Maybe the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago's "mortgage partnership finance" (MPF) programisn't so great after all. Consider this: second-quarter earnings at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburghplunged 82% in the second quarter to just $2.4 million. According to Pittsburgh bank president James Roy,the poor earnings reflect "accelerated premium amortization in the mortgage portfolio resulting from unprecedentedrefinancings in the low interest rate environment." At June 30, Pittsburgh held $9.8 billion in MPF assets,a stunning increase of 276% in one year. One source told National Mortgage News that the Chicagobank has had a tough time hedging MPF assets. Perhaps, the White House should also pay close attention tothe FHLBs as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...
Here's an interesting question: Dick Grasso, the head of the New York Stock Exchange, receiveda $140 million pay package, right? Then what should the man or woman who oversees Fannie and Freddie be paid? Keepin mind that the congressionally-chartered mortgage investing giants are the linchpin to the $11 trillion housingmarket. Here's a hint: it won't be $140 million. Try: $200,000, at best...
The refi business has been very, very good to him: While we're on the subject of pay, Jonathan Kempner,president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, earned $634,208 in the trade group's last fiscal year. Healso was awarded another $119,620 in "employee benefit contributions" and a $20,975 expense account.That adds up to: $774,800. Not bad...
One mortgage banker we know said that prior to the rate hike, some mortgage underwriters and processors in Californiawere asking for salaries of $100,000 and guaranteed bonuses of another $50,000, at least. Now that rates have risen,he's only offering a salary of $60,000...
A "bear trap" in the equities market is when stocks rally, investors pour in and then a few weekslater, it all reverses and then some. But what about a "false mortgage bear"? This would be when theyield on the 10-year surges (which it has) and lenders believe that refis are over. But then something happens(stocks collapse, the economy turns out be weaker than expected) and the yield on the 10-year plunges. And thatmeans: refis are back...
On Wednesday morning, Annaly Mortgage Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) was the sixth most actively tradedstock on the NYSE after it said its dividend payments would be less than some analysts had expected. Annaly isa self-advised, self-managed, real estate investment trust that owns and manages a portfolio of mortgage-backedsecurities...
What does Home Depot have to do with the mortgage business? Apparently quite a lot, according to somestock analysts. On Tuesday, shares of Home Depot fell nearly 5% after a stock downgrade highlighted concerns thatrising mortgage rates will slow the housing sector. In a nutshell: higher borrowing costs means less people willtap home equity to fix up their abodes. Goldman Sachs, in particular, reduced its rating on Home Depot to"in-line" from "outperform," citing, in part, rising mortgage rates...
SUBPRIME NEWS: Saxon Capital recently sold $980 million of securities backed by home equity loans.NovaStar Financial sold $350 million of ABS/home equity loans on Wednesday. New Century said it setanother new monthly record for loan production in August 2003. The company funded $2.9 billion in mortgage loansduring the month.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Platinum Capital Group, Irvine, Calif., a top-100 lender, has hired mortgageindustry veteran Pete Levasseur as its new president and chief operating officer. Pete replaces industryveteran Zan Hamilton. (See Monday's NMN to find out what happened.) Al Crisanty, a managerat now-defunct mortgage banker Capitol Commerce, has been named senior vice president for wholesale originationsby American Home Mortgage Holdings. AHMH just hired a slew of former CapCommers. Al will report to DonaldHenig, EVP of alternative channels at AHMH.
WASHINGTON NEWS: Will Congress pass legislation to put Fannie & Freddie under Treasury thisyear? Law makers want to leave town by mid-October so the clock is ticking. (They won't be back until January.)Meanwhile, Fannie Mae is entering the acquisition, development and construction loan market. See Monday's editionof National Mortgage News.
CORRECTION: In the last weekend's briefing, the name of Thornburg Mortgage Home executive vicepresident Joseph Badal was misspelled. Sorry about that...
MORTGAGE INFO YOU MIGHT NEED: Looking to hire? Have employment concerns? Check out the Monday Sept. 15edition of National Mortgage News, featuring a special report on industry employment.
MORTGAGE DATA: National Mortgage News has just released its new loan broker database, includinginformation on the top 400 loan brokers and information on 4,000 brokers in total. Also available: top broker producers.For information on the mortgage broker database e-mail:
