently announced new products, new hires and continued growth in transaction volume. (Read More)
Fiserv Client Reports Savings with UniFi PRO
February 24, 2003Hudson City Savings Bank, based here, recently completed an in- house conversion to the most current version of Fiserv's UniFi PRO Mortgage loan origination system. (Read More)
LandAmerica Snaps Up Title Cos. as It Boosts Its Closing Services
February 24, 2003LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Richmond, Va. has been making strides lately to increase its stature in the closing services industry. Recently, the company announced the purchases of two title companies in the eastern U.S., New York Land Services Inc., a New York corporation, and Land Title Agency Inc., a New Jersey corporation. In addition, the company introduced a new automated valuation product called SureShot. (Read More)
New Platform Gives Lenders a Centralized View
February 24, 2003Multistate lenders that operate multiple branches often find it challenging to maintain a single view of their large operations. (Read More)
Dexma's Strategy Anticipates Upcoming Market Developments
February 24, 2003Mortgage technology solutions provider Dexma, Minneapolis, is taking a strategic approach to expected market changes and the resulting need for innovative products. (Read More)
VirtualBank Launches New Technology
February 24, 2003VirtualBank, based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is blessed with a fast-growing parent, but if it can capitalize on the new technology it has introduced - and it says it can - it will be growing fast itself. (Read More)
Online Continuing Education
February 24, 2003Advanced Education Systems, a state-approved continuing education provider for licensing and professional education needs, has launched its e-learning platform TrainingPro to offer an alternative method for mortgage professionals to obtain required continuing education certification. (Read More)
MGIC Uses New Technology Tools
February 24, 2003Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., a subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corp., one of the nation's leading providers of private mortgage insurance coverage, has made excellent use of technology. The company uses it not only to ensure its success as a mortgage insurer, but also to extend its reach into other niches. The company has $196.6 billion primary insurance in force, covering 1.7 million mortgages as of Sept. (Read More)
Technology Plays Small But Growing Role at AHMC
February 24, 2003MortgageSelect.com, a national mortgage banker and the Internet division of American Home Mortgage Corp., does more than just close loans online - although it has been doing a small but growing amount of business in that area. (Read More)
Salem Five Benefits from Interlinq MortgageWare Solutions
February 24, 2003When Jim Dell'Anno came to Salem Five Mortgage Co. in October 1999 to serve as the new senior vice president of operations, he found a bank that knew how to invest in technology better than it knew how to use it. (Read More)
Trumbo Leaves Digital Escrow
February 24, 2003Kirby L. Trumbo has left his position as chief operating officer of Digital Escrow Services Inc., a firm that provides an online tool for tracking and paying property taxes and insurance. The firm came out the gate strong with what looked to be leading edge technology. (Read More)
People
February 24, 2003ALABAMA Mobile-American Family Funds Inc. has recently appointed Lee Walsh as national sales director. Mr. Walsh is responsible for expanding sales and support for the company's inside and outside sales forces. (Read More)
European MBS Deals Flourished Last Year
February 24, 2003European mortgage-backed securities issuance climbed 21% in 2002 to 78.5 billion euros (about $84.9 billion), the European Securitisation Forum has reported. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
February 24, 2003MIEC Index: 136.7; Change: 2.0 (part 1 of 2) 2-13-03 2-20-03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk-lo Alltel (AT) 43.24 42.57 -2% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 53.35 53.08 -1% 37.60 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 21.4 21.40 0% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 52.5 55.85 6% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 29.55 31.44 6% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 62.43 63.97 2% 58.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 54.14 54.85 1% 52.60 Golden West (GDW) 73.47 73.50 0% 56.20 Household (HI) 27.01 27.60 2% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 36.53 37.41 2% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 41.13 41.54 1% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 27.88 27.99 0% 13.00 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 18.65 19.16 3% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 45.46 45.98 1% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 27.41 27.71 1% 24.82 Radian Group (RDN) 34.14 34.94 2% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.82 9.82 0% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 31.15 31.15 0% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 34.33 34.33 0% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk-hi % Chg fr 52 wk-lo P-E Ratio Alltel (AT) 58.30 20% 14.38 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)55.82 41% 8.17 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM 38.75 40% 26.75 Centex Corp. (CTX) 63.09 46% 7.38 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 40% 22.94 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 9% 10.13 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.50 4% 6.89 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 31% 12.00 Household (HI) 63.25 38% 8.57 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.45 48% 7.82 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 24% 6.87 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 115% 4.03 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 19% 7.95 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 11% 14.55 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 12% 7.31 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 19% 7.92 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 25% -27.27 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 1% 9.55 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 23% 8.47 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
February 24, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 135.7; Change: 4.1 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk-lo 52 wk-hi 2-20-03 Aames (AMSF) 0.34 1.90 1.20 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86 13.4 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 7.12 14.55 7.38 Household (HI) 20.00 63.25 27.59 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 8.16 13.48 11.61 New Century (NCEN) 13.00 35.05 27.94 Novastar (NFI) 16.10 35.98 31.19 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 7.60 3.10 Provident Financial (PFGI) 21.46 31.64 28.55 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 11.96 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. % Chg from 52-wk Lo P-E Ratio Aames (AMSF) -8% 253% na American Business Fin. (ABF) 1% 111% 5.20 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) -1% 4% na Household (HI) 2% 38% 8.60 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 3% 42% 6.20 New Century (NCEN) 0% 115% 4.00 Novastar (NFI) 9% 94% 6.90 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 11% 51% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 4% 33% 12.1 Saxon Capital (SAXN) -1% 47% 12.7 Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low.(1)% change from 52-week low. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (Read More)
(back to top)
March 3, 2003
2002 Subprime Volume a Record $241B
March 3, 2003Subprime lenders funded a record $241 billion of home mortgages in 2002, according to figures compiled by this newspaper. (Read More)
OCC May Pre-Empt Georgia Law
March 3, 2003National banks may be in line for relief from the Georgia state predatory lending law now that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is considering a request by the National City Bank, Cleveland, for a federal pre- emption. (Read More)
MSR Runoff Concerning Regulators
March 3, 2003Concerns about the incredible runoff of residential servicing rights have finally prompted federal banking regulators to step up their examinations of large depository-owned mortgage banking shops. (Read More)
MBA: 25% Floor Now for Refis?
March 3, 2003Refinancing is likely to account for about 25% of loan origination activity even after interest rates start rising, according to Douglas Duncan, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's chief economist. (Read More)
Longtime MBA Head, 62, Dies
March 3, 2003Warren Lasko, who made his mark in the housing finance industry as a federal administrator and trade group executive, died of cancer on Feb. 20. He was 62. (Read More)
NYC Mayor Thwarts B-C Bill
March 3, 2003New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has obtained a temporary restraining order preventing the city's predatory lending ordinance from taking effect as scheduled on Feb. 24. (Read More)
Freddie Mac Mortgage Holdings-Purchases
March 3, 2003(January Purchases Way Down) ($ in Mils) (part 1 of 2) Year/ Total Retained PCs Held Port. Grwth Month Portfolio in Port Rate (1) 1-Oct $477,588 $296,499 6.20% Nov $483,911 $300,806 8.90% Dec $491,719 $301,961 11.90% Total/Bal. 01 $491,719 $301,961 14.40% 2-Oct $536,389 $327,295 0.00% Nov $549,380 $334,172 7.30% Dec $568,173 $339,194 19.70% Total 02 $568,173 $339,194 13.30% Jan-03 $568,494 $339,803 -2.40% YTD Total/Bal. $568,173 $339,194 -2.40% %chg 01/02-01/03 12% 6% na (part 2 of 2) Year/ Single-Family Total Mtg Mtg PC Month Delinq. Purch (2) Issuance 1-Oct 0.38% $36,786 $31,646 Nov 0.40% $44,397 $38,958 Dec 0.41% $61,299 $50,532 Total/Bal. 01 na $475,091 $389,611 2-Oct 0.39% $73,639 $60,516 Nov 0.40% $74,340 $62,354 Dec 0.41% $91,223 $73,184 Total 02 na $642,397 $547,046 Jan-03 na $55,057 $48,169 YTD Total/Bal. na $55,057 $48,169 %chg 01/02-01/03 na 6% -2% Notes: (1) Portfolio growth rate is an annualized rate. (2) Preliminary. (Read More)
Subprime Residential Lending Volume Leaders
March 3, 2003($ in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 CitiFinancial Baltimore, MD 2 Household Fin'l Svcs(E)(1) Prospect Hts, IL 3 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 4 New Century Fin'l Corp. Irvine, CA 5 Ameriquest Mtg Corp.(E) Orange, CA 6 Option One Mtg Irvine, CA 7 First Franklin Fin'l San Jose, CA 8 Countrywide Fin'l Corp. Calabasas, CA 9 Homecomings/GMAC-RFC Bloomington, MN 10 Wells Fargo Home Mtg Des Moines, IA (part 2 of 2) B&C Vol B&C Vol Pct Market Rk Q4/02 Q4/01 Chg Share 1 $5,975 $4,064 47% 8.08% 2 $5,400 $4,800 13% 7.31% 3 $4,988 $2,630 90% 6.75% 4 $4,500 $2,000 125% 6.09% 5 $4,400 $2,044 115% 5.95% 6 $3,734 $2,237 67% 5.05% 7 $3,575 $1,838 94% 4.84% 8 $3,203 $1,973 62% 4.33% 9 $2,817 $2,390 18% 3.81% 10 $2,383 $1,111 114% 3.22% Notes: Results may vary because some firms would not provide volumes. Market share based on estimated subprime production of $74.98 billion in Q402. (E) Estimate. (1) Household is being sold to HSBC. (2) Decision is part of Household. (Read More)
New Home Sales Plunge 15%
March 3, 2003New home sales plunged 15.1% in January as economic problems, a possible war with Iraq and falling consumer confidence caught up with a red-hot national housing market. (Read More)
Radian Bidding On GE's FGIC?
March 3, 2003Radian Group Inc., Philadelphia, a major player in mortgage insurance, is one of a handful of bidders interested in Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., a bond insurer owned by General Electric. (Read More)
Freddie Mac Purchases Slump in January, Dropping by 40%
March 3, 2003Loan purchases by Freddie Mac plunged by almost 40% in January from the previous month, according to figures released by the company. (Read More)
3 FHLBs Purchase $17.2B Through MPP
March 3, 2003The three Federal Home Loan Banks participating in the Mortgage Purchase Program acquired $17.2 billion on single-family loans from member banks and thrifts in 2002. (Read More)
Editorial: After the Phone Stops Ringing
March 3, 2003Last week, we talked about what servicers need to do to set themselves up for when rates rise and the phone stops ringing ow, what about originators? (Read More)
Open Forum: Little Evidence of 'Bubble'
March 3, 2003Governor Bernanke recently addressed the 41st Annual Winter Institute at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Economic Concerns Bring Mortgage Rates Down Yet Another Notch
March 3, 2003Prognosticators keep saying interest rates must eventually reverse direction, but last week they headed downward once again to a new level. (Read More)
Downgrades for 11 Conseco Classes
March 3, 2003The ratings on 11 classes from various Conseco Finance Corp.-related securitizations have been downgraded from CCC-minus to D (default) by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. (Read More)
RFC Hits Record with 2002 ABS
March 3, 2003Residential Funding Corp. has reported that its total mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities issuance in 2002 reached $34.5 billion, the highest in company history and a 30.7% increase over 2001. (Read More)
SASCO Securities Get Fitch Downgrade
March 3, 2003Seven classes of Structured Asset Securities Corp. mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)
Fitch Says It Has Enhanced Servicer Ratings
March 3, 2003Fitch Ratings has released a report detailing its new criteria for rating residential mortgage servicers. (Read More)
Seller-Servicer Risk Outweighs Trustee
March 3, 2003According to a study by Fitch Ratings, "thinly capitalized" seller-servicers and unique asset classes add risk to the performance of asset-backed securities. (Read More)
At a Glance
March 3, 2003(A New Fitch Report Refines Servicing) Evaluation Criteria In Following Areas Residential MBS Transaction Analysis Controls for Predatory Lending Claims Processing and Collections Technology-Collection Tools Contingency Planning Outsourcing Default Management Benchmarks Source: Fitch Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Impac Offering Raises $33 Million
March 3, 2003Impac Mortgage Holdings has priced an offering of three million shares of its common stock at a price per share of $11.60 to raise an aggregate of $33 million for the firm. (Read More)
Wilshire's Earnings Fall on 'Non-Recurring' Items
March 3, 2003Wilshire Financial Services Group reported net income after taxes of $2 million, or 11 cents per share, in 2002. (Read More)
Thornburg Offering Raises $64 Million
March 3, 2003Thornburg Mortgage has priced a follow-on offering of 3.2 million shares of common stock at $20. (Read More)
Portfolio Growth 'Bodes Well' for Redwood
March 3, 2003Analysts at Sandler O'Neill give Redwood Trust, a mortgage REIT based in Mill Valley, Calif., a "buy" rating with a $31 12-month price target, citing the company's ongoing portfolio growth as an indication that it will continue to grow earnings. (Read More)
NCFC Finishes 2nd Stock Repurchase
March 3, 2003New Century Financial Corp. has repurchased its second million-share allocation under the company's stock repurchase program using corporate liquidity. (Read More)
PMI Authorizes Stock Repurchase
March 3, 2003The PMI Group said its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million of the company's outstanding common stock. (Read More)
Consumers Confused by Loan Process
March 3, 2003A survey conducted by LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. here found that in spite of a record number of home purchase loans in 2002, most consumers say they are perplexed by the mortgage originations procedure. (Read More)
REIT Restates Earnings Down
March 3, 2003National Health Investors Inc. here, a real estate investment trust that finances health care properties, has restated its earnings downward because of its investment in another REIT, LTC Properties Inc., Oxnard, Calif. (Read More)
Wells, Builder in Partnership
March 3, 2003Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc. here and Paramount Construction Inc., Rockville, Md., have formed a strategic relationship that allows the latter company to offer its customers home financing products and services through the former. (Read More)
Top Mortgage Lenders
March 3, 2003(In the Tampa-St. Petersburg MSA) (Dollars in Thousands) (part 1 of 2) Organization Name Location 1 Bank of America, N.A. Saint Louis, MO 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Des Moines, IA 3 Countrywide Home Loans Rosemead, CA 4 Chase Manhattan Mortgage Edison, NJ 5 Washington Mutual Bank, FA Seattle, WA 6 AmSouth Bank Birmingham, AL 7 ABN Amro Mortgage Troy, MI 8 Market Street Mortgage Clearwater, FL 9 Suntrust Mortgage Richmond, VA 10 Irwin Mortgage Corporation Indianapolis, IN 11 Cendant Mortgage Mt Laurel, NJ 12 National City Mortgage Cleveland, OH 13 First Union Mortgage Corp. Charlotte, NC 14 GMAC Mortgage Horsham, PA 15 Suntrust Bank Atlanta, GA 16 Principal Residential Mort. Des Moines, IA 17 Union Planters Bank Cordova, TN 18 Universal American Mortgage Miami, FL 19 Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Ocala, FL 20 First Nationwide Mortgage/Citi Frederick, MD (part 2 of 2) Organization Volume No. of Loans 1 $1,272,641 13,548 2 $1,237,962 9,682 3 $785,628 7,574 4 $707,193 5,659 5 $440,435 3,575 6 $373,121 3,350 7 $354,418 2,938 8 $354,072 2,976 9 $320,226 2,566 10 $319,727 3,124 11 $278,614 2,382 12 $265,281 2,390 13 $248,585 2,144 14 $246,542 2,534 15 $229,325 2,530 16 $221,345 1,932 17 $204,067 2,027 18 $203,744 1,627 19 $197,541 1,926 20 $188,085 1,557 Notes: Represents 2001 activity. (Read More)
eMortgage: Note Validity Secure?
March 3, 2003The mortgage industry is getting closer to the all-electronic mortgage every day. Recently, a number of document preparation companies, perhaps most notably DocuTech, have announced eMortgage compatible systems that can produce all- electronic mortgages in compliance with MISMO standards and Fannie Mae SMART Docs. But some say that investors will not be completely comfortable with an electronic note until it has been tested in court. (Read More)
The Magic Kingdom
March 3, 2003It's not stretching it too much to see similarities between the mortgage technology field, which is meeting in Orlando next week for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's annual tech show, and Disney's Magic Kingdom, which will supply the backdrop for the meeting. (Read More)
MERS to Mingle at Upcoming MBA Technology Show
March 3, 2003You won't see a MERS booth on the exhibit hall floor at this year's Mortgage Bankers of America technology show, but you will see some of their executives. (Read More)
A Breakthrough Way to Process Defaulted Loans
March 3, 2003When he arrives in Orlando as a speaker on workflow for the National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference, this will be only the second time Don Pettingill has attended MBA Tech. (Read More)
DOCX at MBA Technology Show to Look for New Partners
March 3, 2003DOCX will celebrate its 10th anniversary at the Mortgage Bankers Association's Mortgage Technology Conference in Orlando with announcement of a new suite of Web-based applications for creating and recording lien releases and assignments. (Read More)
Plenty to See and Do in Orlando - Try SeaWorld, MGM, Universal
March 3, 2003While the Disney Co. may have the term Magic Kingdom trademarked, the magic doesn't end at its Orlando theme park gates. In fact, Walt Disney World and its associated environs are just the beginning. For the mortgage industry conventioneer interested in extending a stay beyond the MBA's technology conference, there is plenty of magic to be discovered in this town. (Read More)
J2 in Orlando to Promote Fax Security Offerings
March 3, 2003J2 Global Communications Inc. here, as its name suggests, has an extensive global reach that extends from its headquarters in the United States to Mexico, South America, Western Europe, Asia and Australia. (Read More)
TCN to Promote Back-Office Infrastructure at Convention
March 3, 2003The thing Richard Downing, president of The Credit Network, Framingham, Mass., likes about the Mortgage Bankers of America's annual mortgage technology show and conference is that he's never sure who he'll see there. (Read More)
New QuadMerge Product Hits Streets from FNIS
March 3, 2003While originally launched last October at the MBA's national convention, Fidelity National Information Solution's QuadMerge product has a new twist. The company will be promoting the product, among other products and services for the industry, at the upcoming MBA technology show here. (Read More)
Alltel Unveils Value Tracker at Show
March 3, 2003While mortgage servicing industry giant Alltel may well be a subsidiary of Fidelity National now, that won't stop the company from showing up at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's annual technology show and conference in Orlando next week. In fact, the company will be actively pushing its technology solutions, and providing a new tool to help make it easier for purchasing executives to get buy-in from their upper management. (Read More)
RESPA Gets Meeting Attention
March 3, 2003ABN Amro senior vice president and conference panelist Garth Graham believes proposed U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reform of the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act is likely to be a key topic at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's technology convention. (Read More)
Web Services Panel to Shed Light on Subject at Tech
March 3, 2003While most everyone in the mortgage business has heard of Web services - even those not directly involved in the technology side of the business - at least one expert says most people still don't get it. James Owens, business development executive in the capital finance division of RDA Corp. submitted a proposal to the Mortgage Bankers Association, suggesting a Web services panel for its upcoming mortgage technology conference here. The proposal was accepted and Mr. Owens will chair the panel that will take place on Tuesday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. (Read More)
Freddie Mac, NRC-Atlanta Continue Affordable Housing Effort
March 3, 2003Aiming to further expand the success of a 10-year affordable housing partnership with Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp. of Atlanta, Freddie Mac announced a new $2 million five-year grant, part of which will be used by the NRC Training Institute to research critical housing issues and train employees. (Read More)
FHA Gets Good Report from Auditors
March 3, 2003The performance of the Federal Housing Administration single-family insurance fund improved in fiscal year 2002 and the capital ratio of the fund jumped to 4.52% from 3.75% in FY 2001. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Won't Get Conseco Servicing Platform
March 3, 2003Fannie Mae came up short on its $70 million bid to purchase the servicing platform of Conseco Finance, St. Paul, Minn., but that's more than OK with the secondary market giant. (Read More)
Another Trade Group For Mortgage Lenders?
