HomeBanc Plans to Give Up REIT Status

HomeBanc Corp., an Atlanta-based mortgage lender that operates under a real estate investment trust structure, says it expects to give up that status in 2007 in large part because of adverse market conditions."This decision will enable the organization to preserve book value in the short-term and to retain future earnings to grow book value in the long-term," said Patrick S. Flood, HomeBanc's chairman and chief executive officer. "In addition, our board of directors continues to consider and evaluate a wide range of strategic options, all geared to maximizing shareholder value." Under generally accepted accounting principles, HomeBanc recorded a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $2.4 million ($0.04 per share) for the third quarter, compared with a loss of $783,000 ($0.01 per share) in the third quarter of 2005. Net gain on sale of mortgage loans for HomeBanc fell to 113 basis points in the most recent quarter from 144 bps a year earlier. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.homebanc.com.