Sources say Principal Residential Mortgage (that "other" Des Moines-based mortgage giant) is apparently considering getting out of the business. A spokeswoman for the insurance company parent said the firm doesn't comment on rumors. With both Principal and Cendant Mortgage testing the M&A waters that means $256 billion in residential servicing rights are up for grabs. For more details on who else might be for sale see the Monday edition of National Mortgage News. If you don't subscribe to NMN call (800) 221-1809...
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Forget the GSE wars for a minute. (Just a minute.) An absolutely abysmal jobs report on Friday sent the yield on the 10-year Treasury spiraling down to 3.78% at one point. As NMN's Bonnie Sinnock reported Friday on MortgageWire the decline elevated prepayment-related fears among mortgage-backed securities participants and servicers but gave a boost to mortgage-related stocks. (The day before the yield was 4.029%)...
The strange thing is that home prices in several key markets (New York, Washington, among others) continue to defy gravity. This raises an interesting question: If the job market stinks who keeps buying all these new and existing houses? Is it all "move-up" business? Are the well-employed buying second homes as investments because the stock market is likely to go nowhere this year? Time will tell...
And now for the GSE Wars. It was another barn burner of a week for reporters who cover Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Here's just a taste: the nation's largest mortgage banker, Wells Fargo , slammed Fannie and Freddie for not meeting the needs of low-income homeowners (again, see Monday's NMN); Freddie's chief lobbyist Mitch Delk is on the way out; Fannie was fined by the Federal Elections Commission; eyebrows were raised when it was revealed in a Freddie proxy that ex-CEO/current consultant Greg Parseghian made almost $20 million last year; and House Financial Services committee chairman Michael Oxley said he doesn't back the idea of putting growth limits on the two. And these were just some of the bigger stories. There were more. Again, see Monday's NMN...
GMAC-RFC mortgage warehouse veteran Larry Pendleton has officially retired. Two weeks back the company threw a huge retirement bash for Larry in Bethesda, Md. Roughly, 250 well wishers attended, including Washington Mutual's warehouse chief, Frank Hattemer, who started in the business under Larry. Frank writes that, "Larry Pendleton had such a positive impact on so many people in the mortgage business. There are more people in this business that consider Larry Pendleton their mentor than anyone else I can think of." From the staff of NMN, best of luck, Larry...
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan who two weeks ago took on Fannie and Freddie (not to mention Social Security) last week warned that if China were to let its currency float immediately, it could threaten the world economy...
According to Morgan Stanley analyst Ken Posner: "Despite expectations to the contrary, interest rates have trended down. As a result, we now look for a $2 trillion mortgage market in 2004, up from our previous forecast of $1.5 trillion. Anecdotal conversations and statistical measures of pricing trends both suggest origination pricing is far more reasonable than the last bust." Morgan believes rising entry barriers, and risk management have strengthened pricing discipline...
Staten Island Bancorp and Independence Community Bank (which are merging) have finalized the sale of SIB Mortgage to Lehman Brothers. The remaining SIB offices are either under contract for sale or are in the process of being shut down. Lehman owns more mortgage companies than you can shake a stick at...
A LEGAL MATTER: A servicer is free to "force-place" terrorism insurance if the borrower refuses to get the insurance, a U.S. District Court in New York has ruled in a case initiated by Dallas-based Omni Berkshire Corp. against Wells Fargo. Kathryn O' Neall, a managing director with the Wells Fargo commercial mortgage servicing group, said she believes this is the first decision upholding the right of a servicer to force-place terrorism insurance.
WASHINGTON NEWS: Will we get a GSE regulatory bill passed this year? Senior mortgage officials whose livelihoods will be affected by such a bill say the chances (as of this writing) are 50-50. Meanwhile, The Department of Housing and Urban Development should drop its proposal for disclosing mortgage broker compensation, according to the Federal Trade Commission, because testing shows that the disclosures are confusing to consumers. The FTC conducted tests with 500 consumers and found that the broker compensation disclosures made it difficult for the consumers to identify the less expensive loan option. The National Association of Mortgage Brokers has complained that the disclosures would be confusing and unfairly single out brokers, because banks and other retail lenders wouldn't have to disclose the compensation they pay to their loan officers.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed past California Mortgage Bankers Association president John Courson as chairman of the California Housing Finance Agency. WaMu Capital Corp. , an institutional broker-dealer, has hired two industry veterans - Bob Titus and Eric Londa -- as part of its continued expansion in the capital markets business.
MORTGAGE DATA INFORMATION: National Mortgage News has just completed and published a special white paper on "15 (Mostly) Private Mortgage Firms to Keep an Eye on in 2004 & 2005." This 18-page exclusive report, which comes in a PDF format, is available for just $79 and includes summaries on some of the industry's more up and coming lenders. It provides addresses, telephone numbers and the names of key contacts at the firms. To purchase a copy or see a sample, contact Elizabeth Washington at Elizabeth.Washington
@ThomsonMedia.com or call (202) 434-0328. Also, NMN has just published the fourth quarter edition of the Quarterly Data Report. The QDR ranks the top 100 firms in many different mortgage sectors. For information contact Deartra Todd at: Deartra.Todd@ThomsonMedia.com.
MORTGAGE SURVEY NOTICE: NMN has begun conducting its full-year 2003 production and servicing survey. If you would like to participate, gaining free publicity for your institution contact Ms. Todd at Deartra.Todd@ThomsonMedia.com or call (202) 434-0320.
