Originations

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 5.79% for the week ending March 3 from 5.69% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate increased from 5.22% to 5.33%, the average rate for five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages climbed from 5.05% to 5.17%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs fell from 4.16% to 4.14%. Fees and points averaged 0.7 of a point for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and five-year hybrid ARMs, 0.6 of a point for 15-year FRMs, and 0.8 of a point for one-year ARMs. "Concern that long-term interest rates are too low and comments from Fed officials ... helped push mortgage rates higher this week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "We've been expecting this for some time, so the rise in rates for the third consecutive week doesn't really come as a surprise to the market." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.59% and 4.88%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.47%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Class N of Credit Suisse First Boston commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-CF2, has been downgraded from B-minus to CCC by Fitch Ratings.In addition, the ratings on 16 other classes in the transaction were affirmed. The rating agency attributed the downgrade to expected losses on several of the 10 specially serviced loans. The largest is secured by an office property in Olivette, Mo., that is more than 90 days delinquent. Fitch said the three largest tenants have announced that they will not renew their leases.

Three classes of Morgan Stanley Capital 1 Inc. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1999-FNV1, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class L, from B-minus to CCC; class M, from CCC to C; and class N, from CC to C. In addition, 12 classes from the deal were affirmed by Fitch. The downgrades were attributed to increased expected losses on some of the seven specially serviced loans. The largest such loan (3.1%) is secured by an office property in Quincy, Mass., and is real estate owned, the rating agency said. The property has suffered declines in occupancy, and the most recent appraisal value indicates a "significant loss" upon liquidation, Fitch said. The second-largest loan (1.5%) is a retail property in Sevierville, Tenn., that is over 90 days delinquent and in bankruptcy.

Three classes from Salomon Brothers Mortgage Securities VII Inc., series 2000-C2, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class L, from B to B-minus; class M, from CCC to CC; and class N, from CC to C. The downgrades were attributed to an increase in expected losses on several specially serviced loans. The certificates are collateralized by 178 fixed-rate mortgage loans, consisting primarily of office (37%), retail (22%), and industrial (18%) properties. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Archstone-Smith, Denver, is acquiring a portfolio of 30 multifamily communities from affiliates of Oakwood Worldwide, Los Angeles, for a total consideration of about $1.4 billion.The real estate investment trust said it expects the acquisition to strengthen its position in many submarkets in which it already has a "dominant ownership position," considering that over 40% of the portfolio is within walking distance of communities it already owns. Archstone said about 70% of the portfolio is located in its core markets, including Southern California; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Chicago; and Seattle. To fund the acquisition, the multifamily REIT is planning to tap its cash available, proceeds from the sale of some other assets, and debt -- including the assumption of outstanding mortgage debt on the properties. Archstone will directly manage 15 of the properties, and Oakwood will lease back and continue to manage the rest for a seven-year period, the REIT said.

Affordable Residential Communities Inc., a Denver-based owner and operator of manufactured home communities, has announced the introduction of its New Immigrant Program, which the company says simplifies the process of buying a home for newcomers to the United States.Under the program, ARC said it accepts a wide range of identification, allows individuals with no credit history to buy a home, sells most homes at its own cost, offers a lease with option to buy, and provides a simple financing program with minimal downpayment requirements as low as $1,000. "Manufactured home communities are an excellent alternative to renting for new immigrants, and we've now made it so the majority can buy one for their families," said ARC executive vice president Larry Brown.

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index has increased for the eighth consecutive month, reaching 2.183% in January.This is a 6.5-basis-point increase from 2.118% in December. According to data from the website of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, the current streak of increases in COFI is the longest since one that started in July 1999 and ended in December 2000. Since reaching a low of 1.708% in May 2004, COFI has increased 47.5 bps. In comparison, for the first eight months of the streak that began in July 1999, COFI increased slightly more than 50 bps.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell from 727.9 to 710.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Feb. 25, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications fell 10.8% on the week and were down 26.7% from the level of a year earlier. The Purchase Index rose from 417.8 to 440.0 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index fell from 2532.0 to 2281.1. Refinancings represented 44.8% of total applications, down from 49.3% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 30.7%, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose from 5.67% to 5.74%, and points (including the origination fee) decreased from 1.29 to 1.19 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