March 3, 2003It appears as though the mortgage industry will be getting another trade group, one that will serve the lobbying interests of mega-servicers and producers like Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and Chase Manhattan Mortgage. (Read More)
People
March 3, 2003CALIFORNIA El Cajon-Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp. has welcomed Suzanne Eaton to the CWRC team as the assistant vice president of marketing. Ms aton will oversee business and client relationships with Cal-Western's East Coast and Midwest clients. (Read More)
New York AG Ready to Take On OCC
March 3, 2003New York state attorney general Eliot Spitzer has signaled that he is prepared to fight the supervisor of national banks in order to enforce the laws against predatory lending. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
March 3, 2003MIEC Index: 136.7; Change: 0.0 (part 1 of 2) 2/20/03 2/27/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 42.57 43.08 1% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. 53.08 52.54 -1% 39.50 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 21.40 22.62 6% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 55.85 55.44 -1% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 31.44 31.13 -1% 22.5 Fannie Mae (FNM) 63.97 63.91 0% 58.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 54.85 54.73 0% 52.6 Golden West (GDW) 73.50 72.20 -2% 56.20 Household (HI) 27.60 27.67 0% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 37.41 37.85 1% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 41.54 39.56 -5% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 27.99 26.79 -4% 14.34 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 19.16 18.93 -1% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 45.98 45.44 -1% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 27.71 27.08 -2% 24.82 Radian Group (RDN) 34.94 34.78 0% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.82 9.64 -2% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 31.15 33.01 6% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 34.33 34.40 0% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk/hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 58.30 22% 14.55 Countrywide Financial Corp. 55.82 33% 8.09 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 48% 28.27 Centex Corp. (CTX) 63.09 45% 7.33 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 38% 22.72 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 9% 10.12 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.50 4% 6.88 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 28% 11.79 Household (HI) 63.25 38% 8.59 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.45 50% 4.73 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 18% 6.54 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 87% 3.86 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 17% 7.85 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 9% 14.37 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 9% 7.14 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 18% 7.88 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 23% -26.77 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 7% 10.12 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 24% 8.49 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
March 3, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 135.0; Change: -0.7 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 2/27/03 Aames (AMSF) 0.34 1.9 1.25 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86 13.31 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 6.91 14.55 7.09 Household (HI) 20 63.25 27.65 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IM 8.16 13.48 11.83 New Century (NCEN) 14.34 35.05 26.82 Novastar (NFI) 16.36 35.98 32.1 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 7.6 3.2 Provident Financial (PFGI) 21.46 31.64 28.71 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 11.1 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. % Chg from 52-wk Lo P/E Ratio Aames (AMSF) 4% 268% na American Business Fin. (ABFI) -1% 109% 5.1 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) -4% 3% na Household (HI) 0% 38% 8.6 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 2% 45% 6.4 New Century (NCEN) -4% 87% 3.9 Novastar (NFI) 3% 96% 7.1 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 3% 56% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 1% 34% 12.2 Saxon Capital (SAXN) -7% 36% 11.8 Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (1)% change from 52-week low. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (Read More)
Hanover Capital Increases Dividend
March 3, 2003Hanover Capital Mortgage Holdings reported net income of $5.1 million for last year, or $1.16 per share, a 57% increase from 2001. (Read More)
Correction
March 3, 2003A headline that ran in the Feb. 24 National Mortgage News should have read "Will Fannie Mae's Customization Effort Have 'PaymentPower'?" The last word was misstated. We regret the error. (Read More)
Top Mortgage Lenders
March 3, 2003(In the Orlando, FL, USA) (Dollars in Thousands) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 Chase Manhattan Mortgage Edison, NJ 2 Countrywide Home Loans Rosemead, CA 3 Bank of America, N.A. Saint Louis, MO 4 Suntrust Mortgage Richmond, VA 5 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Des Moines, IA 6 ABN Amro Mortgage Group, Inc. Troy, MI 7 Pinnacle Financial Corp. Orlando, FL 8 National City Mortgage Cleveland, OH 9 Irwin Mortgage Corp. Indianapolis, IN 10 Washington Mutual Bank, FA Seattle, WA 11 Ivanhoe Financial, Inc. Orlando, FL 12 Cendant Mortgage Mt Laurel, NJ 13 Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Ocala, FL 14 First Union Mortgage Charlotte, NC 15 First Horizon Home Loan Corp. Irving, TX 16 Suntrust Bank Atlanta, GA 17 GMAC Mortgage Horsham, PA 18 North American Mortgage Tampa, FL 19 Universal American Mortgage Miami, FL 20 Homebanc Mortgage Atlanta, GA (part 2 of 2) Rank Origination Volume No. of Loans 1 $734,552 5,603 2 $661,612 5,793 3 $619,932 6,211 4 $516,898 3,957 5 $516,780 4,051 6 $448,883 3,199 7 $407,700 3,537 8 $394,501 3,432 9 $332,341 2,864 10 $236,475 2,003 11 $233,582 2,018 12 $207,646 1,641 13 $190,836 1,846 14 $181,733 1,344 15 $177,200 1,552 16 $175,235 1,666 17 $149,033 1,441 18 $143,397 1,204 19 $142,370 1,020 20 $139,535 836 Notes: Represents 2001 activity Source: NMN's HMDA Database. (Read More)
Servicers Leaving Sale Opportunities
March 3, 2003Top officials with the Mortgage Bankers Association of America believe that lenders can improve cross-sales and customer retention by placing a higher emphasis on service quality. (Read More)
Ocwen Launches New Default Tech
March 3, 2003Ocwen Technology Exchange Inc. a subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corp., chose the MBA servicing conference here to announce the release of the industry's "first truly integrated default management system," which it calls REALResolution. (Read More)
Countrywide Reassures Investors
March 3, 2003Countrywide Financial Corp. chairman, chief executive and president Angelo Mozilo told investors on Feb. 25 that the company has met with regulators and is confident that it is using a conservative approach in valuing its mortgage servicing rights. Referencing a report issued earlier that day that indicated regulators would be stepping up their examinations of large servicing shops due to runoff concerns, Mr. Mozilo reassured investors during a Webcast forum that the company's valuations are in line with regulatory goals. He added that the company's MSR valuations have been more cautious than those of its peers. (Read More)
Cincinnati FHLB Supports Stock Registration
March 3, 2003The Cincinnati Federal Home Loan Bank has decided that the time has come to signal its support for the registration of FHLBank stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission, even though the stock is not publicly traded and it does not fluctuate in price. (Read More)
(back to top)
March 10, 2003
GMAC Commercial for Sale; WaMu, Others Interested
March 10, 2003GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., the No. 1 commercial lender and servicer in the nation, is on the auction block, and sources say Washington Mutual and others are lining up to bid. (Read More)
Cendant 'Impairment' $263M
March 10, 2003Cendant Mortgage here, the nation's ninth largest residential servicer, took a $263 million servicing "impairment" charge in 2002. (Read More)
$700B of Equity Tapped
March 10, 2003Homeowners extracted $700 billion in equity from their homes last year, according to the Federal Reserve Board. (Read More)
HUD Moving Packaging Plan Alone?
March 10, 2003Though no one at the Department of Housing and Urban Development is talking, congressional sources have confirmed secretary Mel Martinez is considering moving ahead on only the guaranteed mortgage package portion of his plan to revise the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. (Read More)
WTC Plans Regain All CRE
March 10, 2003The design that has been chosen to rebuild the World Trade Center site will replace almost all of the commercial real estate space that was lost on 9-11. (Read More)
At a Glance
March 10, 2003(GMAC's Commercial Mortgage Empire) ($ in millions) Commercial Serv. Port.: $160,894 Commercial Serv. Rank: first Commercial Prod. in Q4: $6,826 Commercial Prod. Rank: first Favorite Property Types: multifamily, office, retail, healthcare, hospitality. (Read More)
Top Residential Lenders & Their Los Systems
March 10, 2003($ in Mills) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Wells Fargo Hm Mtg Des Moines, IA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 Countrywide Fin'l Calabasas, CA 4 Chase Home Fin. Edison, NJ 5 ABN Amro Mtg Ann Arbor, MI 6 Bank of America Charlotte, NC 7 National City Mtg Miamisburg, OH 8 GMAC Res. Hldngs Horsham, PA 9 Cendant Mtg Mt. Laurel, NJ 10 Homecomings/GMAC-RFC Bloomington, MN (part 2 of 2) Orig Vol Orig Tech Rk Q4/02 Used 1 $112,581 PMI (Aura) 2 $108,600 WM Loanworks (Inhouse system) 3 $102,103 CLUES (Inhouse system) 4 $60,857 LoanSoft; Homes (Inhouse syst.) 5 $40,580 Interlinq (Mortgageware); (Inhouse) MOAI 6 $31,880 na 7 $29,488 London Bridge (TMO); Accutrac 8 $25,144 EDS/Lakewood (Pilot) 9 $19,203 na 10 $17,199 Mortgage Flex (LoanQuest) Total of Top 10: $547,635 Source: NMN/QDR and 2003 MID. Questions: Email: deartra.todd
Investment Group, GE Consumer Finance Will Buy Conseco's Assets
March 10, 2003After a marathon session, the winning bidder for the majority of Conseco Finance Corp.'s assets was CFN Investment Holdings LLC. It agreed to pay at least $700 million for the subprime and manufactured housing lender formerly known as Green Tree Financial and based in St. Paul, Minn., a Conseco Finance spokeswoman confirmed. (Read More)
PMI Will Allow Financing of Fee
March 10, 2003The PMI Group is rolling out a new rate structure for mortgage insurance that allows homebuyers to finance or pay part of the premium upfront to lower their monthly payments. (Read More)
Two Industry Subprime Veterans Jumping Back into the Fire
March 10, 2003Two well-respected industry veterans, who sold their companies at what they thought was the top of the market and then headed to the golf course, have decided they want back in. (Read More)
FNC Users Get Access to SMI
March 10, 2003FNC has formed an alliance with Stewart Mortgage Information to provide lenders using FNC's Collateral Management System integrated access to a variety of SMI services, including flood zone determinations, appraisal, and AVMs, as well as to the Stewart Title network for title, closing and settlement services. (Read More)
Editorial: National Standards?
March 10, 2003Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have both now signed off on the concept of "national standards" that should be followed by everyone to banish predatory lending once and for all. (Read More)
Open Forum: Supporting Tribal Sovereignty
March 10, 2003Secretary Martinez recently addressed the National Congress of American Indians at the 2003 Executive Council Winter Session in Washington xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Mortgage Market's Mantra Should Be 'Rates, Rates, Rates'
March 10, 2003After examining conditions in the market in recent weeks, I've become more convinced than ever that the mantra "interest rates, interest rates, interest rates" is central to the mortgage industry the way "location, location, location" is the key to the real estate industry. (Read More)
HUD Says It Will Offer Legislation to Create FHA Subprime Program
March 10, 2003The Department of Housing and Urban Development will be seeking congressional approval later this year to start a new Federal Housing Administration loan product designed specifically for subprime borrowers. (Read More)
GAO Report Foresees More FHFB Infighting
March 10, 2003The Federal Housing Finance Board will continue to be plagued by "bitter conflicts" unless a 1993 delegation of authority that gives the Finance Board's chairman autocratic powers is modified, according to a General Accounting Office report. (Read More)
Executive Sees Inequities for Minorities
March 10, 2003When Patrick Stone was asked to moderate a panel on minority lending at the Midwinter Housing Conference here earlier this month, he admits he knew next to nothing about the topic. After all, as chief executive officer of Fidelity National Information Systems, Mr. Stone's a technology guy, not a lender. (Read More)
Residential Loans Boom at AZ Bank
March 10, 2003Many lenders anticipate that 2003 will be a fine year, but nowhere as good as the one that just ended. (Read More)
Analyst: REIT Dividend Yields 'Attractive'
March 10, 2003A tax change made in 1998 may work to the long-term benefit of investors in real estate investment trusts, according to a report from A.G dwards. (Read More)
American Financial Realty Trust Plans $600 Million Public Offering
March 10, 2003American Financial Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust launched by Lewis S. Ranieri last year, is planning an initial public offering of its common shares for an estimated total amount of $600 million. (Read More)
Analyst Lowers Rating For Staten Island Bank
March 10, 2003Analysts at Sandler O'Neill have reduced their rating on the stock of Staten Island Bancorp to "maintain," but they say an SEC "informal inquiry" into the bank's restatement of financials for 2001 and 2002 does not affect its earnings estimates for price targets for the bank. (Read More)
MBA Sees Light at End of Predatory Tunnel
March 10, 2003The predatory lending pendulum is starting to swing back towards a single national law that deals with abusive lending practices, the chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association believes. (Read More)
Latino Market Spreading Out
March 10, 2003Lenders who don't know by now that the Hispanic population is the fastest growing in the nation and a major source of new business over the next few decades could easily be accused of having their heads stuck in the sand. (Read More)
The Homeownership Gap
March 10, 2003(The Emerging Markets Opportunity) White Hispanic African-American Asian Population Growth 5% 41% 21% 40% Homeownership Rate 2000 74.5% 48.2% 47.3% 54.6% Homeownership Gap* 6.6% -19.7% -20.6 -14.6 * The percentage above or below the average national homeownership rate of 67.9% Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2002 Report-Fannie Mae Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
'Underserved' Is Not Exclusively a Minority Market
March 10, 2003The so-called emerging market homebuyer cannot be characterized solely as a low-income member of a minority. (Read More)
Developer Will Convert To REIT Next Year
March 10, 2003Catellus Development Corp. is going to reorganize its operations to qualify as a real estate investment trust effective Jan. 1, 2004, the company has reported. (Read More)
Falling Rates Fuel Unexpected Boom in Repurchase of FHA-VA Loans
March 10, 2003Perhaps the fastest growing niche in the mortgage securities market is a byproduct of falling interest rates and the high default rate in government- guaranteed loan programs. (Read More)
Bush Proposal to End Dividend Tax Already Has LIHTC Market in Turmoil
March 10, 2003The president's proposal to end double taxation of corporate dividends is already undermining the market for low-income housing tax credits, according to a report by Ernst & Young. (Read More)
NHC: HMDA Numbers Mask Low-Moderate Income Pattern
March 10, 2003The top 25 U.S. lenders made nearly half of all loans reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act in 2001, but only 1% of those conventional loans went to low- and moderate-income (LMI) borrowers who reside in LMI census tracks, according to a report by the National Training and Information Center. (Read More)
Fannie and Minority Real Estate Brokers Team Up to Provide AH Loans
March 10, 2003Fannie Mae has entered into a three-year partnership with the National Association of Real Estate Brokers to help finance "at least" $100 million in affordable housing loans generated by NAREB members through Fannie-approved lenders operating in underserved communities across the country Fannie Mae made the announcement at NAREB's mid-winter conference here. (Read More)
NAR Ads Target Hispanic Buyers
March 10, 2003The National Association of Realtors' advertising campaign for 2003, for the first time, features Spanish language radio spots that will be introduced to the country's top 25 Hispanic markets. (Read More)
RealEC Technologies Reaches Record Transaction Volumes
March 10, 2003Chalking up a reported 290% increase in volume in less than six months, the RealEC Exchange processed a million orders between November 2002 and January 2003. (Read More)
Ignition Supports $196B in Transactions in 2002
March 10, 2003Ignition Mortgage Technology Solutions Inc., a Freddie Mac company and provider of mortgage pricing, risk management and custom development services, says that its LockPoint Xtra and Pipeline Tools products supported more than $196 billion in lending transactions in 2002. (Read More)
vLoanPort in Deal With Processing Co.
March 10, 2003Forms here, a software division of vLoanPort, has signed a deal with California-based Bundled Broker Services, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., a national mortgage processing company. (Read More)
SMI Presents Streamlining Sessions at MBA Technology Show
March 10, 2003What does it take to streamline the mortgage transaction? Attendees of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's national technology in mortgage banking conference will hear how some experts answer this question thanks to a session proposed by Houston-based Stewart Mortgage Information. (Read More)
QuestSoft Forms Link with FICS
March 10, 2003QuestSoft, a provider of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act compliance solutions and geocoding services for lenders, has established a systems interface with Financial Industry Computer Systems Inc., a provider of loan origination software and servicing technology to the mortgage industry. (Read More)
Beanstalk Promotes New Open-Close MTG Product
March 10, 2003When executives from West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Beanstalk Networks get down to Orlando for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's national technology in mortgage banking conference, they'll be ready to do some business. That's because after 24 months of work, the company's next generation mortgage product offering is ready. Mortgage Connect, the company's mortgage technology division, offers Web-based transaction platforms for lenders, brokers, correspondents and employees. (Read More)
eLoyalty Allies With Pegasystems
March 10, 2003Pegasystems Inc., a provider of business process management software, has signed eLoyalty, Lake Forest, Ill., an enterprise customer relationship management services and solutions company, as a services partner to support the sale and implementation of its PegaRules Process Commander. Through the partnership, both companies will participate in joint sales and marketing initiatives. (Read More)
New Tool Confirming the Status Of Old Liens Via Tracking Service
March 10, 2003Atlantic Assurance Group, a leading real estate information provider and vendor management company, has introduced SatTrack, a new lien satisfaction tracking service. (Read More)
CBC Selects CreditXpert's Tools
March 10, 2003CBC Companies, Columbus, Ohio, a credit reporting service that serves more than 50,000 customers nationwide, has added CreditXpert Inc.'s line of personalized consumer credit management tools and content to complement their credit reporting services. (Read More)
MBA's 2003 National Technology Mortgage Banking Conference Schedule
March 10, 2003Sunday, March 9 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. (Read More)
Some Improvement for Commercial RE, Although Declines Are Likely
March 10, 2003The commercial real estate industry is likely to see some improvement in the second half of the year as the economic recovery continues to gain strength in 2003, according to Prudential Real Estate Investors. (Read More)
'Largest-Ever' Loan Made to Private Hotel Company
March 10, 2003Strategic Hotel Capital has obtained financing of $1.17 billion from Deutsche Bank in a transaction that Strategic believes is "the largest loan ever made to a privately-held hotel company." (Read More)
Laureate Reorganizes Executive Team
March 10, 2003Laureate Capital has reorganized its executive team, making changes in response to Laureate's "rapid growth since formation in August 1994," according to Thomas Denard, president and CEO of the commercial mortgage banking-servicing firm. (Read More)
Washington Mutual Aims for the 'Z-State'
March 10, 2003A few years ago, Washington Mutual started work on a vision and business model that included a five-year plan to be able to service one million loans. (Read More)
Churning Takes a Toll on Lenders as Loans Per FTE Fall
March 10, 2003Refinancing may be a boon to loan originators, but loan servicers are finding that the longest refi boom in history is taking a toll on their productivity. (Read More)
B&C Borrowers Have Hard Time
March 10, 2003When servicing lower credit-rated home loan customers, lenders need to remember that these are people who haven't saved a lot to get them through a rainy day. (Read More)
Home Price Growth Slowing
March 10, 2003Industry economists are backing up what recent statistics have indicated - that home price growth has slowed down. (Read More)
B&C Default Risk Still at High Level
March 10, 2003The risk of mortgage default on nonprime credit quality loans has risen 30% since 1998, according to a quarterly study by University Financial Associates. (Read More)
Conversion of 850 NY Apartments to Condos Requires Lender Creativity
March 10, 2003Doing a single closing can prove to be a difficult experience, especially with all of the last minute problems that can crop up ow take that single closing and multiply it by 850. That was the problem facing New York Mortgage Co. here. (Read More)
Pyramid Solutions to Present LOS Based on FileNet Platform
March 10, 2003Pyramid Solutions, Troy, Mich., and FileNet, Costa Mesa, Calif., will team up at the this week's Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference to present a new loan origination system built by Pyramid on FileNet's new P8 enterprise content management platform. (Read More)
Getting inside the value
March 10, 2003Not since the days of the thrift crisis has as much attention been paid to the appraisal industry as it is right now. Ironically, one of the legacies of the thrift crisis, the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, is among the items causing the most controversy. (Read More)
INSIDE
March 10, 2003Technology Overview 34 The process of collateral valuation in residential mortgage lending is becoming faster, cheaper and easier. (Read More)
Valuation Technology Continues to Make Advances
March 10, 2003A number of firms have been harnessing technology to make the process of collateral valuation in residential mortgage lending faster, cheaper and easier. (Read More)
Appraisal Groups Team Up to Lobby
March 10, 2003A pair of the appraisal industry's trade groups, the Appraisal Institute and the American Society of Appraisers have joined together to pursue common legislative goals. (Read More)
FNC Rolls Out Digital Credential for Appraisers
March 10, 2003FNC based in Oxford, MS, will roll out a new technology tool this week that will make appraisers easier to track and manage at the same time it introduces the use of digital signatures to the mortgage industry on a broad scale. The company's Digital Credential technology, which it developed in association with UserTrust Inc., Salt Lake City, is a secure digital signature that links individual appraisers to their delivered work and to their business credentials. (Read More)
FNIS Provides Tool to LendingTree
March 10, 2003LendingTree Inc., the online mortgage lending exchange headquartered here, has added a home valuation tool provided by Fidelity National Information Systems to its website (www.lendingtree.com). (Read More)
Value Insurance Helps Lenders Speed Originations
March 10, 2003The growth in home equity loans and second mortgages and the lender's desires to close those loans faster had those lenders looking for alternatives in ancillary products. (Read More)
BCE Emergis Exec Looks to Spread the Word at the MBA Tech Show
March 10, 2003BCE Emergis' new link with real estate software designer a la mode inc., which gives appraisers easier access to electronic loan documents, is among several steps the Canadian-owned company is taking to add to and improve the mortgage-related automation it offers, according to John Barnes, vice president of product development, eLending Solutions. (Read More)
BCE Emergis Joins Mercury Network
March 10, 2003BCE Emergis and a la mode inc. have reached an agreement that will provide users of Freddie Mac's loanprospector.com origination portal access to more than 14,000 appraisers on the Mercury Network. The network, owned and operated by a la mode, will be connected to Emergis Vendor Services Exchange, a secure, Web- based solution for real-time placement, receipt and management of settlement services. (Read More)
Home Prices Grow By 3.9% in 4th Qtr
March 10, 2003Home value appreciation for the fourth quarter increased at an annualized rate of 3.9% according to the Freddie Mac Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index. (Read More)
Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index
March 10, 2003(part 1 of 3) Middle South East South New England Atlantic Atlantic Central Quarterly Change Q3/02-Q4/02 1.8 1.2 1.0 0.7 Annualized Quarterly Change Q3/02-Q4/02 7.3 4.8 4.1 3.0 Annual Change Q4/01-Q4/02 10.7 10.2 7.0 3.5 (part 2 of 3) West South West North East North Central Central Central Quarterly Change Q3/02-Q4/02 0.8 0.8 0.6 Annualized Quarterly Change Q3/02-Q4/02 3.1 3.2 2.3 Annual Change Q4/01-Q4/02 3.7 5.7 4.2 (part 3 of 3) - The United Mountain Pacific States Quarterly Change Q3/02-Q4/02 0.4 1.5 1.0 Annualized Quarterly Change Q3/02-Q4/02 1.6 6.1 3.9 Annual Change Q4/01-Q4/02 4.0 9.9 6.6 Source: Freddie Mac Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Basis100 Reports Financial Results for Fiscal 2002
March 10, 2003Basis100 Inc. increased revenue from continuing operations by 35% in 2002 and generated a high revenue from recurring transactions, the company said in its earnings release, but still recorded a net loss for the fourth quarter. The company, which offers a variety of financial services in Canada, started out offering its automated valuation product in the U.S. In 2002, the company refocused its attention on this country, hiring a new CEO, Joe Murin, and expanding its product line. (Read More)
Source One Hires Three Executives
March 10, 2003Source One Services, a unit of eAppraiseIT here, has added two marketing executives to sell its broker price opinion products. (Read More)
People
March 10, 2003CALIFORNIA El Cajon-Cal-Western Reconveyance Corp. has welcomed Suzanne Eaton to the CWRC team as the assistant vice president of marketing. Ms aton will oversee business and client relationships with Cal-Western's East Coast and Midwest clients. (Read More)
FBI Joins FHFB Chair Probe
March 10, 2003Criminal investigators are assisting the inspector general's office of the Federal Housing Finance Board as it continues to probe a political fund-raiser involving agency chairman, John Korsmo. However, the IG's office declined to say whether a criminal referral has been filed with the Justice Department in regard to the chairman. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
March 10, 2003MIEC Index: 133.9; Change: -2.8 (part 1 of 2) 2/27/03 3/6/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 43.08 42.10 -2% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. 52.54 52.58 0% 39.50 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 22.62 22.06 -2% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 55.44 49.86 -10% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 31.13 30.42 -2% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 63.91 62.53 -2% 58.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 54.73 53.85 -2% 52.60 Golden West (GDW) 72.20 71.35 -1% 56.20 Household (HI) 27.67 27.49 -1% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 37.85 37.36 -1% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 39.56 37.92 -4% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 26.79 27.07 1% 16.33 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 18.93 18.98 0% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 45.44 45.08 -1% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 27.08 26.00 -4% 24.82 Radian Group (RDN) 34.78 33.49 -4% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.64 9.36 -3% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 33.01 33.08 0% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 34.40 34.34 0% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk/hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 58.30 19% 14.22 Countrywide Financial Corp. 55.82 33% 8.10 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 45% 27.57 Centex Corp. (CTX) 63.09 30% 6.59 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 35% 22.20 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 6% 9.90 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.50 2% 6.77 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 27% 11.65 Household (HI) 63.25 37% 8.53 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.45 48% 4.67 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 13% 6.27 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 66% 3.90 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 18% 7.87 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 9% 14.26 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 5% 6.86 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 14% 7.59 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 19% -25.99 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 7% 10.14 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 24% 8.47 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
March 10, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 129.5; Change: -5.6 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 3/6/03 Aames (AMSF) 0.34 1.9 1.3 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86 13.29 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 6.85 14.55 6.79 Household (HI) 20 63.25 27.45 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 8.16 13.48 12.06 New Century (NCEN) 16.33 35.05 27.22 Novastar (NFI) 17.75 35.98 32.85 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 7.6 2.89 Provident Financial (PFGI) 19.9 31.64 21.57 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 10.9 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. % Chg from 52-wk P/E Ratio Aames (AMSF) 4% 282% na American Business Fin. (ABFI) 0% 109% 5.1 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) -4% -1% na Household (HI) -1% 37% 8.5 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 2% 48% 6.5 New Century (NCEN) 1% 67% 3.9 Novastar (NFI) 2% 85% 7.3 Ocwen (OCN)(*) -10% 41% na Provident Financial (PFGI) -25% 8% 9.2 Saxon Capital (SAXN) -2% 34% 11.6 Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low.(1)% change from 52-week low. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (Read More)
First American Offers New Title 'Brand'
March 10, 2003First American Title Insurance Co. here has created a new operating division and brand, The Talon Group, to provide title and settlement services. (Read More)
AmNet Profit Offsets REIT Loss
March 10, 2003American Residential Investment Trust Inc. here, which is in the process of terminating its real estate investment trust status, reported fourth-quarter net income of $4.7 million or $0.59 per diluted share. (Read More)
Lenders Hope HUD Sticks to Guaranteed Packages
March 10, 2003Mortgage lenders are anxiously hoping that the Department of Housing and Urban Development sticks to its guns and allows lenders the option of offering guaranteed mortgage packages. (Read More)
HUD May Change GSE Oversight
March 10, 2003The Department of Housing and Urban Development is working on procedures for the review and clearance of new products by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Read More)
Benchmark Launches Specialized Consulting
March 10, 2003BenchMark Consulting International, an international management consulting firm to the financial services industry, has launched a mortgage consulting practice. (Read More)
(back to top)
March 17, 2003
HUD Faces Small Business Wrath
March 17, 2003Department of Housing and Urban Development officials came under heavy fire from House Small Business Committee members who claim HUD has failed to document how its mortgage reform proposal might hurt small businesses. (Read More)
MORTECH 2003: Lenders 'Pessimistic'
March 17, 2003Predicting when the two-year old mortgage boom will end is like predicting the weather: no one knows what's ahead. (Read More)
Dorado Launches SourceMaster
March 17, 2003A new settlement services application produced by Dorado Corp., San Mateo, Calif., and marketed exclusively by The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has the potential to change the way electronic partner networks and loan service providers compete, the companies say. (Read More)
Utah MC Under IG Spotlight?
March 17, 2003A key U.S. senator is pressing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to investigate the business practices of Fairbanks Capital Corp., Salt Lake City, the nation's largest servicer of subprime mortgages. (Read More)
SEC Looking at GSEs?
March 17, 2003The Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing the way Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sell small denominated notes through retail securities brokerage firms, according to America's Community Bankers. (Read More)
Top Originators in 2002
March 17, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Wells Fargo Home Mtg Des Moines, IA 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 Countrywide Fin'l Corp. Calabasas, CA 4 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 5 ABN Amro Mortgage Ann Arbor, MI 6 Bank of America Charlotte, NC 7 National City Mtg Miamisburg, OH 8 GMAC Res Holdings Horsham, PA 9 Cendant Mortgage Mt. Laurel, NJ 10 Homecomings/GMAC Bloomington, MN (part 2 of 2) Orig Vol Orig Vol Pct Mkt Rk 2002 2001 Chg Share 1 $329,221 $196,732 67% 12.08% 2 $311,959 $175,537 78% 11.44% 3 $251,901 $138,194 82% 9.24% 4 $155,675 $184,047 -15% 5.71% 5 $117,779 $81,684 44% 4.32% 6 $88,050 $84,065 5% 3.23% 7 $79,478 $56,865 40% 2.92% 8 $71,617 $51,821 38% 2.63% 9 $59,280 $44,522 33% 2.17% 10 $52,591 $35,724 47% 1.93% Top 10 Totals: $1,517,551 $1,049,191 45% 55.67% Notes: Volumes calculated by adding up quarterly volumes that were already reported to NMN. Market share is based on estimated loan originations of $2.725 trillion in 2002. This list excludes subprime lenders. (Read More)
Fed Official Wants GSEs to Hold More Capital
March 17, 2003A Federal Reserve official is urging Washington policymakers to consider a plan that would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase their capital over a number of years and eventually cut off their lines of credit to the U.S. (Read More)
Employment Continues to Roar
March 17, 2003In February, the U.S conomy suffered its worst employment drop since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - but the mortgage industry continued to add jobs like wildfire. According to the Labor Department, mortgage employment totaled 421,000 full-time positions in February, a 1.8% gain from January, and a stunning 17.5% increase from the same month in 2002. (Read More)
Ex-HomeSide Chief Up for Fidelity-Alltel Job?
March 17, 2003Hugh Harris, the former chief executive of mortgage giant HomeSide Lending, is being mentioned as a candidate to head the information services division of Fidelity National Financial, Irvine, Calif. (Read More)
Refinancing Soars As Rates Hit 5.61%
March 17, 2003The Refinance Index skyrocketed to a record high during the week ended March 7, surpassing the previous record by 2000 points, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)
Editorial: Good and Bad News
March 17, 2003There was good and bad news about mortgages that came from the recent legislative conference of the National American Indian Housing Council in Washington, D.C. (Read More)
Open Forum: Enhanced Disclosures Positive
March 17, 2003Mr. Korsmo recently addressed the Independent Community Bankers of America in Orlando, Fla xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
MBS Market Has Power & Should Use It
March 17, 2003As continuing uncertainty about geopolitical events has pressured stocks this year, the bond market - particularly the securitized mortgage market - has increasingly come to dominate Wall Street. (Read More)
Letter to the Editor
March 17, 2003To the editor, You quoted the chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association as saying, "For the first time, everyone now agrees that there has to be a federal solution." (Read More)
Terrorism Coverage Rules to Ease
March 17, 2003Insurance coverage against acts of terrorism would not be required on multifamily mortgages of less than $50 million under a rule the Federal Housing Administration intends to publish "in the coming months." (Read More)
Wells Wins Preliminary Injunction
March 17, 2003Both Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, and the California Department of Corporations are declaring victory after a split decision from a Federal District Court judge here. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Sees a Continued Rise In Workout Ratio During 2003
March 17, 2003Through its Home Saver Solutions initiative, Fannie Mae and its loan servicing partners helped nearly 22,000 financially-strapped borrowers avoid foreclosure last year, the company recently announced. (Read More)
At a Glance
March 17, 2003(Fannie Mae's Workout to Foreclosure Ratio Has Risen in Recent Years) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Total Workouts 12,065 14,751 17,345 16,489 15,966 21,727 Foreclosures 22,222 20,703 16,806 14,351 14,486 19,500 Source: Fannie Mae Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Report: Fixed-Income Markets Are Driving Wall Street Business
March 17, 2003While it's been a slow market for mergers, acquisitions and initial public offerings, issuance of mortgage-backed securities and other fixed-income products is generating strong business for some Wall Street firms, according to a report from Sandler O'Neill. (Read More)
Analysts Shrug Off Poole Commentary
March 17, 2003Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac took a hit last week after a Federal Reserve Board governor suggested they were undercapitalized, but analysts are standing behind the two mortgage giants. (Read More)
At a Glance
March 17, 2003(MBS Average Daily Trading Volume) 1st Quarter '02: $138.8 billion 2nd Quarter '02: $137.9 billion 3rd Quarter '02: $166.6 billion 4th Quarter '02: $181.0 billion Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Roundup: Foreign Borns in the United States Pass 32 Million
March 17, 2003The country's foreign-born population reached 32.5 million last year, according to the Census Bureau. Foreign-born people now accounting for 11.5% of the total U.S. population, the government said. (Read More)
Funding U.S. Mexicans Who Want to Return to Their Roots
March 17, 2003While employed by a venture capital firm several years ago, Eduardo Perez observed a program in the Philippines through which former residents of that country who worked in Hong Kong were able to obtain government-guaranteed mortgages to buy houses in their home country. (Read More)
DocuTech and Dorado Prepare Service to Deploy SmartDocs in 2Q '03
March 17, 2003Leaping to the forefront of the SmartDocs wave, Idaho Falls, Idaho-based DocuTech and San Mateo, Calif.-based Dorado have chosen this year's MBA mortgage technology conference in Orlando as the occasion to announce a new Web service that speeds the use of SmartDocs. (Read More)
Freddie Mac Prices $3 Billion Offering
March 17, 2003Freddie Mac has priced $3 billion of 2.75% dollar denominated Reference Note securities due on March 15, 2008. (Read More)
'MBS Below 6.5% Prone to Prepay'
March 17, 2003Prepayment rates for agency mortgage-backed securities rose for 30-year coupons below 6.5% in the February reporting period, but speeds generally held steady or slowed for coupons at or above that level. (Read More)
Fitch Downgrades Two Ball Classes
March 17, 2003Two classes of Banc of America Large Loan Inc.'s series 2002-FLT1 have been downgraded and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings. (Read More)
Selected 30-Year Fixed-Rate Prepayments (for Feb 2003)
March 17, 2003(part 1 of 2) Cpn Year WAC Fannie Mae 6 2002 6.51 Fannie Mae 6 2001 6.60 Fannie Mae 6 1998 6.66 Fannie Mae 6 1993 6.68 Freddie Mac 6 2002 6.48 Freddie Mac 6 2001 6.59 Freddie Mac 6 1998 6.69 Freddie Mac 6 1993 6.66 (part 2 of 2) Factor 3-Feb 3-Jan Fannie Mae 0.911 26.3 21.9 Fannie Mae 0.721 44.1 40.1 Fannie Mae 0.473 50.0 47.8 Fannie Mae 0.355 40.3 39.2 Freddie Mac 0.890 31.2 24.1 Freddie Mac 0.721 46.1 41.1 Freddie Mac 0.468 51.8 48.4 Freddie Mac 0.355 45.1 40.7 Source: Bear Stearns Prepayment Commentary Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Few Real Estate Insurers Moved by Terrorism Deadline's Passage
March 17, 2003A Feb. 26 deadline for insurers to offer terrorism insurance coverage, on insurance policies in effect before the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act was passed last November, has gone by without much change in the status quo. Providing further interpretation of the TRIA, the Department of the Treasury has issued an interim final rule and has set up a March 31 deadline for interested parties to comment on the rule. (Read More)
Demand for Rural, Low-Income Housing Spurs a Response from Lenders
March 17, 2003Growing demand for affordable housing in many rural and Native American areas across the country is bringing low-income residents an increasing number of nonprofits and lenders who recognize that affordable housing needs are not a metropolitan area issue. (Read More)
H&R Block's 00MC Earns $262.5 Million In Fiscal Quarter
March 17, 2003The mortgage operations of H&R Block Inc. here posted pretax earnings of $262.5 million for the company's third fiscal quarter. This is up from $77.4 million for the same three-month period ended Jan. 31, 2002. (Read More)
Subprime Credit Specialist Closes on Bond Transaction
March 17, 2003Credit-sensitive mortgage specialist C-BASS has reported that it has closed on a transaction backed by approximately $276 million of residential mortgage collateral. (Read More)
GA Scales Back Anti-Predatory Law
March 17, 2003Some of the more onerous provisions of the Georgia Fair Lending Act have been repealed, cheering the mortgage industry and the rating agencies, but angering consumer advocates. (Read More)
B&C Lender Raises $77 Million in IPO
March 17, 2003It's been a weak year for initial public offerings, but one subprime mortgage specialist has no regrets about jumping into the market. (Read More)
Lehman Unit Expanding Warehouse?
