B&C Volumes Up Almost 30% in '05

Subprime funders originated a record $809 billion in home mortgages in 2005, a 28% increase from the level of the year before, according to newly released figures from the Quarterly Data Report.Almost one in every four mortgages originated in the United States is now subprime- (or nonprime-) related, QDR found. (QDR is published by National Mortgage News a SourceMedia company.) Lenders of all stripes originated $3.29 trillion in home loans in 2005, the industry's second-best year ever, according to QDR. The results are somewhat distorted because subprime firms are increasingly funding other types of nonconforming credits that are not A-minus to D in quality. These other loan types include interest-only loans, payment-option adjustable-rate mortgages, and stated-income loans.