Originations

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 554.1 to 545.9 on a seasonally adjusted -- and holiday-adjusted -- basis during the week ended Dec. 30, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications decreased 20.8% on the week and were down 9.9% from the level recorded a year earlier. The Purchase Index fell from 432.9 to 418.3 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index climbed from 1259.1 to 1363.2. The four-week moving average for the Purchase Index fell from 464.8 to 449.2, and the comparable average for the Refinance Index fell from 1428.9 to 1344.5. Refinancings represented 42.7% of total applications, up from 40.2% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 28.8%, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased from 6.21% to 6.15%, and points (including the origination fee) increased from 1.18 to 1.32 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the association reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Related Capital Co., a subsidiary of New York-based CharterMac, has changed its name to CharterMac Capital LLC, according to the parent company.Marc D. Schnitzler, president of CharterMac, said Related Capital has been a leader in affordable multifamily finance for over 30 years and that CharterMac "felt it was important to preserve the Related Capital name" for some period after it acquired the company in 2003. "After two years of successful operations as a subsidiary of CharterMac, we felt that it was the right time to change the Related Capital name to CharterMac Capital given CharterMac's unparalleled reputation as a leader in the multifamily finance industry," he said. The company also announced the launch of a newly designed website for CharterMac Capital, which can be found at http://www.chartermaccapital.com.

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index for November stood at 3.190%, an increase of over 11 basis points from 3.074% in October.The index is computed from the actual interest expense from the savings institution members of the Federal Home Loan District of San Francisco. For comparison purposes, the monthly average commitment rate for the one-year adjustable-rate mortgage (according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey) was 5.14% in November, up over 28 bps from 4.86% in October. In the first 11 months of the year, both COFI and the average rate for the one-year ARM rose over one percentage point. COFI stood at 2.183% in January, compared with 4.12% for the one-year ARM. However, much of the gain in the one-year ARM was from September to November, with the average rising 25 bps in October. Meanwhile, the rise in COFI has been on a more even pace, which has been touted as one of the consumer benefits of using this rate as an ARM index.

The total volume of primary new insurance written by the member companies of the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America increased by 6% in November, but the traditional segment of that total fell to its third-lowest level of 2005.Primary new insurance written in November totaled $16.96 billion, compared with just under $16 billion in October. But traditional insurance written totaled just $12.24 billion, down from $13.35 billion in October. Bulk insurance written increased from $2.6 billion in October to $4.7 billion in November. The number of applications received in November was up by over 4% from that of October, at 118,061. New pool risk written totaled $28.0 million in November. The cure/default ratio, after hitting a year-to-date low of 65.9% in October, rebounded slightly in November to 68.9%, with 34,889 cures and 50,653 defaults.

Zacks.com, the online unit of Zacks Investment Research Inc., Chicago, has spotlighted two real estate investment trust stocks listed on a Zacks "profit track" that has beaten the S&P 500 every year since 2001.The two REITs, which appear on the Zacks Growth and Income Profit Track, are New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif., and RAIT Investment Trust, Philadelphia. New Century is yielding "an impressive 18.43%," while RAIT is yielding 9.38%, Zacks reported. The Growth and Income Profit Track's returns have beaten the S&P 500's since its inception in 2001, despite the fact that it is "oriented towards longer-term and lower-risk stocks," Zacks said. The company can be found online at http://www.zacks.com.

AMB Property Corp., a San Francisco-based industrial real estate investment trust, has sold assets from one of its funds for $618 million, or $106 per square foot.The AMB Institutional Alliance Fund I was set up in 1999 as a multi-investor fund and owned 100 buildings totaling about 5.8 million square feet in 11 U.S. markets, AMB reported. Hamid R. Moghadam, AMB's chairman and chief executive officer, said the sale "allowed us to take advantage of favorable market conditions, producing an internal rate of return for our private capital investors in excess of 20%." AMB shareholders will also reap the benefit of the gain on AMB's 21% share in the fund, he added. For this share, the REIT received about $26 million in cash and one "on-tarmac" air cargo property, according to AMB. The company can be found online at http://www.amb.com.

Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida totaled 17,219 in November, an increase of 1% from the level recorded a year earlier, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.The median sales price of homes sold in November climbed to $250,500, up 31% from $191,300 in November 2004, FAR said. Among the state's larger markets, resales increased 20% in the Jacksonville metropolitan statistical area and 16% in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA, but they fell 25% in Miami, FAR reported. (Miami was hit by Hurricane Wilma in late October, curbing the sales of existing homes in November.)

An announcement by Hilton Hotels Corp., Beverly Hills, Calif., that it plans to acquire the lodging assets of Hilton International for approximately $5.71 billion has prompted Fitch Ratings to place the company's ratings on Rating Watch Negative.The all-cash transaction and the related costs will be funded with $1.2 billion of cash on hand, a new $5.5 billion credit facility, and $130 million of assumed debt, Fitch reported. The rating agency said the resulting credit profile of Hilton Hotels "will be much weaker." Affected by the action are the company's senior unsecured credit facility and senior unsecured notes, rated BBB-minus, and its commercial paper, rated B. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

KB Home is the only homebuilder named to Forbes magazine's list of "turbocharged companies," the Los Angeles-based homebuilder has announced.Quoting the magazine, KB Home said the 12 turbocharged companies from the Forbes Platinum 400 list "posted growth rates of at least 10% over the past five years in both sales and earnings per share. Over the next 12 months, security analysts think that all these companies will exceed their five-year historic average growth rates -- in both sales and earnings." KB Home said it ranked No. 63 on the Platinum 400 list, also known as America's Best Big Companies. The companies can be found online at http://www.kbhome.com and http://www.forbes.com.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 6.26% to 6.22% over the seven-day period ended Dec. 29, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.79% to 5.76%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages decreased from 5.82% to 5.79%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs declined from 5.22% to 5.15%. Fees and points averaged 0.5 of a point for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, 0.6 of a point for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages and hybrid ARMs, and 0.7 of a point for one-year ARMs. "Lower figures for the recently released Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index and lower, but still strong, Gross Domestic Product, combined with the seasonal slowdown in the housing market, led to another decline in mortgage rates this week," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist. She added that the 30-year mortgage rate averaged 5.87% in 2005, slightly above the 5.84% recorded in 2004. A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.81% and 5.23%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.19%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Existing-home sales fell for the second consecutive month in November (by 1.7%), contributing to evidence that the housing market is slowing, but at a moderate pace.The National Association of Realtors reported that November sales of single-family homes, condominiums, and cooperatives fell from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.09 million in October to 6.98 million in November -- the slowest sales pace since March. November sales confirm that housing activity has "peaked" and the market is headed for a "soft landing" thanks to moderately rising mortgage rates, said NAR chief economist David Lereah. Inventories of unsold homes rose to a five-month supply, the highest since June 2003, and price appreciation on single-family homes slowed from a 16.6% annual rate in October to 13.5% in November. The NAR report shows single-family home sales fell by 1.9% in November, while condo and co-op sales fell 0.8%. The association can be found online at http://www.realtor.org.

Three counties in western Massachusetts recorded the largest median sales price gains in the state for condominiums and single-family homes through November, according to The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of real estate and financial data.Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire counties placed first, second, and third for condos, with median price rises of 28.87%, 18.95%, and 18.24%, respectively, the company reported. For single-family homes, Hampden ranked third, with a 13.33% rise, Hampshire was fourth, with 10.89%, and Franklin finished fifth, with 10.27%. "Clearly these numbers show that the housing prices in western Massachusetts have benefited from the high-priced Boston and eastern market," said Alan Pasnik, a data analyst for The Warren Group. "As people move out west to find better housing deals, the market prices have heated up." The company can be found online at http://www.thewarrengroup.com.