March 17, 2003The Lehman Brothers-owned Aurora Loan Services is expanding its presence in the warehouse lending arena. (Read More)
Ellie Mae Partners with Sysdome
March 17, 2003Ellie Mae will offer fraud prevention tools through its ePass Business Center provided by West Hills, Calif.-based Sysdome, formerly Affinity Corp. The two firms made the announcement at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference in Orlando, Fla. (Read More)
Top Subprime Servicers at 12-31-02
March 17, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Fairbanks Capital Corp. Salt Lake City, UT 2 CitiFinancial Baltimore, MD 3 Household Financial Svc (E) Prospect Heights, IL 4 Ocwen Financial Corp. West Palm Beach, FL 5 Option One Mortgage Corp. Irvine, CA 6 Homecomings/GMAC-RFC Bloomington, MN 7 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 8 Homeq Servicing Corp. North Highlands, CA 9 Chase Home Finance Woodcliff Lake, NJ 10 Ameriquest Mortgage Corp. (E) Orange, CA 11 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 12 Altegra/Nat'l City Home Loan Pittsburgh, PA 13 Conseco Mortgage St. Paul, MN 14 Impac Funding Corporation Newport Beach, CA 15 PCFS Financial Services Cincinnatti, OH 16 Saxon Mortgage Glen Allen, VA 17 Key Consumer Real Estate Parsippany, NJ 18 Wendover Financial Services Greensboro, NC 19 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Des Moines, IA 20 Centex Home Equity Co. Dallas, TX (part 2 of 2) Tot Serv Vol Tot Serv Vol Pct Mkt Rk 12/31/02 12/31/01 Chg Share 1 $49,313 $14,106 250% 9.74% 2 $47,313 $43,848 8% 9.34% 3 $47,000 $44,719 5% 9.28% 4 $30,414 $22,169 37% 6.01% 5 $28,071 $21,403 31% 5.54% 6 $27,353 $17,040 61% 5.40% 7 $25,181 $21,332 18% 4.97% 8 $16,749 $21,888 -23% 3.31% 9 $16,167 $15,872 2% 3.19% 10 $16,000 $10,393 54% 3.16% 11 $14,529 $9,387 55% 2.87% 12 $13,924 $7,283 91% 2.75% 13 $8,843 $11,851 -25% 1.75% 14 $8,694 $5,569 56% 1.72% 15 $7,828 $4,170 88% 1.55% 16 $7,576 $6,355 19% 1.50% 17 $7,100 $6,000 18% 1.40% 18 $6,267 $6,993 -10% 1.24% 19 $6,082 $3,176 91% 1.20% 20 $5,171 $4,201 23% 1.02% Top 20 Totals: $389,573 $297,755 30.80% 64.50% Submitted Tota $421,931 $322,861 30.70% 83.33% Notes: Includes sub-servicing volume. Results may vary because some firms would not disclose subprime receivables. Market share is based on estimated subprime receivables of $505 billion. (Read More)
Matrix May Sell Servicing Unit
March 17, 2003Matrix Bancorp here, whose stock is trading near its 52-week low, may sell more of its mortgage banking division, sources familiar with the company said. (Read More)
Fannie Prefers Berkadia on Conseco
March 17, 2003Even though CFN Investment Holdings was the winning bidder for the bankrupt Conseco Finance, Fannie Mae prefers that the losing bidder, Berkadia, take over the servicing chores for its Conseco-related securities. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
March 17, 2003MIEC Index: 133.3; Change: -0.5 (part 1 of 2) 3/6/03 3/13/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 42.10 43.38 3% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC)52.58 54.38 3% 39.50 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 22.06 21.66 -2% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 49.86 51.72 4% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 30.42 29.05 -5% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 62.53 62.20 -1% 58.40 Freddie Mac (FRE) 53.85 53.16 -1% 49.53 Golden West (GDW) 71.35 71.97 1% 56.20 Household (HI) 27.49 27.97 2% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 37.36 36.39 -3% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 37.92 36.99 -2% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 27.07 28.35 5% 16.33 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 18.98 18.52 -2% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 45.08 45.75 1% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 26.00 24.81 -5% 24.03 Radian Group (RDN) 33.49 31.70 -5% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.36 9.62 3% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 33.08 32.79 -1% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 34.34 33.30 -3% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk/hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 58.26 23% 14.65 Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC)55.82 38% 8.37 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 42% 27.07 Centex Corp. (CTX) 61.69 35% 6.84 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.24 29% 21.20 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 7% 9.85 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.50 7% 6.68 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 28% 11.75 Household (HI) 63.25 40% 8.68 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.45 44% 4.55 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 10% 6.12 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 74% 4.09 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 15% 7.68 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 10% 14.47 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 3% 6.54 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 8% 7.18 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 22% -26.72 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 6% 10.05 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 20% 8.22 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
March 17, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 131.8; Change: 2.3 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 3/13/03 Aames (AMSF) 0.35 1.90 1.15 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86 12.88 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 6.00 14.55 6.26 Household (HI) 20.00 63.25 27.89 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 8.16 13.48 12.25 Accredited Home Lenders H (LEND) 6.99 8.10 8.27 New Century (NCEN) 16.33 35.05 28.47 Novastar (NFI) 18.01 35.98 33.50 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 7.60 3.01 Provident Financial (PFGI) 19.90 31.64 21.72 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 11.70 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN) 0.15 2.20 0.32 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. %Chg from 52-wk Lo P/E Ratio Aames (AMSF) -12% 229% na American Business Fin. (ABFI) -3% 102% 5.0 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) -8% 4% na Household (HI) 2% 39% 8.7 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 2% 50% 6.6 Accredited Home Lenders H (LEND) 4% 18% na New Century (NCEN) 5% 74% 4.1 Novastar (NFI) 2% 86% 7.4 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 4% 47% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 1% 9% 9.2 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 7% 44% 12.4 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN) 19% 113% na Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low.(1)% change from 52-week low. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (Read More)
MI Exec Takes Hands-On Approach to Affordable Housing
March 17, 2003In 1994, shortly after becoming the chief executive of the mortgage insurance company, The PMI Group, Roger Haughton volunteered to hammer nails for a Habitat for Humanity build in South Dakota. (Read More)
Short Positions in Freddie Mac Fall
March 17, 2003Short sellers loosened their grip on Freddie Mac's stock during February, decreasing their positions in the company. (Read More)
FHA Proposes Hybrid Rules
March 17, 2003Nearly 16 months after securing congressional approval to insure hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages, the Federal Housing Administration has proposed offering borrowers a choice of four different options. (Read More)
(back to top)
March 24, 2003
Morgan Stanley Makes Push in U.S. Mortgages
March 24, 2003As part of a major push it is making in the U.S. mortgage market, Morgan Stanley plans to start an alternative A credit and jumbo mortgage conduit in June, according to key personnel at the Wall Street firm. (Read More)
Beck: Terrific First Half in the Offing
March 24, 2003Mortgage industry icon Felix Beck says the industry will see "spectacular volume" in the first six months of this year. He predicts that $1.25 trillion in originations will be recorded in the first half of 2003, but that volumes will fall to $800 billion to $850 billion in the second half. (Read More)
CRE 'Bubble' On Horizon?
March 24, 2003By all accounts, the performance of commercial real estate loans has held up well despite the recent recession, but some analysts see signs of weakness that could make it difficult for property owners to refinance their debt. (Read More)
MI Tax Deduction Bill Introduced
March 24, 2003Legislation that would allow consumers to deduct mortgage insurance payments from their federal income taxes was introduced in the House last week. (Read More)
HUD IG Eyeing Fairbanks
March 24, 2003The Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development is looking into allegations that a subprime servicing company, Fairbanks Capital Corp., is mishandling accounts and overcharging homeowners. (Read More)
Top Subprime Lenders in 2002
March 24, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Household Fin'l Svcs (E) Prospect Hts, IL 2 CitiFinancial Baltimore, MD 3 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 4 New Century Fin'l Corp. Irvine, CA 5 Ameriquest Mtg Corp. (E) Orange, CA 6 Option One Mtg Corp. Irvine, CA 7 Homecomings/GMAC-RFC Bloomington, MN 8 First Franklin Fin'l San Jose, CA 9 Countrywide Fin'l Corp. Calabasas, CA 10 Wells Fargo Home Mtg Des Moines, IA 11 Aegis Mortgage Corporation (E) Houston, TX 12 Decision One Mortgage Charlotte, NC 13 Chase Home Finance Woodcliff Lake, NJ 14 Accredited Home Lenders San Diego, CA 15 WMC Mortgage Corp. Woodland Hills, CA 16 Aames Financial Corporaton Los Angeles, CA 17 BNC Mortgage, Inc. Irvine, CA 18 Key Consumer Real Estate (E) Parsippany, NJ 19 Saxon Mortgage Glen Allen, VA 20 Conseco Mortgage St. Paul, MN (part 2 of 2) Sub Vol Sub Vol Pct Mkt Rk 2002 2001 Chg Share 1 $20,704 $19,600 6% 8.44% 2 $19,546 $16,233 20% 7.97% 3 $17,183 $10,749 60% 7.00% 4 $14,156 $6,219 128% 5.77% 5 $13,499 $6,287 115% 5.50% 6 $12,580 $8,232 53% 5.13% 7 $11,450 $7,653 50% 4.67% 8 $10,650 $6,125 74% 4.34% 9 $9,421 $6,439 46% 3.84% 10 $7,547 $3,576 111% 3.08% 11 $5,625 $3,645 54% 2.29% 12 $5,110 $2,926 75% 2.08% 13 $4,770 $4,203 13% 1.94% 14 $4,302 $2,324 85% 1.75% 15 $4,162 $1,268 228% 1.70% 16 $3,960 $2,752 44% 1.61% 17 $3,582 $1,657 116% 1.46% 18 $3,075 $2,656 16% 1.25% 19 $2,684 $2,334 15% 1.09% 20 $2,536 $2,877 -12% 1.03% Top 20 Totals: $178,543 $119,755 49% 71.95% Submitted Totals: $207,927 $137,653 51% 83.93% Note: Market share based on $241 billion in estimated subprime originations. (E) Involves estimates. (Read More)
Fairbanks in Settlement Talks After W. Va. Judge Blocks Foreclosures
March 24, 2003Fairbanks Capital Corp. was in settlement talks with class-action attorneys last week after a West Virginia judge blocked the nation's largest subprime servicer from taking any foreclosure actions in the state. (Read More)
More Conseco Bonds Downgraded
March 24, 2003Fourteen corporate-guaranteed classes of Conseco Finance Corp.-related transactions have been downgraded from CCC-minus to D (default) by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. (Read More)
Correction
March 24, 2003America's Community Bankers does not know if the Securities and Exchange Commission has a "problem" with the way Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sell small denominated notes through retail securities brokerage firms. A March 17 NMN front-page story reported that the SEC is reviewing the note sales and it has sent the matter to its enforcement division. However, the story incorrectly stated that the SEC had confirmed to ACB that it has a problem with the note sales. (Read More)
Top Subprime Subservicers at 12-31-02
March 24, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 Homeq Servicing Corp. North Highlands, CA 2 Option One Mortgage Corp. Irvine, CA 3 Ocwen Financial Corp. West Palm Beach, FL 4 Wendover Financial Services Greensboro, NC 5 Saxon Mortgage Glen Allen, VA 6 Mortgage Lenders Network Middletown, CT 7 Countrywide Financial Corp. Calabasas, CA 8 Wilshire Credit Corp. Portland, OR 9 Chase Home Finance Woodcliff Lake, NJ 10 Aurora Loan Services, Inc Aurora, CO (part 2 of 2) Subserv Vol Subserv Vol Pct Rank 12/31/02 12/31/01 Chg 1 $16,749 $21,888 -23% 2 $7,617 $7,488 2% 3 $6,361 $1,126 465% 4 $6,039 $6,673 -10% 5 $4,070 $4,818 -16% 6 $3,305 $2,491 33% 7 $3,231 2,852 13% 8 $2,080 $138 1407% 9 $1,811 $2,510 -28% 10 $668 $904 -26% Top 10 Totals: $51,931 $50,888 2% Submitted Totals: $52,608 $51,042 3% Notes: Fairbanks Capital, a large subprime servicer, would not disclose its subservicing contracts to NMN. Follow-up telephone calls were not returned. (E) Estimate. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Okays Increase on Conseco Servicing Fee
March 24, 2003Fannie Mae has agreed to a major increase in the servicing fee on Conseco- related manufactured housing loans-securities that it owns or guarantees. (Read More)
Ex-Headlands CEO Jumps Back In
March 24, 2003It's spring training and yet another former all-star - and a rich one at that - is trying for a major comeback. (Read More)
Editorial: Brave New World
March 24, 2003A network allowing the routine completion of electronic mortgages has been hammered into place and is said by the participants to be ready to go. (Read More)
Open Forum: The Home Mortgage Market
March 24, 2003Mr. Greenspan addressed the annual convention of the Independent Community Bankers of America in Orlando, Fla. via satellite xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
War Has Become Certain But Its Accompanying Rate Hike Is Less So
March 24, 2003As of press time last week, we definitely had hit the long-anticipated-but- never-before-reached point at which our country committed itself to invade Iraq and the certainty of that move definitely gave a temporary boost to what have otherwise been record low mortgage rates in the short term. (Read More)
Korsmo: SEC Registration Would Help FHLBs in Pricing of Debt
March 24, 2003The Federal Home Loan Banks will benefit in the pricing of their debt obligations if they register their stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Federal Housing Finance Board chairman John Korsmo. (Read More)
Fannie Ahead on $2 Trillion Pledge
March 24, 2003With record low mortgage rates at its back, Fannie Mae has already sailed past the two-thirds point on its pledge to provide $2 trillion in targeted financing to historically underserved homebuyers. (Read More)
RBC's Net Branch Sale Getting Closer?
March 24, 2003RBC Mortgage here is making progress on divesting itself of its net branch operation, but, so far, the bank-owned lender has yet to close on a deal. (Read More)
How the GA Law Became More Industry Friendly
March 24, 2003The law widely considered to be the strictest "predatory lending" (Read More)
NovaStar Resumes Georgia Lending
March 24, 2003NovaStar Mortgage Inc. here says it will resume business operations with its full product line in the state of Georgia immediately. The action was prompted by recent amendments to the Georgia Fair Lending Act and Standard & Poor's subsequent announcement that it would resume rating residential mortgage-backed securitizations containing Georgia mortgage loans, the company said. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Backs Revised NJ Bill
March 24, 2003A compromise "predatory lending" bill appeared to be close to passage in New Jersey at press time. (Read More)
S&P Returns To Rating GA Deals
March 24, 2003Standard & Poor's has announced that it will resume rating structured finance transactions that include Georgia loans, based on the recently enacted amendment to the Georgia Fair Lending Act. (Read More)
IMX, Myers Ally to Provide 'Net Benefits to Brokers
March 24, 2003IMX Inc., Houston, has struck a deal with Myers Internet Inc. here that will see the IMX Exchange made available to brokers that use websites provided by Myers. The new alliance will allow brokers to price and lock loans online. (Read More)
eLynx Launches uSign Automation
March 24, 2003eLynx Ltd., a provider of electronic document delivery solutions for mortgage lenders, has launched uSign - a new technology that enables homebuyers to review and electronically approve mortgage disclosures and loan documents via the Internet. The company made the announcement at the 2003 MBA National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference here. (Read More)
ASC Unveils PowerLender Phase II
March 24, 2003Associated Software Consultants Inc., a provider of mortgage loan automation software, has released PowerLender Phase II, the latest version of the company's loan origination and processing system. The company made the announcement at the 2003 MBA Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference here. (Read More)
Economic Stimulus Proposal's Effect on LIHTCs Would Be 'Minor'
March 24, 2003The impact of the Bush administration's economic stimulus package on the popular Low-Income Housing Tax Credit would be insignificant, according to analysts at the Mortgage Bankers Association, who say that failure to adopt the plan could be even more damaging. (Read More)
Directing the Action
March 24, 2003Subservicing may not be as glamorous as making movies, but the industry needs strong "directors" to make their business come together. Just as a motion picture needs someone who looks at the big picture and makes sure everyone is working together, a servicing shop needs a strong hand to make sure that loan administration fits into a client's overall strategy. (Read More)
20 Firms Dominate Subservicing
March 24, 2003At the end of last year, the top 20 subservicers that participated in a National Mortgage News survey managed $215 billion of portfolios in which other parties owned the servicing rights. (Read More)
Top Subservicers at 12-31-02
March 24, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 Dovenmuehle Mortgage (E) Schaumburg, IL 2 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Des Moines, IA 3 Cenlar Ewing, NJ 4 Aurora Loan Services, Inc. Aurora, CO 5 Wendover Financial Services Corp. Greensboro, NC 6 Countrywide Financial Corporation Calabasas, CA 7 Alliance Mortgage Company Jacksonville, FL 8 GMAC Mortgage Horsham, PA 9 Flagstar Bank, FSB Troy, MI 10 CUNA Mortgage Corp. Madison, WI 11 LoanCare Servicing Center/Essex Norfolk, VA 12 Waterfield Mortgage Fort Wayne, IN 13 Graystone Mortgage Corporation Sudbury, MA 14 Security Savings Mtg. Corp. Canton, OH 15 Cendant Mortgage Mt. Laurel, NJ 16 Resource Bancshares/Netbank Columbia, SC 17 Guaranty Residential Austin, TX 18 Midwest Loan Services Houghton, MI 19 U.S. Bank Home Mtg./Firstar Bloomington, MN 20 Towne Mortgage Co. Sterling Heights, MI (part 2 of 2) Subservicing Volume % Rank 12/31/02 12/31/01 change 1 $44,000 $41,000 7% 2 $35,627 $63,189 -44% 3 $30,000 $30,000 0% 4 $27,958 $18,040 55% 5 $20,166 $14,735 37% 6 $11,138 $9,086 23% 7 $11,047 $10,537 5% 8 $7,894 $2,983 165% 9 $7,831 $6,674 17% 10 $3,652 $2,879 27% 11 $3,216 $1,851 74% 12 $2,082 $504 313% 13 $2,068 $1,413 46% 14 $2,045 $1,978 3% 15 $1,773 $1,608 10% 16 $1,324 $4,271 -69% 17 $1,165 $1,410 -17% 18 $975 $511 91% 19 $751 $1,155 -35% 20 $147 na na Top 20 Totals: $214,859 $213,824 0.50% Notes: (E) Estimate based on previously reported numbers. (Read More)
Option One Builds Platform to Help Clients Manage Growth
March 24, 2003With lenders continuing to face a record volume of mortgage origination activity, subservicers need to be prepared to help their clients manage growth plans, according to John Vella, chief servicing officer at Option One Mortgage. (Read More)
Option One Licenses FORTRACS Technology
March 24, 2003Option One Mortgage Corp. has licensed London Bridge's default management product, FORTRACS. (Read More)
Former FHLB Exec Joins Cenlar Board
March 24, 2003Cenlar FSB, a wholesale bank that specializes in subservicing, announced that Harold Fletcher, a former Federal Home Loan Bank of New York executive, has been elected to the company's board of directors. (Read More)
Navy Federal Keeps Own Loans
March 24, 2003Navy Federal Credit Union, the nation's largest mortgage lender in the credit union industry, keeps the servicing rights on all the loans it originates, and the CU's top mortgage executive says subservicing may be in its future plans. (Read More)
Homecomings Gets High S&P Ratings
March 24, 2003Homecomings Financial, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Residential Funding Corp. (GMAC-RFC), has received an upgraded "strong" servicer ranking for its residential loan servicing, including subprime mortgage and special servicing, from rating agency Standard & Poor's. (Read More)
NAR: Co-Op, Condominium Sales Reached a Record High in 2002
March 24, 2003The sales of existing condominiums and co-operatives surged to a record high for 2002, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)
Mass. Banks Eyeing REIT Deduction Change
March 24, 2003A number of Massachusetts banks are concerned about state legislation that disallows them from claiming a deduction for dividends received from real estate investment trust subsidiaries in their corporate structure. (Read More)
Moody's: MF Ranks 3rd Among CMBS
March 24, 2003Multifamily properties make up the third largest property type in commercial mortgage-backed securities deals by loan balance, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)
Roundup: PREIT Sells MF Portfolio
March 24, 2003Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has sold its multifamily portfolio to Morgan Properties for $420 million in a deal that will seal the real estate investment trust's exit from the multifamily sector and transform it into a retail REIT. (Read More)
Lenders: HUD Should Drop FHA Appraisal Responsibility Proposal
March 24, 2003The Department of Housing and Urban Development should drop its proposal to hold Federal Housing Administration lenders responsible for the quality of appraisals, according to six lender groups. (Read More)
Moody's: NYC Law No Risk to RMBS
March 24, 2003New York City's predatory lending statute does not increase the risk to residential mortgage securitizations, according to Moody's Investors Service. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
March 24, 2003MIEC Index: 139.8; Change: 6.4 (part 1 of 2) 3/13/03 3/20/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 43.38 44.64 3% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 54.38 56.46 4% 39.50 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 21.66 23.60 9% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 51.72 54.45 5% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 29.05 32.52 12% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 62.20 65.79 6% 58.40 Freddie Mac (FRE) 53.16 54.00 2% 49.53 Golden West (GDW) 71.97 73.01 1% 56.20 Household (HI) 27.97 27.85 0% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 36.39 38.86 7% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 36.99 39.65 7% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 28.35 30.50 8% 16.33 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 18.52 18.76 1% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 45.75 46.85 2% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 24.81 26.55 7% 24.03 Radian Group (RDN) 31.70 34.58 9% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK" 9.62 9.68 1% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 32.79 35.04 7% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 33.30 35.34 6% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk/hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 56.35 26% 15.08 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) 56.50 43% 8.69 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 55% 29.50 Centex Corp. (CTX) 59.19 42% 7.20 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 47.10 45% 23.73 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 13% 10.42 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.50 9% 6.79 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 30% 11.92 Household (HI) 63.25 39% 8.64 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.45 54% 4.86 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 18% 6.56 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 87% 4.40 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 16% 7.78 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 13% 14.82 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 10% 7.00 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 18% 7.84 NetBank, Inc (NTBK" 18.51 23% -26.88 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 14% 10.74 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 27% 8.72 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
March 24, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 142.5; Change: 4.1 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 3/20/03 Aames (AMSF) 0.35 1.90 1.19 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86 11.63 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 5.95 14.55 7.34 Household (HI) 20.00 63.25 27.83 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 8.16 13.48 12.56 Accredited Home Lenders H (LEND) 6.99 8.65 8.25 New Century (NCEN) 16.33 35.05 30.50 Novastar (NFI) 18.01 35.98 35.3 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 7.60 3.40 Provident Financial (PFGI) 19.90 31.64 21.74 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 12.34 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN) 0.15 2.20 0.44 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. % Chg from 52-wk Lo P/E Ratio Aames (AMSF) 3% 240% na American Business Fin. (ABFI)-10% 83% 4.5 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 17% 23% na Household (HI) 0% 39% 8.6 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 3% 54% 6.8 Accredited Home Lenders H (LEND) 0% 18% 4.2 New Century (NCEN) 7% 87% 4.4 Novastar (NFI) 5% 96% 7.8 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 13% 66% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 0% 9% 9.3 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 5% 51% 13.1 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN) 38% 193% na Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low.(1)% change from 52-week low. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (Read More)
WaMu Among Buy Targets
March 24, 2003Analysts at Sandler O'Neill say Washington Mutual, the nation's largest servicer of residential mortgage loans, appears to have done a good job of managing interest rate risk. (Read More)
Criimi Loss Estimates on CMBS Up
March 24, 2003Criimi Mae is increasing its estimate of losses over the life of its commercial mortgage-backed securities portfolio from $448 million to approximately $500 million. The real estate investment trust has also appointed Craig M. Lieberman to the newly-created position of chief portfolio risk officer. (Read More)
GMACCM Enters Golf Financing Biz
March 24, 2003GMAC Commercial Mortgage, the largest commercial mortgage lender, has entered into the arena of golf course financing, with a $650 million financing for the acquisition of 253 golf courses in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. (Read More)
Refi Record Is Reprised
March 24, 2003The Refinance Index climbed to another record high during the week ended March 14, as did the index measuring the overall mortgage application market, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. (Read More)
Execs from GSEs, MBA Share Views on '02
March 24, 2003Housing has been the stalwart of the U.S conomy. Without low interest rates, "I don't know what would have happened to the economy," said Jamie Gorelick, who will soon be leaving her post as Fannie Mae vice chairwoman. (Read More)
Bank One, Fannie Team Up in Detroit
March 24, 2003Bank One and Fannie Mae joined in a $12.5 billion community lending alliance targeted to underserved borrowers in the Detroit metropolitan area, of which about 25% is earmarked for minorities. (Read More)
(back to top)
March 31, 2003
Senate Pressure Delays RESPA
March 31, 2003Following some rough congressional hearings, housing secretary Mel Martinez is expected to slow down his march toward issuing a final rule on reform of the mortgage application and settlement process. (Read More)
Big Changes for Ginnie Mae
March 31, 2003Ginnie Mae officials announced plans to add mortgage-backed securities disclosures, expand the range of products in the securitizations it guarantees and do more to address affordable housing needs in underserved areas at an investor conference held at the New York Stock Exchange on March 25. (Read More)
Set the Bar at $3.2 Trillion
March 31, 2003Fannie Mae has upped its prediction for 2003 total volume to $3.2 trillion, with one analyst saying the largest title companies, First American and Fidelity National, would benefit from the huge volume, as would Countrywide Financial Corp. (Read More)
Conseco Shutters Home Equity Unit
March 31, 2003Conseco Finance here has closed its home equity originations business after it was unable to find a buyer for it, according to published reports. (Read More)
Ginnie Mae's Disclosures
March 31, 2003(Effective Jan. 1, 2004) For Single-Family MBS: * Weighted average payment-to-income ratios * Weighted average loan-to-value ratios * Distribution of remaining terms to maturity, original loan terms, original loan sizes and, where possible, borrower credit scores For Multifamily MBS: * Loan level delinquency information Source: Ginnie Mae Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
At A Glance
March 31, 2003(Delinquencies Rise on Home Equity Loans) Date Delinquency Rate 4th Qtr '02 1.64% 3rd Qtr '02 1.38% 2nd Qtr '02 1.38% 1st Qtr '02 1.27% Note: Numbers are seasonally adjusted. (Read More)
Jury Awards Seniors $4.1M in Case vs. Defunct Lender
March 31, 2003A federal jury has found that a defunct Maryland lender made unconscionable mortgages to six elderly homeowners and awarded the seniors $4.1 million in punitive damages. (Read More)
UCAP Appeals Court Ruling, Says It Is 'Operating Normally'
March 31, 2003UCAP Inc. here said its mortgage unit is operating normally after it appealed the ruling of a Georgia Superior Court judge who has appointed a receiver for the company. (Read More)
War and Economy Slow Home Sales
March 31, 2003Home sales dipped in February as economic uncertainty and the approaching Iraqi war put a damper on the market. The weather didn't help either. (Read More)
Slow Years Ahead for Multifamily Biz
March 31, 2003The multifamily market holds plenty of promise, but not for several more years, according to one of Fannie Mae's top apartment executives. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Will Offer Preferred Stock
March 31, 2003Fannie Mae announced it will offer $250 million, or five million shares, of variable rate noncumulative preferred stock, designated Series K. (Read More)
Editorial: This Dog Won't Hunt
March 31, 2003President Bush's proposal to cut taxes on dividends would gore the country's best mechanism for producing new affordable rental housing units, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. The administration's proposal should be amended or scrapped forthwith. Tuesday's Senate vote to slash the overall cost of the package is a great start to achieving this. (Read More)
Open Forum: Building Communities
March 31, 2003Sen. Mikulski, as the ranking Democratic member, took part in a recent Appropriations Subcommittee hearing of the Veterans, Housing and Independent Agencies to discuss the FY04 budget for HUD xcerpts of her statement are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Should Georgia Be on Your Mind If You're in a New York State of Mind?