More than one-third of all residences sold last year were second homes, according to new research conducted by the National Association of Realtors.The trade group, which for the first time did extensive research on the subject, found that 23% of all homes purchased last year were for investment while another 13% functioned as vacation homes. In 2004 a record 2.82 million in second homes were acquired. Mortgage bankers fund second homes, which are referred to as "investor properties." Homes that are non-owner-occupied tend to have stricter underwriting standards, with some mortgage bankers requiring at least 20% down and charging a higher note rate. After analyzing Census Bureau figures for 2003, the NAR estimates that there are 43.8 million second homes in the United States, compared with 72.1 million owner-occupied units. The NAR can be found online at http://www.realtor.org.

Two classes of Banc of America Commercial Mortgage Inc. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2002-PB2, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service.Class L was downgraded from Ba2 to Ba3, and class M was downgraded from Ba3 to B1. In addition, Moody's affirmed the ratings on 15 classes in the deal. The downgrades were due to realized and expected losses from specially serviced loans and loan-to-value dispersion, the rating agency said. The certificates are collateralized by 116 loans secured by commercial and multifamily properties. Six loans, representing 3.8% of the pool, are in special servicing, all of which are secured by multifamily or manufactured housing properties, Moody's said. The aggregate losses of all the specially serviced loans total approximately $10.4 million, according to the rating agency. The pool's collateral is a mix of multifamily (30.6%), retail (27.6%), office (18.5%), industrial and self storage (15.7%), ground lease (4.1%), and U.S. government securities (3.5%).

Six certificates from two Residential Asset Securities Corp. subprime deals issued in 2001 have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service.The downgrades were as follows: series 2001-KS2, class M-I-1, from Aa2 to A2, class M-I-2, from A2 to Baa2, and class M-I-3, from Baa2 to Ba3; and series 2001-KS3, class M-I-1, from Aa2 to A2, class M-I-2, from A2 to Baa2, and class M-I-3, from Baa2 to Ba3. The downgrades were attributed to a belief that credit enhancement levels may be low given projected losses on the underlying pools. The transactions are backed by fixed-rate and adjustable-rate subprime mortgage loans originated by various originators. The master servicer is Residential Funding Corp.

Lexington Corporate Property Trust, New York, is buying a portfolio of buildings from affiliates and joint venture partners of Atlanta-based Wells Real Estate Investment Trust for $786 million.The portfolio -- which includes 24 office buildings, mostly leased to single tenants in 14 states, and three industrial properties -- totals 5.1 million square feet and is spread out across the country. Lexington, a real estate investment trust, said it believes that this is "especially good timing" for the acquisition considering the "favorable financing environment." To fund the acquisition, Lexington said it is tapping $558.3 million in first-mortgage financing from JPMorgan Chase Bank. The loans will be secured by each of the properties in the portfolio, as well as five unencumbered properties owned by the REIT. The REIT said it expects to tap about $73.6 million in equity commitments of joint venture partners and cash balances of about $154.1 million for the rest of the funding.

The National Commercial Division of Ticor Title Insurance Co. has announced a strategic alliance with US Title Search Inc., a provider of real estate services to carriers and site acquisition firms in the wireless industry.The Ticor division will be the preferred provider of title insurance for US Title Search clients nationwide. Ticor Title's insurance services will be provided through US Title's Web-based title search product, Land Information Technology. Designed to address the complexity of title transactions in the wireless industry, LandIT completes full title searches in days instead of months, Ticor said. Ticor Title, founded in 1893, is a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc. It can be found online at http://www.ticortitle.com.

