Mozilo: Mortgage Volume Down 35%

Mortgage volumes are off 35% since May, according to one of the top executives in the industry, but there are a couple of silver linings for the business if interest rates continue to climb.Angelo Mozilo, chairman and chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., told the Western Regional Mortgage Lenders Conference Tuesday that while the last three years have been "a hell of a run" for mortgages, "people born in the refi boom are going to die in the refi bust." But he pointed to the purchase market, which he said has moved steadily up for the past 30 years, and told the conference, being held in Blaine, Wash., that immigrant, minority, and low-income business will continue to buoy purchases over the next 10 years. "Keep an eye on the fundamentals" like building Realtor and homebuilder relationships, he said. And to originators that have done only refis for the past three years and not learned the purchase market, the always colorful executive said, "simply put, you're dead meat."