Loan Think

National Mortgage News is putting the finishing touches on its brand-new "Loan OfficerCompensation and Production Report," a new database/white paper on LOs. The product includes adatabase of close to 1,000 LOs. For more information contact: Elizabeth.Washington@SourceMedia.com…

It seems as though disasters bring out the best in Americans. Down in Baton Rouge where the housing stock isin (mostly) decent shape, speculators are buying up available homes like they're going out of style. Unity Mortgageof Atlanta, which has an office in Baton Rouge, says its loan officers have been approached by Realtors that haveinvestors who are looking to buy multiple homes and need financing -- zero-down financing that is. Unity doesn'twant any part of it, company president Jack Quan told National Mortgage News. For the fullstory see Monday's edition of NMN Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809…

Will the human and economic calamity caused by Hurricane Katrina force the Federal Reserve to stop—atleast for a little while—its interest rate hikes? It's hard to say but some speculators are placing their betsthat the short-term hikes are over. This could be good news for residential lenders that have seen their profitmargins squeezed. As we went to press, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 4.03%…

Interest-only loans accounted for 26% of all mortgages funded in the second quarter, according to exclusivesurvey figures compiled by National Mortgage News and its affiliate, the Alternative ProductsQuarterly Data Report . Mortgage bankers originated $213 billion in IO mortgages during the second quartercompared to $141 billion in the first. Meanwhile ARM production is at an all-time high. Don't get the AP-QDR? ContactDeartra.Todd @SourceMedia.com ...

Our hats are off to Countrywide Home Loans, which was not only the No. 1 ranked funder (once again) inthe second quarter, but it achieved a market share of 14.46% -- the first time ever that a company broke 14% sinceNational Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report began collecting origination figuresa decade ago. Using the correspondent channel, Countrywide acquired $53 billion in loans, far ahead of the No.2 ranked correspondent buyer, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Now, can Countrywide get to 20%?...

Well, it's finally ready: National Mortgage News' new "Loan Origination Systems Software"report. The new LOS research report gives detailed information on what lenders think of LOS systems and what vendorsthink as well. For more details on this product e-mail Elizabeth.Washington

This just in: Credit Suisse First Boston has extended the expiration date on its option to buy subservicerSelect Portfolio Servicing. The option to buy SPS -- formerly known as Fairbanks Capital -- was originallyset to expire on July 31...

It seems the old gang at Cohane Rafferty Securities, a once - prominent deal maker in mortgage land,is drifting away. Cohane managing director Ed Elanjian recently joined Lehman Brothers' AuroraLoan Services. (Cohane was bought by Lehman a few years back.) Also departing: Tom Donatacci who returnsto GMAC Mortgage, hence, he came. See upcoming stories in National Mortgage Newsand on MortgageWire…

I caught the last two hours of HUD's "public" RESPA forum on Thursday. Here's a few takeaways thatdidn't quite fit in the stories published on MortgageWire and National Mortgage News:lenders cannot guarantee escrow amounts and partial interest payments prior to closing because most of them don'tknow what this cost will be -- especially if the closing date keeps moving; public interest lawyers want the consumerto have the option of comparison shopping but no one is in agreement on how to do it; Section 8, the anti-kickbackprovision, is needed to help consumers but also is a deterrent to developing a one-price settlement package; theNational Association of Mortgage Brokers does not support packaging and believes fraud occurs most oftenwhen there is a one-price package offered; few in the industry support a "black box" concept of a one-pricepackage. And that's not all. One lender told me that he is hardly a fan of consumer interest attorneys and believesthey have no clue about what they're talking about because they've never closed a loan in their lives. During theforum reporters were put in a separate room to watch the meeting via closed-circuit TV, but the agency did nothave a master list of participants so it was hard to identify all the speakers. In one audience shot, I thoughtI saw GSE critic Bert Ely, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't him. For the full story, read NMN. Don'tsubscribe? Call: 800 221-1809…

The general media is going ga-ga over interest-only loans and not exactly in a good way. Are these loans goodor bad for consumers? The Mortgage Bankers Association and many lenders we know have taken the positionthat the loans are just fine as long as they are properly underwritten. Still, some might consider IOs a bit ofa fad. Time will tell but while we're on the subject of lending fads, we dug up some old tables NationalMortgage News published on another loan fad -- the 125% high LTV mortgage. Remember that once hot product?Back in 1998 the top high LTV lenders in the nation were FirstPlus Financial, Empire Funding, AMAXIMISLending, Life Bank and Master Financial. Now, how many readers can tell me which of these shopsare still around? Hint: Life is (technically speaking) still around but under a different name. Send an e-mailif know the answer...