The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago's "Mortgage Partnership Finance" program appears to be doing well. Or is it? MPF originations totaled $6.1 billion in the third quarter (thanks to refis, no doubt) and outstandings are ready to crack $35 billion. But there appears to be some dissention among the ranks, the "ranks" meaning other participating FHLBs. According to this Monday's edition of National Mortgage News, the FHLB-Atlanta, an active participant in MPF, is creating its own program and other FHLBs may follow suit, sources say. Technically, Atlanta will still offer MPF to its thrift and bank members, but some say it's just a matter of time before it bolts the program entirely. One observer familiar with MPF, says Atlanta's departure is "significant in terms of politics." He says there are differing opinions among FHLB presidents in regard to how much control Chicago exerts over the program. He predicts that other FHLBs that might follow Atlanta's lead include Boston, Dallas and maybe New York. Stay tuned...
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Subprime giant Household International is paying almost $500 million to settle predatory lending allegations levied at the company. By now that's old news, but some small- to medium-sized correspondents that sell to Household are wondering what it means for them. "We sell closed loans to them and I'm concerned about their pricing," said one source. The source is afraid that if Household's cost of funds increases, then Household will wind up paying less to the companies it buys loans from...
Household's stock, by the way, came back nicely this past week, climbing to over $30 (from a recent low of almost $20), but late in the week it was getting hit again...
Fixed-rate loans rule the market, right? Sure, but some firms are already busy diversifying their product offerings nonetheless. Principal Residential Mortgage executive John Baymiller says his shop is now doing a nice little business in LIBOR ARMs. "It's about 15% of our business now," said Mr. Baymiller...
We're starting to hear good things from brokers about MGIC's "E-Magic" website. One Long Island broker told us he uses it all the time in dealing with his customers...
IN CASE YOU MISSED: National Australia Bank of Melbourne took a bath on its purchase of U.S. mortgage giant HomeSide Lending, right? So why would it be interested in making a bid on London-based Abbey National plc , a huge player in the mortgage market over there? Perhaps, for the same reason GE is making inroads in subprime lending in the U.K.: less regulation...
AND FINALLY: According to mortgage PR maven John Lewis, over the past 60 days, 1,249 domain names with the word "mortgage" in its address have NOT been renewed by its owners. Could this be the sign of a top in the origination market?
Don't forget: the 89th annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association begins on Sunday in Chicago.
