Originations

Digital Realty Trust Inc., San Francisco, has announced an amendment to its credit facility that increases its total capacity from $210 million to $350 million and reduces the applicable margin on advances by 12.5 basis points.The maturity of the facility was extended by one year. The company said it increased the amount of credit available under its foreign currency subfacility from $100 million to $150 million. Citigroup acted as agent for the facility, which is held by a seven-bank syndicate. Digital Realty, a real estate investment trust that owns, acquires, and manages technology-related real estate, can be found online at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com.

Class M of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-C1, has been downgraded from CCC to C by Fitch Ratings.In addition, Fitch upgraded one class and affirmed the ratings on 12 others in the transaction. The downgrade reflects a change in loss expectations and an increase in specially serviced loans in the transaction, of which there are now five, the rating agency said. Losses are expected on three of the loans that represent 1.9% of the pool. The losses are expected to deplete the nonrated class N and "significantly" affect class M, Fitch said. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Zacks.com has given Flagstar Bancorp Inc., a major mortgage lender based in Troy, Mich., its #5 (Strong Sell) rank.Zacks, the online component of Zacks Investment Research, Chicago, said Flagstar has fallen short of earnings expectations for five consecutive quarters. It recently reported third-quarter earnings of $0.15 per share, far below analysts' expectations of $0.42 per share, Zacks.com said. "Three of the six covering analysts reacted by cutting their full-year forecasts," Zacks said. "The new consensus forecast for 2005 profits of $1.33 per share is 47 cents below the level of two months ago." The online research company can be found on the Web at http://www.zacks.com.

Newkirk Realty Trust Inc., a Boston-based real estate investment trust, has announced the pricing of an initial public offering of 15 million shares of common stock at $16 per share.Newkirk said the joint book-running managers for the IPO are Bear, Stearns & Co. and Credit Suisse First Boston. The underwriters have been granted an option to buy up to 2.25 million additional shares to cover any overallotments. The REIT is the general partner of The Newkirk Master Limited Partnership, which owns triple-net-leased properties and other real estate assets.

Helped by an increase in the amount of bulk primary new mortgage insurance written, September was the best month of the year for the private mortgage insurers.According to the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, the member companies of the trade group wrote $23.9 billion of primary new insurance during the month, up 7.7% from $22.2 billion in August. In September 2004, the total was $19.2 billion. However, the mortgage insurers wrote less traditional primary new insurance in September. In August, these firms did almost $16 billion in such business, but it fell to $14.7 billion in September. Bulk insurance increased from $6.2 billion to $9.2 billion. Application volume decreased slightly, from 156,899 in August to 156,630 in September. New pool risk written rose from a revised figure of $40.6 million in August to $81.8 million the following month. September's cure/default ratio, after improving in August, fell back to 72.1%. There were 32,221 cures and 44,711 defaults during the month. MICA can be found online at http://www.micanews.com.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 679.1 to 646.7 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Oct. 28, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications decreased 5.2% on the week and were down 15.2% from the level recorded a year earlier. The Purchase Index fell from 466.4 to 437.6 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index declined from 1916.8 to 1862.8. The four-week moving average for the Purchase Index fell 1.9%, from 478.4 to 469.4, and the comparable average for the Refinance Index fell 3.0%, from 2031.2 to 1970.1. Refinancings represented 43.6% of total applications, up from 42.5% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 29.4%, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased from 6.06% to 6.21%, and points (including the origination fee) increased from 1.21 to 1.27 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, has signed an agreement under which its New York-based real estate investment banking subsidiary, Eastdil Realty LLC, will purchase Secured Capital Corp., a privately held real estate investment banking firm based in Los Angeles.The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The combined company will be known as Eastdil Secured. "The combination of Secured Capital and Eastdil will create complementary 'economies of skill' to help ensure superior transaction results for our clients," said David Hoyt, senior executive vice president of Wells Fargo's Wholesale Banking Group. "Their combined expertise will cover every capital investment transaction business line and every product type in the institutional commercial real estate industry." Wells Fargo can be found online at http://www.wellsfargo.com.

The National Home Equity Mortgage Association has announced that it is lending support to the effort by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers to provide relief for mortgage professionals whose businesses and homes were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.NHEMA said it is encouraging its members to contribute to the NAMB Hurricane Relief Fund. The association said its support is "part of an unprecedented effort by nonprime mortgage lenders, brokers, and the entire mortgage industry to help Katrina victims." NHEMA can be found on the Web at http://www.nhema.org.

