Originations

Class B-6 of DLJ Commercial Mortgage Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-CKP1, has been downgraded from B-plus to B by Fitch Ratings.Fitch also upgraded one class in the transaction and affirmed the ratings on 10 other classes. The rating agency said the downgrade reflects expected losses on the six specially serviced loans. The assets in special servicing include two real-estate-owned properties (0.9% of the pool), one 90-day delinquent loan (0.02%), and three loans that are current (2.7%). A sales contract is being negotiated on the larger REO asset, an office property in Austin, Texas, and a sale of the property is expected by the end of September, Fitch reported. "Sizable losses are expected upon disposition of this asset," the rating agency said. Losses are also expected on the other REO asset, as well as on the 90-day delinquent loan.

Gramercy Capital Corp., a New York-based commercial real estate finance company, has closed a $1.0 billion collateralized debt obligation.The proceeds will be used partly to fund new investments, the company said. The Gramercy CDO offering consists of $810.5 million in investment-grade notes, bearing an interest rate of 49 basis points above the three-month London interbank offered rate, and $84.5 million in non-investment-grade notes on which Gramercy does not disclose the interest rate. In addition, the CDO includes $105 million in preferred shares, Gramercy said. The CDO matures in 2035. Most of the debt investments Gramercy had originated or acquired since its initial public offering last August (totaling $809.3 million) have been contributed to the CDO, according to the company. Gramercy, an affiliate of the SL Green office real estate investment trust, has the option of contributing another $190.7 million of assets to the offering within 120 days of its closing.

Ameriquest Mortgage, Orange, Calif., will pay $7.25 million as part of a settlement with Connecticut banking regulators which had sought to ban the subprime giant from the state.Connecticut had accused the privately held Ameriquest of charging consumers excessive finance charges. The lender will pay a civil penalty of $1 million and reimburse customers who were overcharged through excess fees. Those affected will also receive at least $500. Most of the money paid will be used to set up a state housing assistance fund. A hearing to air the state's charges had been delayed several times since March, and the company continued to fund loans in the state during the continuances. As part of the settlement, Ameriquest will be subject to four semiannual compliance reviews. In a mid-February bond filing, Ameriquest disclosed that it is in talks with 25 "regulatory agencies and/or attorney generals" regarding some of its lending practices. (Connecticut is one of the 25.)

The ratings of Healthcare Realty Trust Inc.'s senior unsecured notes and preferred stock have been affirmed and placed on Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.The debt rating was affirmed at BBB and the preferred stock rating was affirmed at BBB-minus. Fitch attributed the watchlist placement to the company's delay in filing its 2004 Form 10-K and first-quarter 2005 Form 10-Q. The delays stem from an accounting matter raised in March 2005 by KPMG LLP, which was the company's auditor at the time, the rating agency noted. "According to the company, following delays by KPMG LLP in completing the audit, HR's audit committee dismissed KPMG and commenced a process to engage a new auditor," Fitch said. ".... Fitch recognizes the recent announcement by the company regarding a new auditor [BDO Seidman LLP] as a step in the right direction but believes there is some execution risk in the timely completion of the 2004 audit." Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Lexington Corporate Properties Trust, New York, has agreed to sell 2.5 million shares of common stock at a discount from the stock's recent closing price, for net proceeds of approximately $60.75 million.The net proceeds of $24.36 per share represents a 3.295% discount from the July 12 closing price of $25.19 on the New York Stock Exchange, the real estate investment trust said. The offering is being underwritten by Wachovia Securities, and shares will be offered only via a prospectus supplement. The REIT can be found online at http://www.lxp.com.

Digital Realty Trust Inc., San Francisco, has announced a public offering of 4.2 million shares of common stock and 2.2 million shares of series B cumulative redeemable preferred stock.The company said it intends to grant the underwriters an option to buy up to 630,000 additional shares of common stock and up to 330,000 shares of the preferred stock to cover any overallotments. Citigroup and Merrill Lynch & Co. are the joint book-running managers for the common stock offering and, together with UBS Investment Bank, for the preferred stock offering. Digital Realty, which describes itself as the first publicly traded real estate investment trust to focus solely on the ownership of technology real estate, can be found online at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com.