March 31, 2003I'm in a New York state of mind due to the lending law slated to go into effect April 1, and I'm wondering whether I should have Georgia on my mind as well, given there's been some comparison between the two laws and their mortgage market ramifications. (Read More)
TransUnion Acquires National Vendor-Management Company
March 31, 2003In a move to strengthen its position in the residential lending industry, TransUnion Settlement Solutions Inc. here announced the company has acquired the Atlantic Assurance Group, a national mortgage information and vendor management company based in Charlotte, N.C. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. (Read More)
Job Growth Is Key To Apartment Market
March 31, 2003Although "serious imbalances" are developing in the multifamily sector, the market may not be as bad as it looks, at least on the surface, an expert in regional and local housing markets said here last week. (Read More)
MLSG Home Loans Chooses ARC
March 31, 2003ARC Systems here says it has completed its first phase in implementing automated underwriting and business process management technology for MLSG Home Loans, Reno, Nev. MLSG will use ARC Systems' flagship product, LendTech Mortgage, for loan origination, automated underwriting and business process management. (Read More)
eLynx Offers New Signature Tool
March 31, 2003eLynx Ltd. has officially rolled out its new electronic document delivery solution uSign Lynx chose the 2003 MBA National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference in Orlando, Fla. to make its announcement. The company has had the tool up and running for a few months, but it is now making it available to lenders nationwide. (Read More)
Advantus Offers Mortgage Funds Through Schwab's OneSource
March 31, 2003Advantus Capital Management, in a bid to increase mutual fund sales by 50% this year, will distribute what it calls two of its best funds through Schwab's Mutual Fund Marketplace. (Read More)
S&P Will Review Floating Rate CMBS
March 31, 2003Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has announced "an intensive review" of floating-rate commercial mortgage-backed securities deals that were issued during the peak real estate years of 2000 and 2001. (Read More)
Roundup: Fitch Won't Downgrade Koninklijke's Grocery-Backed CMBS
March 31, 2003NEW YORK-Fitch Ratings has announced that it does not plan to downgrade any of the 77 U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities deals linked to Koninklijke Ahold NV, despite its recent downgrade of the retail grocer. (Read More)
Chicago Shared Funding Launches Alternative Outlet
March 31, 2003Three Federal Home Loan Banks have purchased the senior tranches of a $475 million mortgage-backed security as part of a new program called "Shared Funding" that is designed to meet the secondary market needs of the FHLBanks' (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: Thomas Lewis
March 31, 2003The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas has appointed Mr. Lewis vice president and controller of the bank. Mr. Lewis will oversee the bank's accounting and financial reporting functions in this capacity. He comes to the FHLB System from AMRESCO Capital Trust, a mortgage real estate investment trust, also based in Dallas. At AMRESCO, Mr. Lewis was senior vice president, chief financial officer and controller. Prior to that, he was vice president and senior controller for Prentiss Properties. (Read More)
Thornburg Plans Big Push with 'Financial Advisors'
March 31, 2003Thornburg Mortgage, a boutique lender that specializes in making jumbo, adjustable-rate home loans, has uncovered what might be described as a new lending channel. In recent months, Thornburg has been marketing its products through financial advisors who counsel the wealthy. (Read More)
Analyst Sees TCB Stock as a 'Buy'
March 31, 2003While analysts at Sandler O'Neill upgraded Twin City Federal Financial from "maintain" to "buy," they paradoxically reduced the stock's price target from $48 to $44 at the same time. (Read More)
Mortgage Offsets Problems at Charter One
March 31, 2003Charter One Financial said it will incur extra loan loss provisions relating to credit extended to the airline industry, but analysts at Merrill Lynch say strong revenue from mortgage banking should cover the company's extra costs in the first quarter. (Read More)
At A Glance
March 31, 2003(Jumbo Savings on a $1M Loan) Loan Product Monthly Payment 5-1 Jumbo at 4.5% $5,067 30-Year FRM at 6% $5,995 Payment Savings: $928 per month, or $11,136 per year. (Read More)
WaMu Adds $5.8 Billion of Apartment Business
March 31, 2003Washington Mutual has reported $5.8 billion in multifamily portfolio acquisition and loan originations for 2002 and the lender expects to keep up the pace in 2003. (Read More)
Apartment Prices Defy Weak Rental Market
March 31, 2003The multifamily housing market was described here last week as somewhat schizophrenic, with many sellers reaping great rewards, but owners having a difficult time maintaining their profit margins. (Read More)
CMBS Players Warm Up to New Disclosure Rules
March 31, 2003A revised version of the certification required for commercial mortgage- backed securities deals under the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance regulation is being viewed more favorably in the CMBS industry. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: James Arbury
March 31, 2003The National Multi Housing Council- National Apartment Association has named Mr. Arbury senior vice president of government affairs for their joint legislative program. The two apartment industry advocacy groups operate this program together to "provide a unified voice for the private apartment industry." Mr. Arbury will be responsible for planning and implementing the organizations' federal legislative and regulatory strategy on matters such as housing policy, finance, tax, environmental issues and property management. For the last 10 years, Mr. Arbury has been the NMHC-NAA's vice president of tax and telecommunications. (Read More)
Apartment Vacancies Seen Rising
March 31, 2003Vacancy rates in apartment communities with 40 or more units will continue to drift higher, a leading authority on the commercial real estate market warned here last week. (Read More)
REIT-MF Transactions at a Glance
March 31, 2003* CBL & Associates has replaced two lines of credit with a $255 million secured credit facility from a group led by Wells Fargo Bank. (Read More)
CRE Transactions at a Glance
March 31, 2003* The Ziegler Cos. has completed $182.75 million in variable rate, bond financing for a Hawaii retirement community. (Read More)
New York Lawyer Will Head NHRA
March 31, 2003John L. Kelly, a New York attorney, was elected president of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association at the group's 2003 annual meeting in St. (Read More)
Citigroup to Aid Hispanic Neighborhoods
March 31, 2003Citigroup has pledged to invest $105 million in the revitalization of Hispanic neighborhoods and create the first-ever Hispanic Community Development Financial Institution. (Read More)
Treasury Department Awards 'New Markets' Tax Credits
March 31, 2003The New Markets Tax Credit program is up and running with 66 community development organizations across the country selected to receive $2.5 billion in tax-credit allocations that represent the first NMTC awards distributed and administered by the Department of the Treasury. Housing is a part of some but not all the awarded projects. (Read More)
AmeriDream Helps Women Buy Homes
March 31, 2003One of the country's largest providers of downpayment gift assistance, AmeriDream, has joined the month-long international celebration of women's history and their role in the workforce with the announcement that it has assisted about 35,000 women become homeowners. (Read More)
Consumer Group Alleges H&R Block Uses IRS to Market B&C Loans
March 31, 2003The Consumer Federation of America and other consumer groups have accused H&R Block here of using the Internal Revenue Service's Free File program to market subprime mortgages to low- and moderate-income consumers. (Read More)
'Midtier' Lenders Get Access to LOCs
March 31, 2003Among the secondary market developments that financial services consultants at The Reynolds Group, Summit, N.J., have seen in the warehouse industry have been an interest on the part of some warehouse services providers in working through what president and chief executive officer James E. Reynolds calls a "mezzanine" level of financing. (Read More)
Big Apple, No Worms
March 31, 2003The hot market for mortgage originations will make for some pleasant reflections for those coming next week to New York for the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's National Secondary Market Conference. (Read More)
Great Food Is Only a Short Walk Away for Convention Goers
March 31, 2003There are few places in the world where so many different kinds of cuisine can be found in such close proximity as in New York. For those mortgage industry executives who are planning on attending the MBA's upcoming secondary marketing conference here, that might mean some very pleasant business lunches and dinners. Here is just a smattering of what you can find within a few blocks of the convention hotel. (Read More)
Tickets to a Broadway Show Aren't Cheap or Easy to Get
March 31, 2003No trip to New York would be complete without taking in some of the city's cultural offerings, and for many visitors, that means a Broadway show is part of their itinerary. (Read More)
MBS Earnings Provide Safety Net for Wall Street Firms
March 31, 2003If the initial round of earnings released by investment banks this year is any indication, the record-setting mortgage-backed securities activity seen on Wall Street in 2001 and 2002 may be continuing in 2003. (Read More)
Stewart to Release Tool to Speed Up Loan Funding
March 31, 2003When representatives from Stewart Mortgage Information, Houston, get to New York next week for the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Marketing Conference, they'll have plenty to talk about. (Read More)
Schedule at a Glance: MBA's National Secondary Market Conference
March 31, 2003Sunday, April 6 12:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. (Read More)
Fitch Discounts War's Impact on Home Loan Market
March 31, 2003The home mortgage industry should not be affected by the conflict with Iraq, a report from Fitch Ratings here said. (Read More)
Wall Street Rockers To Entertain Crowd
March 31, 2003Representatives from Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers will be hosting and performing at a "Welcome to New York" party and rock concert for "mortgage bankers only" during the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's upcoming convention. (Read More)
Convention Hotel Wants to Offer 'New Millennium' Environment
March 31, 2003While the Hilton New York may not be the newest hotel in New York, attendees who are staying at the convention hotel will find it has some features that they may not remember from previous visits. (Read More)
People
March 31, 2003ALABAMA Birmingham-Collateral Mortgage Capital LLC announced that John Davis recently joined the firm as executive managing director. Mr. Davis will be overseeing all production offices and will be operating out of Minneapolis. (Read More)
RESPA Package 'Not a New Idea'
March 31, 2003The guaranteed mortgage package portion of Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary Mel Martinez's Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act reform proposal is not a new idea, a panelist on the topic said at the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations here. (Read More)
Delinquency Rate Falls Again
March 31, 2003It now appears that delinquencies peaked in the middle of last year, but the number of loans in foreclosure remained at a record level as 2002 came to a close. (Read More)
Home Equity, Credit Card Overdues Rise at Commercial Banks
March 31, 2003The number of home equity loans that banks reported past due increased by 22 basis points in the fourth quarter, according to data collected by the American Bankers Association. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
March 31, 2003MIEC Index: 141.2; Change: 1.4 (part 1 of 2) 3/20/03 3/27/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 44.64 44.87 1% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)56.46 57.64 2% 39.50 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 23.60 24.16 2% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 54.45 54.83 1% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 32.52 33.35 3% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 65.79 66.77 1% 58.40 Freddie Mac (FRE) 54.00 54.40 1% 49.53 Golden West (GDW) 73.01 72.65 0% 56.20 Household (HI) 27.85 28.30 2% 20.00 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 38.86 39.07 1% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 39.65 40.55 2% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 30.50 30.55 0% 16.33 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 18.76 19.18 2% 16.14 Wells Fargo (WFC) 46.85 45.55 -3% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 26.55 26.49 0% 24.03 Radian Group (RDN) 34.58 34.43 0% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.68 9.40 -3% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 35.04 36.25 3% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 35.34 35.66 1% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk/hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 56.35 27% 15.15 Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC)58.15 46% 8.88 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 58% 30.19 Centex Corp. (CTX) 59.19 43% 7.25 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 46.57 48% 24.34 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 14% 10.58 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.50 10% 6.84 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 29% 11.87 Household (HI) 63.25 42% 8.78 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 40.05 55% 4.88 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 21% 6.71 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 87% 4.40 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 19% 7.95 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 10% 14.41 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 10% 6.98 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 17% 7.80 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 20% -26.11 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 18% 11.11 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 28% 8.8 (1) % change from 52-week low. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
March 31, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 141.2; Change: -1.3 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 3/27/03 Aames (AMSF) 0.35 1.90 1.12 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86 10.55 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 5.95 14.55 6.52 Household (HI) 20.00 63.25 28.29 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 8.16 13.48 13.12 Accredited Home Lenders H (LEND) 6.99 8.65 8.45 New Century (NCEN) 16.33 35.05 30.55 Novastar (NFI) 18.01 36.20 34.56 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 7.60 3.09 Provident Financial (PFGI) 19.90 31.64 21.64 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 12.57 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN) 0.15 2.10 0.45 (part 2 of 2) Company % Chg. % Chg from 52-wk Lo P/E Ratio Aames (AMSF) -6% 220% na American Business Fin. (ABFI) -9% 66% 4.1 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) -11% 10% na Household (HI) 2% 41% 8.8 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 4% 61% 7.1 Accredited Home Lenders H (LEND) 2% 21% 4.3 New Century (NCEN) 0% 87% 4.4 Novastar (NFI) -2% 92% 7.7 Ocwen (OCN)(*) -9% 51% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 0% 9% 9.2 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 2% 54% 13.4 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN) 2% 200% na Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (1)% change from 52-week low. (*) Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (Read More)
Criimi Mae Loses $34.6 Million for 4th Quarter
March 31, 2003Criimi Mae has reported a net loss of $34.6 million ($2.48 per share) for the fourth quarter, compared to a net loss of $27.2 million ($2.10 per share) for the fourth quarter of 2001. (Read More)
FTC Reviews Fairbanks Operation
March 31, 2003The nation's largest subprime servicing company, Fairbanks Capital Corp., has revealed that the Federal Trade Commission is conducting a review of its operations in response to allegations it is mishandling accounts and overcharging homeowners. (Read More)
At A Glance
March 31, 2003(Percentage of Loans in Foreclosure Edges Up) Loan Type 12-31-02 9-30-02 VA 1.58% 1.48% FHA 2.78% 2.46% Subprime Conventional 7.97% 8.58% Prime Conventional 0.54% 0.51% Overall: 1.18% 1.15% Source: MBA ote: The MBA says changes in the subprime sample between the third and fourth quarter may have contributed to the decline in the subprime delinquency rate. (See story page 41) Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
MCAP Added to List
March 31, 2003MCAP Financial Corp. here has been added to the Standard & Poor's Select Servicer List as an "above average" primary servicer and as an "average" special servicer. (Read More)
Concentration Risk Treasury Concern
March 31, 2003The risk to federally insured depository institutions holding large concentrations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed and corporate debt securities is being monitored by the Treasury Department, according to a Treasury official. (Read More)
Some Have Gloomy Mortgage Outlook
March 31, 2003Some market participants speaking at a Ginnie Mae investor symposium here were hopeful, but others were less so, when it came to the outlook for U.S. (Read More)
Ginnie Mae's New Affordable Focus
March 31, 2003The U.S. government is looking to Ginnie Mae and incentives designed to fuel private sector investment as a means of addressing affordable housing and economic development concerns, two officials told attendees at an investor symposium last week. (Read More)
New Jersey Learns From Georgia Lesson
March 31, 2003New Jersey's top banking and insurance regulator told attendees at the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations here that overregulation of the mortgage industry "will hurt the consumer." (Read More)
(back to top)
April 7, 2003
25 Firms Look to Exit Mortgages
April 7, 2003Thanks to the two-year old refinancing boom, mortgage bankers are making money hand-over-fist. So now wouldn't be a good time to exit the business, would it? According to investment bankers, at least 25 mortgage firms - and perhaps more - are contemplating getting out now before industry production begins to wane. (Read More)
Reform Still Bogged Down
April 7, 2003Senate Banking Committee chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is continuing to beat the drum to get housing secretary Mel Martinez to reissue his mortgage reform proposal for another round of public comments. (Read More)
WaMu Facing Prepay Lawsuit
April 7, 2003A lawsuit has been filed against Washington Mutual in Hennepin County here, alleging that the nation's largest mortgage servicer improperly charged or overcharged consumers for prepayment penalties. (Read More)
'Mistake' Worrying Raines
April 7, 2003Given its size, Fannie Mae, the nation's largest mortgage investor, has a lot to worry about, but is a potential mistake by its regulator one of them? (Read More)
Ranking Dem Eyes Fairbanks
April 7, 2003Sen. Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, has asked Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to review allegations regarding the servicing practices of Fairbanks Capital Corp., Salt Lake City, the nation's largest subprime servicer. (Read More)
'Mortgage Spammer' Hit
April 7, 2003The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against a mortgage lender it calls a "mortgage spamming operation." The FTC filed a complaint charging 30 Minute Mortgage Inc. with violating federal laws by using an array of deceptions to con consumers into sharing their personal financial data. The FTC charged the operation with violating the FTC Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Gramm-Leach- Bliley Act and the FTC's Privacy Rule. (Read More)
The Final Tally for 2002
April 7, 2003(What a Barn Burner!) Quarter Production Subprime Production Refi % 4th Quarte $964 billion $75 billion 75.80% 3rd Quarte $729 billion $60 billion 64.10% 2nd Quarte $522 billion $56 billion 59.40% 1st Quarte $572 billion $50 billion 64.80% Totals: $2,787 billion $241 billion 66.00% Other Stats: Average loan size in the industry 2002: $189,961 Average loan size in the industry 2001: $176,460 Source: NMN-Quarterly Data Report. Questions? (Read More)
U.S. Mortgage-Backed Debt Managers
April 7, 2003(UBS Warburg Regains Lead Among MBS Managers) (part 1 of 2) 1/1/02 - 3/31/02 Proceeds Market # of Managers ($Mil) Share Issues UBS Warburg 27,802.70 15.6 22 Bear Stearns & Co Inc 20,860.30 11.7 31 Credit Suisse First Boston 25,857.60 14.5 31 Goldman Sachs & Co 22,006.80 12.3 22 Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney 15,728.00 8.8 20 Lehman Brothers 21,352.30 12.0 41 Banc of America Securities LLC 8,172.60 4.6 19 Morgan Stanley 1,422.10 0.8 5 Merrill Lynch & Co Inc 8,573.50 4.8 13 JP Morgan 3,938.60 2.2 12 Industry Total 178,276.60 100.0 246 (part 2 of 2) 1/1/03 - 3/31/03 Proceeds Market # of Managers ($Mil) Share Issues UBS Warburg 36,521.50 15.7 29 Bear Stearns & Co Inc 26,973.50 11.6 36 Credit Suisse First Boston 25,275.30 10.9 38 Goldman Sachs & Co 24,489.20 10.5 18 Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney 20,658.40 8.9 21 Lehman Brothers 18,544.40 8.0 26 Banc of America Securities LLC 18,113.30 7.8 18 Morgan Stanley 15,557.60 6.7 16 Merrill Lynch & Co Inc 12,652.40 5.4 13 JP Morgan 11,872.10 5.1 18 Industry Total 232,460.00 100.0 242 * Full to Book Manager (Equal if Joint) (See story on page 46) Source: Thomson Financial Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Bankers Ask OCC to Pre-empt GA's Predatory Lending Law