California households at the state median income of $54,140 fell $73,810 short of the qualifying income needed to buy a home in the third quarter at the state median price of $545,910, according to the California Association of Realtors.CAR's Homebuyer Income Gap Index is a quarterly analysis of the difference between the median household income and the qualifying income needed to purchase a median-priced, single-family home for the state and for select regions within the state. The HIGI for California increased 33.7% in the third quarter compared with that of a year earlier, when the gap stood at $55,220, the median household income was $52,940, and qualifying income to purchase a median-priced home at $461,850 was $108,150. According to CAR, the San Francisco Bay Area had the highest gap in the state at $100,670, where potential homebuyers had a median household income of $68,520 but needed a qualifying income of $169,180 to buy a median-priced home at $721,850. The Los Angeles-based association can be found online at http://www.car.org.

Trizec Properties Inc., a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, has announced a modification and extension of its $750 million unsecured credit facility with a syndicate of 25 lenders.The facility may be increased to $1 billion through an accordion feature and has been extended 16 months to mature in October 2008, Trizec said. The facility requires interest-only payments, with an interest rate linked to the company's total leverage. The initial interest rate is expected to be 105 basis points above the London interbank offered rate. The facility was jointly arranged by Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Banc of America Securities LLC. Trizec can be found online at http://www.trz.com.

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index is poised to break the 3% barrier, a level it has not exceeded since December 2001.According to the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, the index for September stood at 2.972%, up 10 basis points from August's 2.870. Given that the Federal Reserve Board is likely to continue its pattern of 25-basis-point hikes in the federal funds rate, it is likely that COFI will continue to rise and surge over the 3% level. COFI is a weighted average of the cost of the money that thrifts in California, Arizona, and Nevada use to originate mortgage loans. COFI stood at 3.074% for December 2001, during a period of rapid declines in the index.

Genworth Financial Inc., Richmond, Va., has announced the renaming of seven of its mortgage insurance service companies in order to incorporate the Genworth name.The companies are as follows: GE Mortgage Holdings LLC, renamed Genworth Mortgage Holdings LLC; General Electric Mortgage Insurance Corp., renamed Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp.; GE Residential Mortgage Insurance Corp. of North Carolina, renamed Genworth Residential Mortgage Insurance Corp. of North Carolina; GE Mortgage Contract Services Inc., renamed Genworth Financial Services Inc.; General Electric Mortgage Insurance Corp. of North Carolina, renamed Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp. of North Carolina; General Electric Home Equity Insurance Corp. of North Carolina, renamed Genworth Home Equity Insurance Corp.; and GE Mortgage Reinsurance Corp. of North Carolina, renamed Genworth Mortgage Reinsurance Corp. Michael D. Fraizer, Genworth Financial's chairman and chief executive officer, said the renamings are "the first phase in rebranding many of our key operating companies over the next year or so." Genworth Financial can be found online at http://www.genworth.com.

ECC Capital Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Irvine, Calif., has announced that it will reduce its previously reported loss for the first half of 2005 by $6 million to $8 million.ECC, a REIT that originates nonconforming mortgage loans, took a $41.38 million loss (primarily on derivatives) in the first half. ECC said it will be restating its earnings for the period primarily as a result of revisions in the value of derivatives used to hedge its funding costs, which are based on the London interbank offered rate. The company said it plans to release its earnings for the third quarter (and the first nine months of the year) after the market close on Nov. 10.

Lenders closed a record 43,131 federally insured reverse mortgage loans in the federal fiscal year ended Sept. 30, up from the previous year's record of 37,829, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association.It was the fifth consecutive year of record originations for such mortgages, NRMLA reported. The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, which is insured by the Federal Housing Administration, accounts for about 90% of all reverse mortgage loans made in the United States. According to NRMLA, the top market for HECM production in fiscal 2005 was Los Angeles, where 3,915 loans were closed -- followed by Santa Ana, Calif., 3,067; Sacramento, Calif., 2,161; San Francisco, 2,040; and Denver, 1,515. The association said volume growth could have been much higher were it not for the fact that there are significant delays in some parts of the country in scheduling mandatory counseling. "Put simply, there aren't enough counselors to handle the high volume of requests," said Peter Bell, president of NRMLA. The association can be found online at http://www.reversemortgage.org.