CapTech Financial Group, a Lighthouse Point, Fla.-based holding company for title agencies, says it will apply for listing on the American Stock Exchange in view of its planned acquisition of Your Title Choice Inc., which has offices in Fort Lauderdale and Tampa.The deal would add $4 million in revenues to CapTech, which currently trades over the counter, thus qualifying it to pursue listing on Amex, the company said. The agencies that CapTech owns do business as National Security Title. CapTech acquired the original National Security Title, which has offices in Lighthouse Point and Tampa, in June. The company said then that the goal was to build a nationwide business of title agencies. As of midday July 14, it was trading at 32.7 cents per share, up 5.7 cents on the day.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.62% to 5.66% over the seven-day period ended July 14, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate increased from 5.20% to 5.25%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages fell from 5.19% to 5.15%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs climbed from 4.33% to 4.39%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 of a point for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.7 of a point for ARMs. "Over the past few weeks, financial markets have been gearing up for greater growth in the economy, which ultimately leads to higher inflation rates," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "As a result, mortgage rates increased for the second straight week. Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages now match those set in mid-May, but are still below January's monthly average." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.00% and 5.40%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.02%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

The ratings on three classes from Commercial Mortgage Lease-Backed Securities LLC commercial mortgage lease-backed certificates, series 2001-CMLB-1, have been lowered by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and two of them were removed from CreditWatch with negative implications.The downgrades were as follows: class G, from BBB-minus to BB-plus; class H, from BB-minus to B-plus; and class J, from B-minus to CCC-plus. The ratings on classes H and J were removed from CreditWatch, and the ratings on nine other classes from the same transaction were affirmed. The downgrades mainly reflect the transaction's exposure to Winn-Dixie pass-through trust certificates, series 1999-1, and the expected losses to that transaction, S&P said. They also reflect the decline in the weighted average credit rating of the credit tenants in the transaction from BBB to BBB-minus since June 2004, the rating agency said. The collateral for series 2001-CMLB-1 consists of 115 credit tenant lease loans, the aforementioned certificates from Winn-Dixie 1999-1, and three notes secured by properties leased to Dollar General Corp. S&P can be found online at http://www.standardandpoors.com.

CenterPoint Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Oak Brook, Ill., has announced the termination of Paul T. Ahern, who had been on administrative leave from his position as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the REIT since April 15.CenterPoint gave no reason for the termination. The company also announced the promotions of Sean P. Maher to executive vice president for portfolio operations and of Neil P. Doyle to senior vice president for development. Mr. Maher was previously a senior vice president, and joined the REIT as vice president of investments in 1997. Mr. Doyle also joined the company in 1997 and became vice president for development in 1998. The REIT can be found online at http://www.centerpoint-prop.com.

Hiring remains strong in the real estate industry, with particular strength in the Southeast and Midwest for the single-family residential sector and in the Northeast for the commercial mortgage sector, according to Ferguson Partners Ltd., Chicago.Ferguson's semiannual hiring study surveyed more than 150 real estate companies and found that respondents were "generally optimistic" about their business prospects and planned to boost hiring by 1%-10%, on average, over the next six months, the company said. The survey reported strong demand among homebuilders and found that the "hottest functions" in the residential mortgage business are development, construction, and sales/marketing. "Real estate companies are optimistic about the future, and the result is the hottest hiring market we have seen in recent history," said Bill Ferguson, co-chairman of the FPL Advisory Group of companies, of which Ferguson Partners is a member. The study divided the surveyed companies into three groups: commercial mortgage finance, commercial ownership/service (including real estate investment trusts), and single-family residential. FPL can be found online at http://www.fpladvisorygroup.com.

The National Association of Realtors has updated its forecast that 2005 will be a record year because of stronger-than-expected housing sales and continued low mortgage rates.Existing-home sales are expected to rise 2.8% to 6.97 million this year, up from the record 6.78 million in 2004. (A month ago, the NAR predicted resales would total 6.89 million.) Meanwhile, new-home sale should increase 3.2% to 1.24 million in 2005, which would also be a record, the NAR said. "[M]ortgage interest rates have remained lower than expected, and job gains are providing additional stimulus" to the housing market, said NAR chief economist David Lereah. The NAR is also forecasting that house price appreciation will top last year's mark, which was the highest since 1980. Mr. Lereah projects that the national median existing-home price will rise by 9.4% this year, up from 8.3% in 2004.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 853.4 to 791.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the holiday-shortened week ended July 8, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications decreased 25.7% on the week but were up 22.0% from the level recorded a year earlier. The Purchase Index fell from 520.8 to 489.0 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index declined from 2788.2 to 2554.3. The four-week moving average for the Purchase Index fell 2.0%, from 501.7 to 491.7, and the four-week moving average for the Refinance Index declined 3.8%, from 2715.0 to 2611.7. (The moving averages are a recent addition to the MBA survey.) Refinancings represented 45.1% of total applications, down from 45.7% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 27.9%, its lowest level since March 2004, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose from 5.58% to 5.62%, and points (including the origination fee) increased from 1.14 to 1.26 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