The year has gotten off to a rotten start for the private mortgage insurance companies.For 2004, January was the worst month of the year for members of the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America in terms of applications received and the second-worst in terms of the dollar volume of primary new insurance written. The first month of 2005 ushered in a steep drop in applications when compared with those of the previous year. Application volume was 103,901, compared with 122,642 for January 2004. The dollar volume of primary new insurance written totaled $13.99 billion, compared with $14.69 billion in January 2004. The low month for 2004 was February, with volume of $14.44 billion. Only $10.9 billion of this January's volume was from "traditional" mortgage insurance, compared with $12.8 billion one year ago. New pool risk written in January totaled $30.2 million. The cure/default ratio for the month was 72.1%, with 34,141 cures and 47,366 defaults reported. MICA membership consists of six of the seven private mortgage insurers; only Radian Guaranty is not a member of the group. MICA can be found online at http://www.micanews.com.

House prices jumped by 11.7% in 2004, compared with 8.0% the previous year, despite a drop in appreciation in the fourth quarter that affected all areas of the country, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.The increase in housing prices fell to 1.69% in the fourth quarter from 4.79% in the third quarter, which trimmed a few percentage points off the final 2004 annual rate of 11.7%. "This report reflects a slowing of the tremendous house price appreciation we've seen recently, but it is still growing at a strong pace," said OFHEO Director Armando Falcon Jr. In 2003, OFHEO's Housing Price Index surged by 3.7% in the fourth quarter and pushed the annual rate of housing price appreciation to 8.0%, which seemed dramatic at the time. The OFHEO report also shows that house prices declined in 31 metropolitan statistical areas, mostly in the South Atlantic and East North Central states. In the third quarter, price declines occurred in only five MSAs. The OFHEO HPI tracks housing prices on repeat sales and refinancing of loans that are purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Washington Mutual, Seattle, the nation's third-largest home lender, has confirmed that it's looking for a new mortgage chief.Industry sources told MortgageWire that the company has hired an executive recruiting firm to assist WaMu in its search. National Mortgage News broke the news about the thrift's search for a mortgage chief in its Feb. 21 issue. In the third quarter of last year, WaMu named Craig Chapman president of commercial and mortgage banking -- but the move was considered temporary. In a statement released late Monday night, WaMu said it wants Mr. Chapman "to focus exclusively on growing the company's commercial lines of business." The thrift also named three new senior leaders to its mortgage unit: John Berens, service delivery; Youyi Chen, portfolio management and research; and Bill Murray, division finance/servicing.

Home123 Corp., a subsidiary of Irvine, Calif.-based New Century Financial Corp., has been signed by ChevronTexaco Products Co. as an associate sponsor of the #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup series.Through the marketing agreement, Home123 will have primary sponsorship rights for six National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing Nextel Cup races. "Because of the company's long racing heritage and years of NASCAR promotion experience, we believe this relationship provides a great opportunity for us to generate awareness for the Home123 brand," said Patrick J. Flanagan, chief executive officer of Home123. The company can be found online at http://www.home123.com.

Fog Cutter Capital Group, Portland, Ore., has announced that the company's appeal of the NASDAQ Stock Market's decision to delist Fog Cutter's common stock has been denied.Fog Cutter said the company's stock will continue to be traded on the OTC Pink Sheets. "We are disappointed with this result and will continue in our efforts to have the company's stock listed on a major exchange, which may include further appeals of the NASDAQ decision," said Donald Berchtold, Fog Cutter's chief executive officer. Fog Cutter has several operating segments, including commercial real estate mortgage brokerage activities.

The Savings Institute Bank & Trust Co., Willimantic, Conn., has announced that it will participate in the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority's Rehabilitation Loan Program.Under the program, borrowers can purchase an existing home and obtain funds to rehabilitate the property with just one mortgage. "Older communities such as Windham, Norwich, and New London have large numbers of older properties that have fallen into disrepair," said Rheo A. Brouillard, the bank's president and chief executive officer. "Often, those most in need of repair are those owned by non-occupants. ... History has repeatedly shown that owner-occupants tend to take better care of, and have more pride in, their properties."

Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida totaled 15,567 in January, up 10% from the level recorded a year earlier, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.The median sales price of homes sold in January climbed to $204,900, up 24% from $164,900 in January 2004, FAR said. Among the state's larger markets, resales increased 29% in the Fort Myers-Cape Coral metropolitan statistical areas, 16% in the Jacksonville MSA, and 4% in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA, but they fell 4% in Miami, FAR reported.