Getting sick of the refi boom? You may not be alone. The 10-year Treasury (which most mortgages are pegged to) fell to 3.74% at one point this past week. Some loan brokers who post to National Mortgage News' "GrapeVine" website say they are weary of all the "newbies" who are entering the business (thanks to refis). One poster, who calls herself McC notes: "I cannot wait until this (refi) wave ends. Too many people who do not belong in this business are currently cutting into my income with their bait-and-switch techniques and their typical 'no problem' response to any potential applicant that comes across their desk. I wrote more loans when the rates were 12% than I currently do"...
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Washington Mutual's purchase of what's left of HomeSide's receivables is set to close Oct. 1. It's anticipated that WaMu will add about $130 billion to $131 billion in receivables to its servicing machine. Industry sources note that one thing that WaMu likes about HomeSide is its custom-built servicing platform. WaMu currently uses Alltel, the No. 1 ranked servicing bureau/software firm. Sources note that there are no current plans by WaMu to bolt Alltel...
Mortgage bankers may not be familiar with Agiletron Technologies, but they may soon. Its new president Mike Wittman, who worked for The Credit Network for 22 years, says the company is trying to make a big push into the residential finance sector. Agiletron offers IT solutions for mortgage bankers. The firm's chief executive and co-founder is Allan Guo. The company has programmers in both the U.S. and China. According to Mr. Wittman, mortgage bankers spend about $1.2 billion a year on software...
Subprime giant Household Finance saw its stock hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday, $27.66. It now has a price-to-earnings ratio of about 7. UBS Warburg recently cut its price target to $41 from $54. Several mortgage stocks were hammered this past week, Fannie Mae and MGIC in particular. (See National Mortgage News issue of Sept. 23 for the reasons why)...
United Guaranty has a product called "ACUFactor," which measures geographic market risk for 200 metropolitan statistical areas. MSAs with improved market conditions include Fresno and Modesto, Calif., and New Haven, Conn., among others...
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Freddie Mac has a duration gap of zero while Fannie Mae has one of negative 14 months. As Fannie moves to rebalance the maturities of its assets and liabilities, will it buy more Treasuries and/or derivatives? Stay tuned. On Sept. 18, Fannie's stock dropped to a 52-week low of $63.90. It now has a price-to-earnings ratio of just 11.
AND FINALLY: Sick of hearing about a potential housing bubble? Rest assured, according to the National Association of Home Builders , U.S. homeowners have an equity cushion of $7.5 trillion. Of course, consumers have lost about $5 trillion in the stock market the past two years.