SCME Mortgage Bankers Inc., San Diego, has announced the formation of Clearpath Lending Solutions, a wholesale division that will specialize in offering nonprime mortgage programs to mortgage brokers.Clearpath will roll out new online technologies, in addition to products, to support its customer base, SCME said. The division's product and pricing engine, Fast Path, enables users to search loan programs quickly and price the loan "instantly" according to borrower criteria, the company said. "Brokers can quickly upload borrower loan information from their POS system, reissue previously run credit reports from over 80 different credit providers, or manually enter borrower and loan information," SCME said. The new division can be found on the Web at http://www.clearpathonline.com.

Home sales will set record highs this year and retreat only moderately in 2006 and 2007 while 30-year fixed mortgage rates rise but remain historically low, according to a long-term economic forecast by the Mortgage Bankers Association.The latest update to the MBA's three-year forecast also calls for robust average economic growth of 3.5% through 2007 and a steady unemployment rate that will decline to 4.9% by the beginning of 2007. Under the forecast, existing-home sales will rise 2% to a new record this year and decline about 3% in 2006 and 2% in 2007, while new-home sales will also rise about 2% to a record high and then fall about 4% and 3% in the next two years. "Long-term rates should gradually increase from current levels by 20 to 30 basis points by the end of 2005, and another 40 to 50 basis points during 2006, finally reaching about 6.25% for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage in 2007," said MBA chief economist Doug Duncan. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

John A. Vella has been named president and chief operating officer of Aames Investment Corp., a Los Angeles-based mortgage real estate investment trust.Mr. Vella was most recently chief sales officer for Option One Mortgage, a national subprime lender, and he previously served as Option One's chief administrative officer. Aames can be found on the Web at http://www.aames.com.

Bridger Commercial Funding, a San Francisco-based provider of commercial real estate capital, has announced the introduction of SuperSTAR Loan, a commercial mortgage-backed securities product that the company says "virtually eliminates" out-of-pocket transaction costs for borrowers.Under the new program, borrowers can opt to finance transaction costs rather than pay them at the time a loan is originated. "CMBS loans, which are securitized, have historically carried higher transaction costs than loans being originated for portfolio, and we're taking the lead at breaking that tradition," said Peter Grabell, senior vice president at Bridger. "With Bridger's new SuperSTAR Loan, we'll finance nearly all costs -- third-party reports, legal, application fees." He said Bridger negotiates volume-based cost reductions with third-party vendors and passes along the cost savings to borrowers via the new program. Bridger can be found online at http://www.bridgerfunding.com.

The president's new economic adviser says rising house prices reflect a strong economy, downplaying the notion of a housing bubble.During a July 8 television interview on CNBC business news, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisors, said "the fundaments are very strong" and argued that housing prices are supported by demographics and job growth. "Most of what has happened is a result of the economy," Mr. Bernanke said. The former Federal Reserve Board governor started his new job at the White House on June 21.

Brookfield Properties Corp. and its Canada-based subsidiary BPO Properties Ltd. said their bidding consortium was unable to complete its planned acquisition of shares from O&Y Properties. The consortium "received approval from the shareholders of O&Y Properties, but did not receive the required level of approval by O&Y Real Estate Investment Trust … minority unitholders to complete the acquisition of 100% of its assets under the terms of the definitive agreements announced on June 1, 2005," Brookfield Properties said. "Because the O&Y REIT and O&Y Properties transactions are interconditional, we will be assessing our options and will decide in the near future how best to proceed in the circumstances," said Ric Clark, president and chief executive officer of Brookfield Properties Corp. Brookfield Properties can be found online at http://www.brookfieldproperties.com.

Medical Properties Trust, a Birmingham, Ala.-based real estate investment trust, has priced an initial public offering of over 12 million shares of its common stock at $10.50 per share. The company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MPW. The offering is expected to close on July 13, 2005. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. Inc. served as book-running manager and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. served as co-lead manager. Wachovia Capital Markets LLC and Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. served as co-managers. The underwriters have an option to purchase an additional 1.8 million shares to cover over-allotments. The company's website is http://www.medicalpropertiestrust.com.