The Mortgage Industry Directory is finally out and available, as is the electronicversion of the book, the eMID. The book provides rankings, profiles, and contact information on the nation's top400 lenders, top 100 brokers, top 300 servicers and much more. The book has one-line rankings on 450 lenders. Theselenders, combined, funded $3.87 trillion in 2003. (More firms are available in the eMID.) Also includedis a "Years in Review" analysis of last year and the current year, plus a look at what trends are "in"and "out." For more information about the book contact Deartra Todd at (202) 434-0320...
The industry continues to talk about Washington Mutual and what the future may holdfor that once high flying mortgage lender and servicer. According to the new soon-to-be released version of QuarterlyData Report, WaMu has slipped off its pedestal as the nation's largest servicer. Both Wells Fargo Home andCountrywide have surpassed it. And WaMu continues to let its servicing portfolio run off. Some industryofficials are starting to whisper more and more about a possible sale. Mega bank HSBC Holdings, which hasa large presence in the prime and subprime sectors, is being mentioned once again as a possible buyer...
Recently, while speaking to analysts, Countrywide chief Angelo Mozilo had this to sayabout servicing consolidation: "You haven't seen anything yet in servicing consolidation. It will be massive"...
Is the construction boom over? Adding to the anxious mood on Wall Street this past week wasan economic report that said outlays for U.S. construction fell unexpectedly in June as spending on housing droppedfor the first time in 16 months...
Struggling online lender E-Loan eked out a small profit of $270,000 in the second quarter.In a recent analyst note investment banker Sandler O'Neill reiterated its "sell" rating on thecompany. But late last week Thomas Weisel Partners imitated coverage on E-Loan with an "outperform"recommendation. Go figure...
What slowdown? Non-conforming lender First Franklin originated $3.56 billion in loansin June -- the highest dollar-volume month in the company's 23-year lending history...
PMI Mortgage Insurance has introduced a new, "Premium Advantage" product that allows consumers to finance their mortgage insurance premiums up to 100% loan-to-value (LTV). Previously,borrowers were able to finance their mortgage insurance premiums up to 95% LTV...
WASHINGTON NEWS: Congressionally-chartered mortgage giant Freddie Mac is forminga political action committee. (See Monday's National Mortgage News for more details.) Both FannieMae and Freddie Mac were out in force (throwing parties) at the Democratic convention in Boston and both planon having a presence at the Republican convention in New York. There have been rumors that if Sen. John Kerrybecomes president (if you believe the media the race is a dead heat) Fannie CEO Franklin Raines will becomeTreasury secretary. Mr. Raines, OMB director in the Clinton Administration, is a generous political donor.He recently gave $1,000 to Barack Obama, who spoke at the DNC. Mr. Obama is running for a Senate seat inIllinois. If elected will he get a spot on the Senate Banking Committee?
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Freddie Mac has hired Eugene M. McQuade, a former FleetBostonexecutive to be its new president and chief operating officer. Paul Peterson, a 15-year veteran of thecompany, is stepping down. Eric S. Burgoon has been named president of mortgage banking at Republic Bank,Farmington Hills, Mich. Nicolas V. Chater has been named chief financial officer of HomeBanc MortgageCorp., Atlanta. LIME Financial has named Wilson McDonald senior vice president and corporatecounsel. RBC Mortgage has appointed Marshall Field divisional manager of the western U.S. NancyWood Hainey has been named Mid Atlantic regional manager, and Kurt Bokenkamp Southwest regional manager.
MORTGAGE DATA/RESEARCH NOTICE: The new NMN Loan Broker Database, recently updated,is now available. The new LBD has rankings on the top loan brokerage firms in 2003 -- plus top producers, includingcontact information. Roughly, 3,000 active and confirmed mortgage brokers are in the database. For more informationcontact:
@ThomsonMedia.com