April 7, 2003Bankers are calling on the Comptroller of the Currency to take a broad view of his pre-emptive powers so that national banks can make mortgage loans in Georgia without any interference from the state's anti-predatory lending law. (Read More)
FHA Takes Aim At Wholesalers
April 7, 2003The Department of Housing and Urban Development is proposing to hold wholesalers responsible for the performance of Federal Housing Administration loans they buy from mortgage brokers. (Read More)
Bill Would Shield Servicers from Debt Collection Act
April 7, 2003The House has passed a bill by a 420-0 vote that would provide mortgage servicers a special exemption from the Fair Debt Collection Act so that they work with delinquent borrowers in a less hostile way. (Read More)
Editorial: Diversify, Diversify
April 7, 2003A lender that services has a customer relationship with every one of those borrowers. That lender should be thinking of ways to maximize those relationships. (Read More)
Open Forum: Banking in Emerging Markets
April 7, 2003Mr. Powell recently addressed the National Community Investment Fund Annual Network Conference in Washington. His remarks are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Watching the Banks That Have Been Banking on MBS
April 7, 2003Given that banks have become such influential mortgage-backed securities investors and thus play a significant role in this important investment sector's fate, we should consider what kind of market moves might affect these financial institutions. (Read More)
Western Union Sees Growing Demand for Alternative Payment Options
April 7, 2003For many consumers, the days of paying bills by sitting at a dining room table one night a month and writing checks are all but over. (Read More)
New York Banking Superintendent Will Leave Post
April 7, 2003Elizabeth McCaul, the New York Superintendent of Banks whose responsibilities included oversight of the state's mortgage regulation, has resigned from the post. (Read More)
Advertising Campaign Aimed at Job Seekers
April 7, 2003Most mortgage banking firms run media campaigns to attract new customers. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Registers Stock with SEC
April 7, 2003Fulfilling a voluntary commitment to register its common stock, Fannie Mae has filed its Form 10 registration statement and initial Form 10-K annual report, providing its audited financial statements for 2002, the company announced last week. (Read More)
Volume Leads Analyst To Tweak Up Targets
April 7, 2003Strong first-quarter lending volume, the latest in a long line of quarters that have exceeded expectations, has led one analyst to raise his expectations for stocks in the mortgage finance sector. (Read More)
Commerce Bancorp Stock Called a 'Buy'
April 7, 2003Analysts at Merrill Lynch expect Commerce Bancorp to report earnings that are above Wall Street estimates for the first quarter. (Read More)
Household to Redeem Preferred Stock
April 7, 2003Household International has announced that it will redeem the issued and outstanding shares of several preferred stock series. (Read More)
Analyst Raises Estimate on Fannie
April 7, 2003Analysts at Sandler O'Neill have raised their earnings estimate for Fannie Mae, citing the strong mortgage lending environment as evidenced by Fannie Mae's February operating statistics. (Read More)
Redwood Increases Its Common Dividend
April 7, 2003Redwood Trust, an investor in real estate loans, announced that it's board of directors has declared a regular cash dividend for common shareholders of $0.65 per share for the first quarter of 2003, payable on April 21 to common shareholders of record on March 31. (Read More)
Fidelity Back in the Market with Purchase of Key Title in Oregon
April 7, 2003Fidelity National Financial Inc. here has agreed to acquire 100% of the outstanding common stock of Key Title Co., an Oregon-based company. (Read More)
Portfolio Contraction A Concern at Freddie
April 7, 2003In a rare divergence from rival Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac reported that its retained mortgage portfolio contracted in February, and at least one analyst thinks that the company's now-defunct exclusive arrangements with several large lenders may have contributed to Freddie's woes. (Read More)
Servicing Sale to Test Market for MSR Transactions
April 7, 2003Hamilton, Carter, Smith & Co. here is brokering the sale of servicing rights on $1.7 billion of Freddie Mac loans at current interest rates in a deal that will test the market for current coupon deals. (Read More)
Conseco Hearing Planned for April
April 7, 2003Conseco Finance Corp. here has filed a proposed plan of reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. (Read More)
OTS Seeks Changes in Data on Rate Risk
April 7, 2003The Office of Thrift Supervision is proposing to change the data it collects for measuring interest rate risk as part of an effort to "comprehensively enhance" its IRR modeling capabilities. (Read More)
Investors Bracing For 'Extension Risk'
April 7, 2003After two years of record mortgage securities issuance and faster-than- expected prepayment rates, some bond market participants are preparing to face a completely different challenge - extension risk. (Read More)
Strategic Thinking Better Than Tactical Planning in Mortgage Sales
April 7, 2003(NMN recently interviewed prominent originator and sales trainer Greg Frost on the importance of strategic thinking in loan origination. What follows is an excerpt from the interview MN is co-sponsoring a seminar Frost is putting on in Las Vegas in August.) NMN: Greg, can you elaborate a little more on your message of strategic thinking and planning? (Read More)
Many Businesses Opting Not to Worry about Terrorism Insurance
April 7, 2003Many businesses are not buying terrorism insurance, although insurers are offering the coverage, because they do not consider themselves targets of terrorism, or because the cost is too high, or both, according to a survey conducted by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers. (Read More)
Real Estate Markets May Continue to Deteriorate This Year
April 7, 2003Commercial real estate market conditions have not hit bottom yet, but they are likely to be "less worse" in 2003, according to PNC Real Estate Finance. (Read More)
MF Transactions at a Glance
April 7, 2003* Red Capital has provided $253.9 million - through a Fannie Mae Master Credit Facility and a first mortgage bridge financing - for Klingbeil Capital Mgmt.'s acquisition of 16 multifamily properties. (Read More)
Simon Property Extends Deadline On Taubman Offer
April 7, 2003Simon Property Group and Westfield America have extended the deadline for the $20 per share bid for Taubman Centers' shares to May 30, 2003, as expected. (Read More)
REIT Transactions at a Glance
April 7, 2003* Trizec Properties has sold three office properties: a 253,000 sq. foot Arlington, Va., property; a 203,000 sq. foot Lanham, Md. property; and a 496,000 sq. foot Detroit property, for a total of $90.1 million. (Read More)
GMACCM and Apollo Start Mezzanine Fund
April 7, 2003GMAC Institutional Advisors, a subsidiary of Horsham, Pa.-based GMACCM, and Apollo Real Estate Advisors, a private real estate investment company, have closed a real estate mezzanine fund with an investment capacity of $200 million. (Read More)
Former Chairman Gets Injunction Against Post Properties
April 7, 2003A temporary restraining order has been issued against Post Properties, enjoining certain activities of the multifamily real estate investment trust and its board of directors for a period of 30 days. (Read More)
CRE Transactions at a Glance
April 7, 2003* Holliday Fenoglio Fowler has arranged a $245 million construction-permanent loan for the redevelopment of the 228,850 sq. foot Charles River Plaza in Boston. (Read More)
Lend Lease Explores Morgan Stanley JV
April 7, 2003Lend Lease Corp., the Australian parent of Lend Lease US Real Estate Investments, is looking into the possibility of a joint venture with Morgan Stanley for Lend Lease US REI's equity advisory business. The Atlanta-based Lend Lease US REI manages real estate investments - private real estate and real estate securities - for institutional investors. (Read More)
Farmland Values Rising Despite Weak Ag Economy
April 7, 2003In the agricultural sector, many farmers and ranchers find themselves in much the same financial situation as households in major metropolitan areas. (Read More)
At a Glance
April 7, 2003(Rural Unemployment Is Higher Than in Urban Areas) Year Rural Metro Total 1998 5.5% 4.3% 4.5% 1999 5.2% 4.0% 4.2% 2000 5.0% 3.8% 4.0% 2001 5.7% 4.5% 4.8% 2002 6.0% 5.5% 5.6% Source: Center for the Study of Rural America (using Bureau of Labor Statistics data). (Read More)
Europe Faces Declining Demand for Office Space
April 7, 2003European office markets underwent a dramatic downward shift in 2002 compared with year-end 2001 - particularly in Germany, Moody's Investors Service has reported. (Read More)
Australian Realty Outlook Is Stable
April 7, 2003Listed property trusts in Australia are contending with some challenges, but overall their outlook is stable, according to Moody's Investors Service's office here. (Read More)
Fifth Third is Fourth Lender on OpenClose Platform
April 7, 2003Mortgage Connect, the mortgage technology division of Beanstalk Networks, has announced that it has signed Fifth Third Bancorp to its OpenClose Wholesale MTG platform. The company reports that American Residential Funding, NV Mortgage and Primary Residential Funding are already on the system. (Read More)
IMX Unveils BrokerBank Tool for Broker Due Diligence
April 7, 2003IMX Inc. here has launched BrokerBank, a browser-based workflow and vendor management system lenders can use to manage their broker due-diligence process. (Read More)
Myers Internet Offers Bi-Weekly Programs
April 7, 2003Myers Internet Inc., a provider of technology to the mortgage and real estate industries, has formed a partnership with Mortgage Saver to offer biweekly programs to mortgage originators. (Read More)
BCE Emergis Adds VOI-E to Exchange on Freddie's Portal
April 7, 2003BCE Emergis Inc. here and TALX Corporation, St. Louis, have agreed to offer verification of employment and income services through Emergis Vendor Services Exchange, a featured tool on Freddie Mac's loanprospector.com. (Read More)
Credit Union Chooses Self-Service Software
April 7, 2003Visions Federal Credit Union, Endicott, N.Y., has implemented SilverCloud Software's Member Service Solution, starting with the company's core product, Question Manager. (Read More)
GHR Systems Forms an Alliance with ValuAmerica
April 7, 2003GHR Systems Inc. here, along with its strategic alliance partner ValuAmerica, a mortgage settlement services, technology and management consulting firm based in Pittsburgh, will begin delivering bundled services capabilities to lenders by the end of the second quarter. (Read More)
Automation Support Aimed at Midtier Insurance Companies
April 7, 2003Elios Inc. here is working to "take the pain and cost out of lien holder notifications," according to CEO and founder Jordi Huguet. (Read More)
Fiserv Solutions Incorporates SwiftView Technology
April 7, 2003Fiserv Lending Solutions, a business unit of Fiserv Inc., has expanded its relationship with SwiftView Inc. to add a fully-integrated, secure Web-based document delivery option to its easyLender loan origination and processing software. (Read More)
Cenlar Puts Focus on Helping Clients Maximize Customer Retention
April 7, 2003How does a subservicer help its clients manage their portfolios in a refi boom? (Read More)
Consultant: Post Closing Needs Improvement
April 7, 2003According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, many lenders are spending too much money on post-closing processes. (Read More)
At a Glance
April 7, 2003(Post-Closing Costs Per Loan) Firm at 9-30-99 High $140 Low $13 Average $87 Source: PrewaterhouseCoopers Survey Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
Midwest Loan Services Says Technology Serves Small Shops the Best
April 7, 2003Ed Berger, who heads a firm that provides mortgage processing and subservicing for credit unions, doesn't buy the argument that you need to be big in order to succeed in the mortgage servicing business. (Read More)
Low-Mod Specialist Says Getting a Loan Is Easier Than Many Think
April 7, 2003"I just got good at it," says P. Kirk Van Horn, the 37-year-old president of Best Home Financial who has been in the business of assisting low- to moderate- income borrowers in underserved communities for 16 years. (Read More)
Related Capital, Bridge Housing Team Up
April 7, 2003Related Capital Co. has announced that in cooperation with San Francisco- based Bridge Housing Corp., it is providing $48 million in equity financing for the development of a $102 million mixed-use affordable housing complex in San Francisco - the largest of its kind in the nation. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
April 7, 2003MIEC Index: 144.3; Change: 3.2 (part 1 of 2) 3/27/03 4/3/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 44.87 46.03 3% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)57.64 59.30 3% 39.50 Capstead Mtg. 11.73 11.45 -2% 11.07 E-Loan Inc 2.41 3.06 27% 0.95 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 24.16 24.94 3% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 54.83 58.16 6% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 33.35 32.73 -2% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 66.77 67.60 1% 58.40 Freddie Mac (FRE) 54.40 55.70 2% 49.53 Golden West (GDW) 72.65 73.15 1% 56.20 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 39.07 41.80 7% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 40.55 40.94 1% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 30.55 33.70 10% 16.33 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 19.18 20.02 4% 16.14 PNC Finl. Svc. 43.19 43.27 0% 32.70 Wells Fargo (WFC) 45.55 46.80 3% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 26.49 26.68 1% 24.03 Radian Group (RDN) 34.43 35.27 2% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.40 9.76 4% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 36.25 35.40 -2% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 35.66 36.04 1% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk/hi % Chg fr 52 wk/Lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 56.35 30% 15.55 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)60.75 50% 9.13 Capstead Mtg. 25.71 3% 2.36 E-Loan Inc 2.80 222% 16.99 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 63% 31.17 Centex Corp. (CTX) 59.19 52% 7.69 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 46.57 45% 23.89 Fannie Mae (FNM) 84.10 16% 10.71 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.50 12% 7.00 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 30% 11.95 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 42.12 66% 5.23 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 22% 6.77 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 106% 4.86 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 24% 8.3 PNC Finl. Svc. 60.74 32% 10.3 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 13% 14.81 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 11% 7.03 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 20% 7.99 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 24% -27.11 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 15% 10.85 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 30% 8.89 Notes: Household was bought out by HSBC. Last trading date was March 28, 2003. (1) % change from 52-week low. Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Oil States Good for Subprime Lending
April 7, 2003The best place for nonprime mortgage lenders to make new loans continues to be the "oil patch" region of the country, according to University Financial Associates here. (Read More)
Cavalier Obtains $35M Credit Line
April 7, 2003Cavalier Homes Inc. here has received a commitment from its primary lender for a $35 million credit facility. (Read More)
Fitch Ratings Launches Manufactured Housing Deal Tracker
April 7, 2003Fitch Ratings has added manufactured housing-related transactions to its RMBS Deal Tracker, a Web-based product that provides investors with an array of original deal collateral attributes on Fitch-rated residential mortgage-backed securities and mortgage-related asset-backed securities. (Read More)
Net Branch Deals Hinge on Compensation
April 7, 2003When it is done correctly, there is no difference between a net branch and a regular corporate branch, a representative of a net branch firm told the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations here. (Read More)
Subprime Originators by No. of Loans Originated in 4Q-02
April 7, 2003(part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Household Financial Svcs (E) Prospect Heights, IL 2 CitiFinancial Baltimore, MD 3 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Des Moines, IA 4 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 5 First Franklin Financial San Jose, CA 6 New Century Financial Corp. Irvine, CA 7 Ameriquest Mortgage Corp. (E) Orange, CA 8 Homecomings/GMAC-RFC Bloomington, MN 9 Option One Mortgage Corp. Irvine, CA 10 Key Consumer Real Estate (E) Parsippany, NJ 11 Aegis Mortgage Corp. (E) Houston, TX 12 Decision One Mortgage Charlotte, NC 13 Accredited Home Lenders San Diego, CA 14 Chase Home Finance Woodcliff Lake, NJ 15 Aames Financial Corporaton Los Angeles, CA 16 WMC Mortgage Corp. Woodland Hills, CA 17 Centex Home Equity Company Dallas, TX 18 BNC Mortgage, Inc. Irvine, CA 19 NovaStar Mortgage, Inc. Westwood, KS 20 Equity One, Inc. Marlton, NJ (part 2 of 2) No. Lns Ori No. Lns Orig Pct Mkt Rk Q4/02 Q4/01 Chg Share 1 109,850 124,000 -11% 16.31% 2 86,444 93,142 -7% 12.83% 3 34,611 8,958 286% 5.14% 4 31,125 15,227 104% 4.62% 5 28,484 15,300 86% 4.23% 6 28,267 13,933 103% 4.20% 7 28,000 15,029 86% 4.16% 8 25,907 23,242 11% 3.85% 9 25,219 17,205 47% 3.74% 10 14,225 na na 2.11% 11 13,350 na na 1.98% 12 12,548 9,542 32% 1.86% 13 11,153 6,198 80% 1.66% 14 10,043 8,731 15% 1.49% 15 9,616 7,362 31% 1.43% 16 8,237 3,660 125% 1.22% 17 8,049 7,136 13% 1.19% 18 6,700 2,979 125% 0.99% 19 6,598 2,944 124% 0.98% 20 6,355 5,383 18% 0.94% Top 20 Totals: 504,781 379,971 33% 50.37% Submitted Totals: 561,402 417,221 35% 58.42% Notes: Several firms would not disclose number of loans originated. (E) Estimate. (Read More)
Average Loan Size Cracks $200k
April 7, 2003As residential production volumes continue to soar into the stratosphere, the industry has set yet another record: the average U.S. mortgage is now north of $200,000. According to figures compiled by National Mortgage News, the average mortgage funded in the fourth quarter was $201,595. This reflects activity among the top 75 originators. (Read More)
Aaverage Loan Size in 4th Quarter 2002
April 7, 2003(part 1 of 2) Rank Organization Name Location 1 First Republic Bank San Francisco, CA 2 Thornburg Mortgage, Inc. Sante Fe, NM 3 Union Bank of California San Diego, CA 4 Astoria FS & LA Lake Success, NY 5 Ridgewood Savings Bank Ridgewood, NY 6 Comerica Bank - Mtg Dept. Auburn Hills, MI 7 People's Bank Bridgeport, CT 8 B.F. Saul Mtg./Chevy Chase Bank Bethesda, MD 9 Aurora Loan Services, Inc. Aurora, CO 10 Platinum Capital Group Irvine, CA 11 E-Loan Dublin, CA 12 accunetmortgage.com Butler, WI 13 RBC Mortgage Rocky Mount, NC 14 GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Novato, CA 15 Bank of Hawaii Honolulu, HI 16 IndyMac Bancorp, Inc. Pasadena, CA 17 Impac Funding Corporation Newport Beach, CA 18 E*Trade Menlo Park, CA 19 HomeStreet Bank Seattle, WA 20 Royal Mortgage Princeton, NJ 21 Eastern Bank Lynn, MA 22 Alliance Mortgage Company Jacksonville, FL 23 First Hawaiian Bank Honolulu, HI 24 HSBC Mortgage Corp. USA Depew, NY 25 NowLending Wilmington, MA 26 Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust W. Palm Beach, FL 27 NVR Mortgage Finance, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA 28 CitiMortgage, Inc. St. Louis, MO 29 Cendant Mortgage Mt. Laurel, NJ 30 Universal American Mtg. Clearwater, FL 31 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 32 Ohio Savings Bank, F.S.B. Cleveland, OH 33 Greenlight Financial Services Irvine, CA 34 Cherry Creek Mortgage Denver, CO 35 Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Des Moines, IA 36 ComUnity Lending, Inc Morgan Hill, CA 37 American Mortage Network San Diego, CA 38 Wachovia/First Union Mtg. Charlotte, NC 39 SIB Mortgage Corp. Branchburg, NJ 40 Bank One Mortgage Fisher, IN (part 2 of 2) Rank Orig Vol 4Q/02 Orig Vol 4Q/01 % Chg 1 $701,075 $685,273 2% 2 $468,520 $429,498 9% 3 $446,599 $461,371 -3% 4 $314,355 $346,908 -9% 5 $310,616 $278,652 11% 6 $292,810 $213,188 37% 7 $286,157 $245,744 16% 8 $267,285 $241,745 11% 9 $239,906 $247,393 -3% 10 $233,695 $193,025 21% 11 $222,025 $211,566 5% 12 $219,066 $209,734 4% 13 $215,621 $205,908 5% 14 $215,612 $208,206 4% 15 $213,722 $218,192 -2% 16 $213,247 $199,368 7% 17 $212,688 $192,641 10% 18 $212,081 $260,281 -19% 19 $211,443 $160,164 32% 20 $210,383 $190,678 10% 21 $207,367 $194,282 7% 22 $206,054 $183,611 12% 23 $205,996 $197,222 4% 24 $204,196 $197,366 3% 25 $200,000 $187,500 7% 26 $199,006 $165,609 20% 27 $197,909 $196,472 1% 28 $190,202 $167,480 14% 29 $189,700 $168,246 13% 30 $188,301 $178,276 6% 31 $186,530 $187,359 0% 32 $186,514 $181,972 2% 33 $186,394 $176,274 6% 34 $185,671 $178,714 4% 35 $183,821 $175,865 5% 36 $183,594 $160,525 14% 37 $181,599 $148,644 22% 38 $176,860 $168,216 5% 39 $176,523 $155,217 14% 40 $175,141 $171,815 2% Top 100 Totals: $185,866 $176,470 5% Notes: Some firs would not reveal number of loans funded which is needed to calculate average loans size. If so they may be omitted from this table. (Read More)
People
April 7, 2003ALABAMA Birmingham-Collateral Mortgage Capital LLC announced that John Davis recently joined the firm as executive managing director. Mr. Davis will be overseeing all production offices and will be operating out of Minneapolis. (Read More)
Epic Financial Corporation Buys American National Mortgage Services
April 7, 2003Epic Financial Corp., until recently based in Oceanside, Calif., has purchased American National Mortgage Services, a mortgage banker-broker based here. William Parker, president of American National, has been named president of Epic pic's former president, Frank Iannuzzi, remains as chairman and chief financial officer of Epic. (Read More)
Low Rates Take a Bite Out of FHLB System's Earnings
April 7, 2003Consolidated earnings for the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks fell 16.5% in 2002 to $1.8 billion, down from $2.15 billion in 2001. (Read More)
UBS Back on Top for MBS
April 7, 2003UBS Warburg regained the lead in the rankings of mortgage-backed securities underwriters in the first quarter from Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., according to Thomson Financial, a National Mortgage News affiliate. (Read More)
(back to top)
April 14, 2003
Home Equity ABS 'Booming'
April 14, 2003As much as $50 billion in home equity loans could be securitized during this year's first quarter alone, a major source of investment capital predicted here earlier this month. (Read More)
RE Bubbles Go Overseas
April 14, 2003A number of housing bubbles exist now in some countries besides the United States, data collected by the International Monetary Fund suggest. (Read More)
Will the Twelve FHLBs Consolidate Into One?
April 14, 2003The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has seen the future of the System and it likely will entail consolidation of the 12 regional banks into one "very powerful" government-sponsored enterprise. (Read More)
Ney Adding More RESPA Pressure
April 14, 2003The chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee on housing has added his voice to the chorus of legislators who want the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reissue its mortgage reform proposal for another round of public comments. (Read More)
Household Overdues Up 48%
April 14, 2003In its last 10-K filing as an independent company, Household International here revealed some less-than-promising news: its mortgage delinquencies are on the rise, as are its credit loss reserves. (Read More)
Household International
April 14, 2003(Statistics at a Glance) (Delinquencies and Credit Loss Provisions) Year Credit Loss Provisions HE Delinquencies 2002 $3.7 billion 3.91% 2001 $2.9 billion 2.63% 2000 $2.1 billion na Notes: Delinquencies reflect loans backed by real estate, primarily home mortgages. The ratios in this table reflect two month and over contractual delinquencies at Dec. 31. (Read More)
GMAC Will Create New Brand Name Targeted to West Coast Customers
April 14, 2003GMAC Mortgage officials announced last week that they intend to create a new brand for mortgage originations on the West Coast within a month. The brand, whose name has not been announced, will be the third owned by GMAC Mortgage. The company acquired Ditech Funding four years ago and has managed it under its original name since. (Read More)
LIBOR Rate Index Still Gaining Favor
April 14, 2003As an increasing number of Wall Street banks have come to do business worldwide, the London interbank offered rate has become more commonly used as a mortgage index throughout the U.S. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: Zan Hamilton
April 14, 2003Mr. Hamilton is leaving Credit Suisse First Boston's capital services group in New York to become president of Platinum Capital Corp., Irvine, Calif., a mortgage banker. He replaces Dan Perl, who recently resigned from Platinum. The CSFB executive vice president will start at Platinum April 21. (Read More)
Under Fire from Regulators, Fairbanks Hires a Compliance Chief
April 14, 2003Until a year ago, Fairbanks Capital Corp. - the subject of a federal investigation into its servicing practices - didn't have a compliance department. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: Hugh Harris
April 14, 2003Formerly head of Homeside Lending, Mr. Harris has come out of retirement to head up Fidelity's new Fidelity Information Services division in Jacksonville, Fla. The new division is largely made up of the assets Fidelity acquired when it purchased Alltel's mortgage services division earlier this year. Mr. Harris' (Read More)
Editorial: The Big Guy and the Little Guys
April 14, 2003Six industry trade groups, spearheaded by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, used the recent MBA Secondary Market Conference in New York to petition Sen. Richard Shelby to allow Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act reform to proceed. (Read More)
Open Forum: Some Encouraging Signs
April 14, 2003Secretary Martinez recently addressed the Ginnie Mae Investors Symposium in New York xcerpts of his remarks are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Originator-Dealer Consolidation Among Trends Shaping the Market
April 14, 2003Consolidation between the buy side and the sell side is one of the trends currently shaping the mortgage market, a speaker told attendees at The Bond Market Association's annual meeting in New York last Thursday. (Read More)
Rosenfeld: Retailers May Start Peddling Home Loans
April 14, 2003Is the day at hand when discount loans are announced as Blue Light Specials over a loudspeaker at Kmart? (Read More)
FNIS Introduces New Collateral Valuation
April 14, 2003Fidelity National Information Solutions, Santa Barbara, Calif., has released a new collateral valuation tool they say will change the way lenders value the residential properties that back the loans they write. Called FNIS HQ Score, the new tool is a risk management and predictive collateral valuation technology that the company claims will evaluate both current and future valuation risk. (Read More)
MBA Raises Origination Forecast to $2.6T; Expects Gradual Rate Rise
April 14, 2003The chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America weighed in with his forecast of the originations market for this year, bringing his estimate up to $2.6 trillion. (Read More)
Industry Remains in Good Health
April 14, 2003The mortgage industry is "in good health," according to Douglas Duncan, the chief economist and a senior vice president of the Mortgage Bankers Association - even though he expects rates to rise for the rest of the year. (Read More)
Alternatives Will Help Lenders Cope with Higher Rates
April 14, 2003Home equity lending was described as a "vital product offering" here last week at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference here. (Read More)
Countrywide to Host Earnings Teleconference
April 14, 2003Countrywide Financial Corp. will report first-quarter earnings and host a live teleconference on Tuesday, April 29. (Read More)
Countrywide Moves Up Big Co. Indices
April 14, 2003Countrywide Financial Corp. has solidified its membership in the "500 Club." (Read More)
M&T Bank Adding Mid-Atlantic Reach
April 14, 2003M&T Bank is increasing its presence in the lucrative Mid-Atlantic region, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. (Read More)
A Possible Dream?
April 14, 2003Just like Don Quixote, who found it difficult to grasp what the real world had to offer, some borrowers and lenders may not see the opportunities available in the affordable housing landscape for what they are. Yet, idealists and realists alike have rallied to achieve the American Dream of homeownership for the underserved, turning affordable housing initiatives into a challenging goal for the mortgage industry. (Read More)
PCi's Technology Tools Aim to Help Industry Reach the Underserved
April 14, 2003Identifying and reaching out to underserved minority and low- to moderate- income individuals - who are the target market of many financial institutions across the country - has proved to be as efficient as the data processing tools lenders use. (Read More)
HFN Seeking to Serve Low-Mod Borrowers Via 'Rent with Equity'
April 14, 2003While seizing the moment to benefit from still low interest rates and more refinancing activity, industry insiders are not losing sight of needed new home purchases especially from first-time low- to moderate-income and minority buyers, who are expected to fuel the market even if the rates change. (Read More)
Lend Lease Study Says Homeownership May Not Be Right for Everyone
April 14, 2003A favorable market where the American Dream of homeownership "is alive and well" may not be the best market for low-income borrowers. (Read More)
'Fair Housing Month Lives Up to Its name
April 14, 2003On April 1, 2003, HUD Secretary Mel Martinez announced the beginning of "Fair Housing Month." The event coincided with the 35th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act and an initiative by the Bush Administration to boost minority homeownership by 5.5 million homeowners nationwide by 2010. (Read More)
Fannie Says Tech Upgrade On Track
April 14, 2003Fannie Mae vice president of asset acquisitions and custody John Gang says the GSE's major technology infrastructure upgrade initiative, code-named CORE, is on track and a major element will be rolled out in the third quarter. He made his comments to the audience at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's National Secondary Market Conference here last week. (Read More)
First 'Shared' HE Security
April 14, 2003BancCap Funding, San Bernardino, Calif., is just a few weeks away from issuing its first-ever "shared" home equity loan securitization. (Read More)
Options Make Good Hedging Tools
April 14, 2003A panel on managing pipeline fallout at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's National Secondary Market Conference here suggested the use of options as a hedging tool. (Read More)
Hearings On FHLB Secondary Effort?
April 14, 2003Congressional members of the Western Caucus want the House Financial Services Committee to hold hearings on Federal Home Loan Banks and their growing secondary market programs. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
April 14, 2003MIEC Index: 144.2; Change: -0.2 (part 1 of 2) 4/3/03 4/10/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 46.03 45.86 0% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC)59.30 58.62 -1% 39.5 Capstead Mtg.(CMO) 11.45 11.47 0% 11.07 E-Loan Inc (EELN) 3.06 3.07 0% 0.95 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 24.94 25.72 3% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 58.16 59.19 2% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 32.73 31.49 -4% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 67.60 68.27 1% 58.40 Freddie Mac (FRE) 55.70 55.10 -1% 49.53 Golden West (GDW) 73.15 72.83 0% 56.20 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 41.80 41.94 0% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 40.94 39.92 -2% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 33.70 31.84 -6% 16.33 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 20.02 20.01 0% 16.14 PNC Finl. Svc. (PNC) 43.27 42.81 -1% 32.70 Wells Fargo (WFC) 46.80 46.91 0% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 26.68 25.87 -3% 24.03 Radian Group (RDN) 35.27 34.52 -2% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.76 9.70 -1% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 35.40 35.95 2% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 36.04 35.98 0% 27.8 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk/hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 56.28 30% 15.49 Countrywide Financial Corp.(CFC) 60.76 48% 9.03 Capstead Mtg.(CMO) 25.71 4% 2.36 E-Loan Inc (EELN) 3.28 223% 17.05 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 69% 32.14 Centex Corp. (CTX) 59.70 55% 7.82 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 46.57 40% 22.98 Fannie Mae (FNM) 83.40 17% 10.81 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.06 11% 6.93 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 30% 11.90 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 43.45 66% 5.24 MGIC (MTG) 74.40 19% 6.60 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 95% 4.59 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 24% 8.30 PNC Finl. Svc. (PNC) 60.30 31% 10.19 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 13% 14.84 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 8% 6.82 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 17% 7.82 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 23% -26.94 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 17% 11.02 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 29% 8.88 Notes: Household was bought out by HSBC. Last trading date was March 28, 2003. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
April 14, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 124.4; Change: 0.9 (part 1 of 2 ) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 4/10/03 Aames (AMSF) 0.35 1.90 1.13 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86 12.25 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 5.95 14.55 7.15 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 8.16 13.48 12.54 Accredited Home Lenders H (LEND) 6.99 9.75 9.50 New Century (NCEN) 16.33 35.05 31.84 Novastar (NFI) 18.01 36.97 36.70 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 7.60 3.36 Provident Financial (PFGI) 19.90 31.64 21.57 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 14.20 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN) 0.15 1.54 0.34 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. % Chg from 52-wk Lo P/E Ratio Aames (AMSF) -7% 223% na American Business Fin. (ABFI) 9% 93% 4.7 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 0% 20% na IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 0% 54% 6.7 Accredited Home Lenders H (LEND) -2% 36% 4.8 New Century (NCEN) -6% 95% 4.6 Novastar (NFI) 5% 104% 8.2 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 3% 64% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 0% 8% 9.2 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 4% 74% 15.1 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN)-3% 127% na Household was bought out by HSBC. Last trading date was March 28, 2003. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (1)% change from 52-week low otes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
CRE Transactions at a Glance
April 14, 2003* GMACCM has arranged $18.7 million in fixed rate permanent refinancing on a 134,722 square foot Norfolk, Va., office property. (Read More)
Secured Capital Looks North for Business
April 14, 2003Secured Capital Corp. is opening a San Francisco office to take better advantage of the increased business opportunities it sees in the Northern California and Pacific Northwest regions. (Read More)
Treasury Study Raises Hackles at FHLBs
April 14, 2003The Treasury Department is initiating a study of the Federal Home Loan Bank System to examine how legislative reforms adopted in 1999 have been implemented over the past three years and it has to be making FHLBank officials nervous. (Read More)
Freddie Expects 2003 to Beat 2002
April 14, 2003Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft predicts a slight growth in the mortgage market for 2003, with originations of $2.54 trillion. This is slightly ahead of Freddie Mac's call for the origination market of $2.51 trillion for 2002. (Read More)
MPF Lending Exceeds $16B in 1st Quarter
April 14, 2003Loan production under the Mortgage Partnership Finance program jumped nearly 33% in the first quarter, according to the Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank. (Read More)
GreenPoint Invests In The Winter Group
April 14, 2003GreenPoint Financial Corp. here and its A-alternative A credit mortgage subsidiary have made a "substantial" equity investment in The Winter Group, formalizing a correspondent relationship the bank holding company has had with the secondary market loan platform-broker-dealer. (Read More)
(back to top)
April 21, 2003
Wells Again Exceeds $100B Loans
April 21, 2003Wells Fargo produced $103 billion of home loans in the first quarter, down slightly from $112 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, but still a pace that suggests the nation's largest mortgage lender may be headed for a record-breaking year. (Read More)
At a Glance: Value of Wells' MSR Portfolio
April 21, 2003March 31, 2002: $7.138 billion Dec. 31, 2002: $4.489 billion March 31, 2003: $4.183 billion Source: Wells Fargo & Co. (Read More)
Fannie Net Rises by 60%
April 21, 2003Fannie Mae substantially beat analysts' estimates in the first quarter, reporting net income of $1.94 billion, a 60.5% increase over the first quarter of last year. (Read More)
At a Glance: Fannie's Total Book of Business Still Growing
April 21, 2003First Qtr Purchase '02: $197.8 billion First Qtr Purchases '03: $335.9 billion Outstanding MBS plus portfolio at March 31, '03: $1.923 trillion Annualized First Qtr Growth Rate: 24.7% Source: Fannie Mae Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
RESPA Police Triple - to 30
April 21, 2003Housing secretary Mel Martinez is making good on a promise to beef up enforcement of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, which prohibits the payment of kickbacks and referral fees by settlement providers. (Read More)
CDOI Backs Radian RLP
April 21, 2003The American Land Title Insurance Association was dealt a setback by the California Department of Insurance, when the commissioner decided he needed more evidence and failed to uphold the ruling of an administrative judge that called Radian Lien Protection "title insurance." (Read More)
Top HELOC Residential in 4Q 2002
April 21, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Bank of America Charlotte, NC 2 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 3 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 4 Bank One Mortgage Fishers, IN 5 GMAC Residential Hldgs Horsham, PA 6 AmSouth Mortgage Birmingham, AL 7 Homecomings/GMAC-RFC Bloomington, MN 8 Cendant Mortgage Mt. Laurel, NJ 9 GreenPoint Mtg Funding Novato, CA 10 Union Planters Mtg Cordova, TN (part 2 of 2) HELOC Vol HELOC Vol Percent Rk 4Q/02 4Q/01 Change 1 $24,836 $21,130 18% 2 $14,841 $7,904 88% 3 $12,659 $9,940 27% 4 $10,900 na na 5 $7,046 $6,780 4% 6 $4,734 $3,027 56% 7 $2,731 $2,829 -3% 8 $2,129 $1,739 22% 9 $1,833 $2,057 -11% 10 $1,538 $936 64% Top 10 Totals: $83,247 $56,343 48% Notes: Results may vary as some firms would not reveal HELOC volumes. (Read More)
Fannie Mae Mortgage Purchases 2002-2003
April 21, 2003($ in Mils) (part 1 of 2) Year/ Mort. Port Portfolio Multi- MBS Month Holdings Growth Rate Family (1) Purch 2-Jan $715,847 19.50% $710 $27,252 Feb $730,268 26.20% $321 $26,122 Mar $731,716 3.80% $1,015 $13,738 Apr $737,951 9.20% $582 $12,506 May $740,096 3.00% $737 $8,396 June $740,590 -0.50% $414 $8,231 July $743,369 3.80% $413 $10,618 August $746,744 5.10% $473 $14,447 Sept $751,423 8.90% $406 $19,204 Oct $751,347 -0.10% $556 $19,043 Nov $760,759 16.10% $676 $33,535 Dec $790,800 59.20% $1,188 $51,947 Total 02 na 11.90% $7,492 $245,039 3-Jan $810,609 34.60% $879 $42,858 Feb $816,747 9.50% $606 $27,530 Mar $815,964 -1.10% $683 $18,252 YTD na 14.30% $2,168 $88,640 %chg 3/02-3/03 12% na -33% 33% (part 2 of 2) Year/ Tot Port MBS MBS Acq Total Pur Month Purch(2) Issued (3) By Others Bus Vol (4) 2-Jan $36,392 $60,606 $33,354 $69,746 Feb $33,249 $59,481 $33,359 $66,609 Mar $21,305 $53,829 $40,091 $61,395 Apr $23,175 $47,369 $34,863 $58,038 May $17,432 $41,453 $33,057 $50,489 June $16,310 $43,220 $34,989 $51,299 July $17,586 $42,349 $31,731 $49,317 August $23,123 $50,489 $36,042 $59,165 Sept $33,518 $64,023 $44,819 $78,338 Oct $32,853 $81,323 $62,280 $95,132 Nov $47,807 $81,326 $47,791 $95,599 Dec $67,891 $97,831 $45,884 $113,775 Total 02 $370,641 $723,299 $478,260 $848,902 3-Jan $57,281 $106,646 $63,788 $121,068 Feb $40,420 $93,185 $65,555 $106,075 Mar $34,304 $92,742 $74,490 $108,794 YTD $132,005 $292,573 $203,833 $335,937 %chg 3/02-3/03 61% 72% 86% 77% Notes: (1) Multifamily volume listed above represents portfolio purchases only. (2) Includes mortgage securities purchased. (3) MBS originated by lenders only. (4) Total purchases includes product purchased for portfolio and MBS acquired by others. (Read More)
Founders to Sell eCognita Technologies and Join Law Firm's Lending Group
April 21, 2003e-Cognita Technologies, a dot-com that provides technology for the origination and closing of commercial mortgages, is in the process of being sold. (Read More)
Bank of America Mortgage Earnings Rise 108% in 1Q
April 21, 2003Bank of America Corp. reported first-quarter earnings of $2.42 billion, or $1.59 earnings per share, a 15% increase from $2.18 billion, or $1.38 EPS, a year ago - growth the company attributed mainly to its customer-focused strategy, multiple product growth and strong mortgage sales. (Read More)
MGIC Earnings Slip On Weak Economy
April 21, 2003MGIC Investment Corp. here has first-quarter net income of $141 million, or $1.42 per share. (Read More)
This Way Out?
