Not only is Aegis Mortgage shutting its home-equity division, but the lender is plagued by $100 millionin early payment defaults. A memo provided to National Mortgage News spells out the current stateof affairs at the Cerberus Capital-owned Aegis. Cerberus, by the way, also controls Residential CapitalCorp., the parent of GMAC. There's also talk that Cerberus will whittle down, further, the price ithopes to pay for Option One Mortgage Corp., which could spell trouble for H&R Block, itsowner. To view the full exclusive story on Aegis, see the Monday edition of National Mortgage News.Don't subscribe? Call: (800) 221-1809...
If you're trying to figure out where the mortgage market is headed and what the business will look like forthe rest of the year you're in luck. NMN has just published the brand-new Mortgage Industry Directory,which ranks the nation's top 400 lenders, 300 servicers, top 85 subprime and much, much more. The book also providesa special analysis on America's subprime crisis. To order e-mail
Also now available: the brand-new Mortgage Broker Database, which ranks the nation's top 100 brokersand provides contact info for 2,000 active brokerage firms. For more info, e-mail:
According to the first quarter edition of the Quarterly Data Report, 18.76% of all subprime mortgagesare delinquent, based on unpaid principal balances. The QDR is published by NMN...
In late June, Credit Suisse predicted that 80% of subprime 2006 vintage BBB- and 70% of BBB flats wouldbe downgraded. On July 10, Moody's downgraded 399 subprime bonds issued in 2006. Nice call by CS...
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman Sheila Bair thinks the CDO market will experience moredowngrades, which will have an affect on higher rated CDO tranches. In a brief Q&A with reporters on Wednesdayat the New York Bankers Association, Ms. Bair noted that U.S banks hold "some share" of CDOs.Foreign buyers are the largest investors in CDOs, which -- among other things -- invest in subprime assets...
Freddie Mac economists expect mortgage originations to decline by 8.5% this year, due to fewer home sales,slower growth in home prices and rising interest rates. Freddie is forecasting $2.75 trillion in production. Thenew Mortgage Industry Directory predicts 2007 production of $2.4 trillion to $2.7 trillion...
Friedman Billings Ramsey on Netbank: "We are dropping coverage of NetBank due to a realignmentof resources. Our last rating is 'underperform' and our price target is $0.00, which reflects our anticipationthat book value will shrink to zero over the next two to three quarters"...
According to real estate expert Bruce Norris, California's housing downturn will be deep and long lasting,with home prices falling 15% to 30% during the next 36 to 42 months. He said the crisis reflects a perfect stormthat includes record numbers of foreclosures, a sharp decline in migration to the state, substantial increasesin unsold inventory and falling prices...
Bring on the yield-spread premiums. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed its position ina 12-year-old legal battle that lender-paid fees to mortgage brokers are proper unless consumers can prove theamount is excessive...
WASHINGTON NEWS: Because the appropriations process is crowding out other legislation, House FinancialServices Committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., says he believes passage of a Federal HousingAdministration reform bill will have to wait until Congress returns from its August recess in September. Meanwhile,the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity said it willcreate a new "Fair Lending Division" that will review mortgage lending practices throughout the nation.Mortgage attorneys start your engines.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: The Mortgage Bankers Association has named Mary Jo Sullivan senior directorof government affairs.
DATA NOTICE: The first-quarter edition of NMN's Quarterly Data Report is still available,as is the 1Q issue of the Alternative Products Quarterly Data Report. Find out which three subprimeshops managed to grow production in the first quarter. Exclusive research conducted by NMN for the QDR revealsthat lenders funded just $88 billion in subprime mortgages in 1Q. For more information on the QDR and AP-QDRe-mail