Pulte Homes Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has announced the sale of its Mexican homebuilding operations to a group of investors led by affiliates of Walton Street Capital, a Chicago-based real estate investment company.The terms of the deal were not disclosed. "With the sale of our Mexico homebuilding operation, we have effectively exited our international business, allowing us to focus all our resources toward further expanding Pulte's share of the U.S. housing market," said Roger A. Cregg, Pulte's executive vice president and chief financial officer. Pulte Mexico, which began operations in 1994, was on track to deliver more than 7,000 homes in 2005, the company said. The Walton affiliates were advised by Banc of America Securities and Hipotecaria Su Casita. The companies can be found online at http://www.pulte.com and http://www.waltonst.com.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 594.6 to 554.1 on a seasonally adjusted -- and holiday-adjusted -- basis during the week ended Dec. 23, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications decreased 17.0% on the week but were up 3.1% from the level recorded a year earlier. The Purchase Index fell from 453.1 to 432.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index declined from 1418.1 to 1259.1. The four-week moving average for the Purchase Index fell from 475.6 to 464.8, and the comparable average for the Refinance Index fell from 1485.2 to 1428.9. Refinancings represented 40.2% of total applications, down from 41.7% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 32.5%, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased from 6.22% to 6.21%, and points (including the origination fee) decreased from 1.19 to 1.18 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the association reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

United Dominion Realty Trust Inc., Richmond, Va., has announced that the initial purchaser of a private placement of $200 million of convertible senior notes has exercised its option to buy an additional $50 million.The name of the purchaser was not disclosed. The real estate investment trust said the 4.0% notes are due 2035. The net proceeds of the sale of the additional notes will be used to repay debt under its unsecured revolving bank credit facility, United Dominion said. The apartment REIT can be found online at http://www.udrt.com.

Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Dallas, has reported the closing of a $100 million warehouse facility with UBS Real Estate Investments Inc.The new three-year facility, to be secured by hotel loans, bears interest (with grid pricing) ranging from 150 to 275 basis points over the London interbank offered rate. The grid pricing will be based on the advance rate on the borrowing and the loan collateral type, Ashford said. The new facility replaces a $45.6 million mezzanine loan warehouse facility with an interest rate of LIBOR plus 625 bps that was paid off in November. In connection with refinancing the facility, the REIT said it expects to incur a one-time expense of approximately $1.1 million in the fourth quarter for the writeoff of unamortized loan costs and early exit fees. Ashford can be found online at http://www.ahtreit.com.

Best-selling author David Bach and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage will kick off the first year of The Great American Homeowner Challenge on New Year's Eve in New York's Times Square.Representatives of Wells Fargo and FinishRich Media (Mr. Bach's company) will hand out promotional materials in Times Square on the Challenge, a three-year financial literacy campaign. Wells Fargo said Mr. Bach's forthcoming book, The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner, encourages renters, buyers, and current homeowners to view homeownership as the first step toward achieving financial freedom. The companies can be found online at http://www.finishrich.com and http://www.wellsfargo.com/challenge.

Newcastle Investment Corp., a New York-based real estate investment trust, has closed a collateralized debt obligation issued by Newcastle CDO VII Ltd. and Newcastle CDO VII Corp.Newcastle said it issued $462.8 million of investment-grade debt to finance a newly acquired pool of real estate securities and real-estate-related loans. The company said the final collateral value is expected to total about $525 million upon completion, of which 67% will be commercial mortgage-backed securities, 17% will be real-estate-related asset-backed securities, and 16% will be senior unsecured debt of REITs. Newcastle can be found online at http://www.newcastleinv.com.

Brandywine Realty Trust, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., has closed on a $600 million unsecured revolving line of credit with a group of 19 lenders.The real estate investment trust said the facility has a four-year term, with a one-year extension option. The line of credit is priced at 80 basis points above the London interbank offered rate, based on the company's current credit rating. The syndicate was led by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Banc of America Securities LLC. The REIT can be found online at http://www.brandywinerealty.com.

Liberty Property Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Malvern, Pa., has obtained a new $600 million unsecured revolving credit facility to replace its previous $450 million facility.Borrowings under the four-year facility will bear interest at 65 basis points above the London interbank offered rate, based on the company's current credit rating, the REIT said. The facility was syndicated to a group of 22 U.S. and foreign banks. Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase are the co-leaders of the syndicate. The commercial REIT can be found online at http://www.libertyproperty.com.