Franklin Street Properties Corp., Wakefield, Mass., has announced a decision by its board of directors to postpone consideration of a possible acquisition or merger of five real estate investment trusts.FSP noted that it has used its stock to acquire sponsored REITs in the past, but said its stock is currently undervalued and this makes it difficult "to craft a beneficial transaction at this time." The five sponsored REITs that FSP had been considering for possible acquisition are FSP Willow Bend Office Center Corp., FSP Innsbrook Corp., FSP 380 Interlocken Corp., FSP Blue Lagoon Drive Corp., and FSP Eldridge Green Corp. FSP, a commercial REIT, can be found online at http://www.franklinstreetproperties.com.

Arlington Hospitality Inc., a hotel development and management company based in Arlington Heights, Ill., has announced the execution of an asset purchase agreement to sell substantially all its assets to Sunburst Hospitality Development Inc., Silver Spring, Md., for approximately $21.3 million.The purchase price will include cash of $6.25 million and the assumption of the mortgage debt on the hotel assets to be purchased, said Arlington, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Under the agreement, Sunburst will buy Arlington's rights in certain contracts, leases, and agreements, including the development agreement, royalty-sharing agreement, and the individual hotel franchise agreements between certain debtors and affiliates of the Cendant Corp. The asset purchase agreement is subject to the bidding procedures of a bankruptcy proceeding for Arlington and its subsidiaries that is pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The Credit Union National Association and 61 member institutions have committed at least $1 billion to fund a low-income, first-time homebuyer program offering below-market-rate ARMs.At a Monday news conference, CUNA said it hopes to have another $1 billion in affordable housing commitments by year-end and $10 billion over five years. The Home Loan Payment Relief initiative -- geared toward borrowers with household incomes at or below the median -- will provide 3/1 adjustable-rate mortgages at a 100-basis-point discount. Based on current market rates, the HLPR loan is being offered at 4.5%. CUNA said consumers are required to put at least 3% down. Rate adjustments are capped at 1% a year and five points over the life of the loan. CUNA said participating CUs are "voluntarily bearing the cost" of the below-market loans. CUNA can be found on the Web at http://www.cuna.org.

JER Investors Trust Inc., McLean, Va., has priced $416 million (par value) of collateralized debt obligations to be issued by two subsidiaries of the company.JER Investors, a real estate investment trust that originates and acquires commercial real estate structured finance products, said the two issuing subsidiaries are JER CRE CDO 2005-1 Ltd. and JER CRE CDO 2005-1 LLC. The CDO will issue privately placed notes totaling $276 million, and the company said it will initially retain a portion of the BBB-minus rated notes, all the non-investment-grade notes, and all the preferred shares. The CDO also includes a ramp facility that will finance up to $46 million (par value) of additional collateral securities. The company said the weighted average cost of borrowing for the investment-grade bonds is about 83 basis points over applicable swap rates and the London interbank offered rate.

U.S. industrial real estate markets experienced "measured successes" in the third quarter, but there are "storm clouds on the horizon," according to Colliers International, a Boston-based global partnership of commercial real estate firms.The markets absorbed 55.6 million square feet of industrial space in the quarter, compared with 56.6 million square feet in the second quarter, Colliers said. "While we remain relatively upbeat about the national warehouse market, there are storm clouds on the horizon," said Ross Moore, the organization's vice president and director of research. "Energy price spikes, industrial output, increasing housing inventory, and rising interest rates are all cause for concern." Colliers can be found online at http://www.colliers.com.

The ratings of Doral Financial Corp., a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based mortgage lender, and of Doral Bank have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.Doral's long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings were downgraded from C/D to D. Doral Bank's long-term nondeposit obligations were downgraded from BBB-minus to BB, and its short-term nondeposit obligations were downgraded from F3 to B. The ratings remain on Rating Watch Negative. The actions followed an announcement that the Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered an investigation into Doral and a further delay in its restated financials that relates chiefly to information on the company's mortgage loan sales to local financial institutions, Fitch said. "With Doral being a major seller of mortgages in the local market, the amount of mortgages that could be required to be brought back on balance sheet would pressure capital ratios and require funding programs to be broadened in the face of increased uncertainty regarding Doral's future financial performance," the rating agency said. "The rating action takes into consideration the possibility of deterioration in capital ratios, but expects the company to remain well capitalized relative to quantitative regulatory standards." Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.