April 21, 2003Our recent report that 25 mortgage bankers are testing the buyout waters means that they are betting the store (literally) that the peak of the mortgage cycle is here and there is no way to go but down. Are they right? Is the refi boom over? Is the real estate bubble ready to burst? (Read More)
RESPA Reform Shortcomings
April 21, 2003Rep. Manzullo, R-Ill., testified before the Senate Banking Committee on the effect of RESPA reform on small business. Excerpts of his testimony are presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Market Attention Appears to Be Shifting Back to Economic Indicators
April 21, 2003After what felt like almost an endless amount of time being driven primarily by winds of war, the market last week seemed like it was starting to shift its attention back to economic indicators again. (Read More)
Moody's Launches New Tool for Modeling Default Metrics
April 21, 2003Moody's Investors Service has released new loan default modeling software it's calling Moody's Mortgage Metrics. The software is designed to enable residential mortgage originators and issuers of residential mortgage-backed securities to calculate credit enhancement levels with greater efficiency, using Moody's own default, prepayment and loss simulations for "A" (Read More)
Domania Product Aids Cross-Selling
April 21, 2003Domania here has launched Equity Select, a new product it says will boost response rates for direct-mail campaigns, especially for home equity lenders. The product was in beta release for a national lender in 2002, the company said. (Read More)
BankAtlantic Will Spin Off Development Subsidiary
April 21, 2003BankAtlantic Bancorp is planning a tax-free spin-off of Levitt Corp., its real estate development subsidiary, a move that would lead to Levitt becoming a separate publicly traded company. (Read More)
Banks Expect to See Strong CRE Volume
April 21, 2003Over 85% of banks are expecting to generate commercial real estate loan volume for 2003 equal or greater to their 2002 volume, according to a survey of senior loan officers at 119 banks conducted by Bridger Commercial Funding (www.bridgerfunding.com). The capital markets intermediary said that 51% of banks are reporting "somewhat tighter" underwriting and 37% are reporting unchanged standards. (Read More)
CRE Transactions at a Glance
April 21, 2003* Prudential Mortgage has completed a CMBS transaction totaling $960 million with Wells Fargo, Bear Stearns and CIBC. (Read More)
Post Properties Founder Proposes Own Slate of Directors in Board Battle
April 21, 2003John Williams, founder and director of Post Properties, has initiated a proxy effort to elect his nominees to the multifamily real estate investment trust's board of directors at Post's upcoming annual meeting. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: Phillip Nickolenko
April 21, 2003Mr. Nickolenko has joined Midland Loan Services Inc., Overland Park, Kan., as vice president of risk management. In this newly- created position, Mr. Nickolenko is responsible for evaluating Midland's business procedures for compliance with industry standards and enhancing the company's internal control and risk management processes. He will also be responsible for examining the servicing control framework of Enterprise!, Midland's browser-based commercial loan management system. (Read More)
Construction Management Software Aids Habitat
April 21, 2003Primavera Systems here has donated several software licenses to the Fort Collins, Colo. chapter of Habitat for Humanity Inc. The nonprofit agency will be utilizing the tools to build homes for low-income families faster and more efficiently. (Read More)
FTC, States Join HUD in Fairbanks Investigation
April 21, 2003The HUD Inspector General is coordinating his investigation of Fairbanks Capital Corp. with the Federal Trade Commission, as well as with state investigators in key states. (Read More)
New Mexico Enacts Tough Predatory Law
April 21, 2003New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed the New Mexico Home Loan Protection Act, the state's anti- predatory lending bill, into law. The law is being described as one of the nation's toughest. Still, representatives of New Mexico's mortgage industry are not convinced that it is a complete loss. (Read More)
Prime Financial Seeks National Presence
April 21, 2003Prime Financial Group here has launched a national branch development program. (Read More)
NYC Lending Law Remains in Doubt
April 21, 2003A new deadline for a temporary restraining order on an anti-predatory lending bill passed by the New York City Council has been set for April 29. This new deadline will almost certainly be extended until a lawsuit brought against the City Council and comptroller of New York by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the American Financial Services Association is resolved. (Read More)
Promotion Spotlight: Neil Notkin
April 21, 2003Aegis Mortgage Corp. announced that Mr. Notkin has joined its subsidiary, Aegis Funding Corp., Houston, as its president. Mr. (Read More)
Top Subprime Lenders and Their Owners
April 21, 2003(Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Lender Name 2002 B&C Prod Vol Parent/Owner Household (1) $20,704 HSBC Holdings CitiFinancial $19,546 Citigroup WaMu/Long Beach $17,183 Washington Mutual New Century $14,156 New Century Ameriquest $13,499 Ameriquest Option One $12,580 H&R Block Homecomings/GMAC $11,450 General Motors First Franklin $10,650 National City Countrywide Home Lns $9,421 Countrywide Fin. (Read More)
Buffett Likes Manufactured Housing
April 21, 2003Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the Omaha, Neb. firm controlled by Warren Buffett, may have lost its bid to buy Conseco Finance Inc., but that doesn't mean it is shying away from the manufactured housing business. (Read More)
MH Firm Issues Senior Notes
April 21, 2003Sun Communities Inc. here, a real estate investment trust that owns and operates manufacturing housing communities, has announced that it placed $150 million of 5.75% senior unsecured notes through Sun Communities Operating LP. (Read More)
No Dismissal for Complaints Against AU
April 21, 2003Class-action attorneys are being given a chance to prove that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operate their automated underwriting systems in ways that might violate federal lending laws. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac face separate lawsuits that allege different violations of federal laws. (Read More)
Baker Asks for Clarification on Policy
April 21, 2003Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., is asking the Treasury Department if the Bush administration's policies toward government-sponsored enterprises differ from the Clinton administration's GSE policies. (Read More)
Mortgage Industry Equity Composite
April 21, 2003MIEC Index: 149.6; Change: 5.5 (part 1 of 2) 4/10/03 4/17/03 Wkly % Chg 52 wk/lo Alltel (AT) 45.86 46.96 2% 35.33 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)58.62 60.44 3% 39.50 Capstead Mtg.(CMO) 11.47 11.63 1% 11.07 E-Loan Inc (EELN) 3.07 3.11 1% 0.95 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 25.72 27.39 6% 15.26 Centex Corp. (CTX) 59.19 59.59 1% 38.31 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 31.49 34.51 10% 22.50 Fannie Mae (FNM) 68.27 72.70 6% 58.40 Freddie Mac (FRE) 55.10 57.20 4% 49.53 Golden West (GDW) 72.83 74.48 2% 56.20 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 41.94 41.10 -2% 25.25 MGIC (MTG) 39.92 44.10 10% 33.60 New Century (NCEN) 31.84 34.40 8% 16.33 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 20.01 20.63 3% 16.14 PNC Finl. Svc. (PNC) 42.81 43.49 2% 32.70 Wells Fargo (WFC) 46.91 47.42 1% 41.50 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 25.87 28.38 10% 24.03 Radian Group (RDN) 34.52 37.94 10% 29.40 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 9.70 10.04 4% 7.86 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 35.95 38.34 7% 30.79 Washington Mutual (WM) 35.98 37.11 3% 27.80 (part 2 of 2) 52 wk/hi % Chg fr 52 wk/lo P/E Ratio Alltel (AT) 56.28 33% 15.86 Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC)60.75 53% 9.31 Capstead Mtg.(CMO) 25.71 5% 2.39 E-Loan Inc (EELN) 3.28 227% 17.27 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) 38.75 79% 34.23 Centex Corp. (CTX) 59.70 56% 7.88 Fiserv, Inc (FISV) 46.57 53% 25.19 Fannie Mae (FNM) 81.98 24% 10.28 Freddie Mac (FRE) 68.00 15% 7.19 Golden West (GDW) 76.40 33% 12.16 LandAmerica Financial (LFG) 43.45 63% 5.14 MGIC (MTG) 73.60 31% 7.49 New Century (NCEN) 35.05 111% 4.96 IndyMac Bancorp (NDE) 26.89 28% 8.56 PNC Finl. Svc. (PNC) 59.17 33% 10.35 Wells Fargo (WFC) 54.84 14% 14.63 PMI Mortgage Ins. (PMI) 44.00 18% 7.48 Radian Group (RDN) 55.56 29% 8.60 NetBank, Inc (NTBK) 18.51 28% -27.88 Triad Guaranty (TGIC) 48.50 25% 11.76 Washington Mutual (WM) 39.98 33% 8.98 Notes: Household was bought out by HSBC. Last trading date was March 28, 2003. (1) % change from 52-week low. Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms
April 21, 2003B&C Stock Price Index: 130.6; Change: 6.2 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 4/17/03 Aames (AMSF) 0.35 1.90 1.15 American Business Fin. (ABFI) 6.36 15.86 12.24 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) 5.95 14.55 7.10 IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 8.16 13.48 13.08 Accredited Home Lenders (LEND) 6.99 9.75 9.51 New Century (NCEN) 16.33 35.05 34.40 Novastar (NFI) 18.01 39.93 40.00 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 2.05 7.60 3.54 Provident Financial (PFGI) 19.90 31.64 22.06 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 8.15 17.03 14.60 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN) 0.15 1.54 0.35 (part 2 of 2) Company Weekly % Chg. %Chg from 52-wk Lo P/E Ratio Aames (AMSF) 2% 229% na American Business Fin. (ABFI) 0% 92% 4.7 Advanta 'A' (ADVNA) -1% 19% na IMPAC Mortgage Holdings (IMH) 4% 60% 7.0 Accredited Home Lenders (LEND) 0% 36% 4.8 New Century (NCEN) 8% 111% 5.0 Novastar (NFI) 9% 122% 8.9 Ocwen (OCN)(*) 5% 73% na Provident Financial (PFGI) 2% 11% 9.4 Saxon Capital (SAXN) 3% 79% 15.5 Transnational Finl Network I (TFN)3% 133% na Household was bought out by HSBC. Last trading date was March 28, 2003. (*)Ocwen is a subprime subservicer. (1)% change from 52-week low. Notes: Compares Thursday's closing price to that of the 52-week low. (Read More)
Mortgage Volume Fuels $1B in Earnings
April 21, 2003Record mortgage volume translated into record income for Washington Mutual in the first quarter, with the company surpassing $1 billion in quarterly earnings for the first time. (Read More)
At a Glance: WaMu's Servicing Portfolio
April 21, 2003Home loan balance: $777 billion MSR valuation: $5.21 billion* Average coupon rate: 6.66%* Average servicing fee: 38 basis points* NOTE: Data refer to MSRs on WaMu's $592 billion of loans serviced for others. (Read More)
GA Bill 'Hurts Good Lenders'
April 21, 2003As Comptroller of the Currency John Hawke Jr. mulls over a request to pre-empt the Georgia anti-predatory lending law, he is making it quite clear that he believes the Georgia law, as well as similar laws in other states, is reducing the availability of legitimate subprime credit. (Read More)
People
April 21, 2003FLORIDA West Palm Beach-Mortgage Connect announced that it has named Joe Kelly to the position of vice president and director of application development. (Read More)
(back to top)
April 28, 2003
First Quarter Volume Nearly $900B
April 28, 2003In the fourth quarter of last year, residential lenders came close to cracking the $1 trillion mark, but it appears that first-quarter production likely will fall shy of $900 billion. (Read More)
FHLBs Tout Registry Trial
April 28, 2003The Federal Home Loan Banks are rallying around a compromise that would set up a three-year trial to test how registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission might work. (Read More)
'02 HE Overdues Down Slightly
April 28, 2003While delinquency rates on home equity and subprime mortgage loans remain relatively low, at least two rating agencies are seeing evidence of deterioration in the performance of loans made since the second half of 1999 and 2000. (Read More)
FNF 'Company-in-a-Box'
April 28, 2003How easy is it to become a mortgage banker? It's so easy that anyone can purchase a "mortgage-company-in-a- box" system and be up in running in a couple of months. (Read More)
Fannie Taking Share From Freddie
April 28, 2003Analysts and investors are taking note of a rare strategic divergence between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in recent months, which has led to a surge in Fannie Mae's market share at the expense of its rival. (Read More)
CMG Buying RBC Branches
April 28, 2003CMG Mortgage of California has inked a deal to buy most of the West Coast net branch operation of RBC Mortgage here, a move that will bolster its production volume by $7 billion. (Read More)
Origination Volumes in 1Q 2003
April 28, 2003(Dollars in Miliions) A Sample Lender Name Prod in 1Q '03 Prod in 1Q '02 % Change Bank of America $32,607 $17,840 82% Bell Mortgage $365 $222 64% Cherry Creek Mortgage $536 $527 2% GMAC-RFC $15,251 $10,916 40% Mortgage Investors Corp. $1,325 $523 153% Principal Residential $15,543 $10,003 55% Quicken Mortgage $2,581 $1,308 97% Ridgewood Savings $118 $94 25% Sovereign Bank $1,141 $733 56% Wells Fargo $103,084 $70,094 47% Total of Sample: $172,551 $112,260 53% Notes: Listing is alphabetical only. A final 1Q 2003 ranking will appear in May in NMN. NMN is still collecting survey data. (Read More)
At a Glance: Home Equity Charge-Offs
April 28, 2003June '01 1.81% Sept. '01 1.49% Dec '01 1.38% Mar '02 1.77% June '02 1.56% Sept. '02 1.22% Dec. '02 1.28% Source: Moody's Home Equity Index Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
GSE Market Share
April 28, 2003Fannie Mae Freddie Mac 1st Q '03 68% 32% 4th Q '02 59% 41% 1st Q '02 58% 42% Source: Freddie Mac Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Read More)
FNF and BoA Form New Companies
April 28, 2003Fidelity National Financial Inc. and Bank of America Corp. will combine their resources to create two new companies. (Read More)
Cendant Hit on Servicing Again
April 28, 2003The refinancing boom is continuing to be a mixed blessing for Cendant Mortgage here, the nation's ninth largest servicer of residential loans. (Read More)
CMBS Volume May Grow to Record Pace
April 28, 2003Total issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities this year could exceed the previous worldwide issuance record of $97.1 billion for 2001, "fueled by the brisk pace of $15.9 billion in CMBS issuance in the first quarter, preliminary estimates suggest," Prudential Real Estate Investors reports. (Read More)
FDIC Loses Suit Against Ernst & Young Over Auditing of Superior
April 28, 2003A federal judge here has dismissed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s lawsuit against Ernst & Young for its role as auditor of the failed Superior Bank FSB. (Read More)
Klein Leaves Ocwen
April 28, 2003Terry Klein, an industry veteran who joined Ocwen Technology Xchange five months ago, has left the company. (Read More)
Strength in Numbers
April 28, 2003Should the twelve Federal Home Loan Banks merge into one mammoth government-sponsored enterprise, to give it the same kind of heft as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? We agree with Dean Schulz, president of the San Francisco district bank, who in a recent letter told his members the changeover is inevitable, even though he himself didn't want it to happen. (Read More)
Still Alarm Over the LIHTC
April 28, 2003Mr. Harvey was a member of the congressionally appointed, bipartisan Millennium Housing Commission. His op-ed on the tax- exempt dividend proposal on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is presented as our Open Forum. (Read More)
Looking at Whether Market Fears Outweigh Reassurances
April 28, 2003As we've learned via the war-driven trading patterns that dominated the market a good part of this year, fear can be one of the major catalysts in terms of trading activity. (Read More)
FiLogix Buys Basis100's Canadian Biz
April 28, 2003In a move that will serve to further focus Basis100 here on the U.S. (Read More)
E*Trade Earns $21 Million in 1Q 2003
April 28, 2003E*Trade Group Inc. reported net income of $21 million, or $0.06 per share, for the first quarter of 2003, up from a net loss of $270 million, or $0.78 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. On the mortgage lending side, the company generated a record $2.5 billion in direct retail mortgage originations during the quarter and secured an additional $1.2 billion in the pipeline at the quarter's end. (Read More)
Monetrics Offers Credit Management
April 28, 2003Monetrics Inc., a decision technology company here, is launching a Credit Report Management Module targeted to the lender community. (Read More)
FASB Now Requiring More Disclosure on Discounted Impaired Credits
April 28, 2003The Financial Accounting Standards Board has signed off on a new accounting regime for purchased mortgages and other loans that will require more disclosures about impaired credits that are acquired at a discount. (Read More)
Overseas Investors Add Liquidity to U.S. Market
April 28, 2003International considerations are playing an increasing role in the fate of the U.S. mortgage and debt markets, speakers at The Bond Market Association's annual meeting on April 10 indicated. (Read More)
Australian Bank to Shed Mortgage Assets
April 28, 2003AMP has entered into agreements to sell A$2.8 billion (about $1.7 billion) in New Zealand mortgages and Australian and New Zealand property finance loan assets in line with the restructuring strategy AMP Banking announced in late 2002. (Read More)