Originations

United Financial Mortgage, Oak Brook, Ill., has agreed to purchase Plus Funding of Carlsbad, Calif., for an undisclosed amount.The acquisition of the privately held Plus Funding is the second franchise purchase by UFM in four months. Plus, a retail mortgage banker/broker, employs 66 and operates seven branches in Southern California and one in Nevada. According to figures compiled by the Quarterly Data Report, a MortgageWire affiliate, the publicly traded UFM funded $687 million in the third quarter, ranking 71st in the United States. (UFM's fiscal quarter ended Oct. 31.) Through the first seven months of the year, Plus originated $275 million in loans.

Bond market economists are forecasting that mortgage rates will rise to 6.5% by the end of 2005 and that home sales will decline by 6.4% from this year's record pace.Members of The Bond Market Association's economic advisory committee say they expect that the "flattening of the 2-year to 10-year yield curve will continue" in 2005. "Median forecasts for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage have the rate rising from 5.8% to 6.2% at midyear and 6.5% by the end of 2005," according to the survey of 24 economists. Meanwhile, new- and existing-home sales will "slow modestly" from 7.8 million units this year to 7.3 million units in 2005, they predicted. The association can be found on the Web at http://www.bondmarkets.com.

Omega Healthcare Investors Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Timonium, Md., has priced a public offering of 3.5 million shares of common stock at $11.96 per share.The underwriters have been granted an option to buy up to 525,000 additional shares to cover any overallotments, Omega said. The sole book-running manager of the offering is UBS Investment Bank. The company can be found online at http://www.omegahealthcare.com.

Three classes of LB Commercial Conduit Mortgage Trust II's commercial pass-through certificates, series 1996-C2, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class F, from BB to B-plus; class G, from CCC to D; and class H, from CC to D. In addition, class E was placed on Rating Watch Negative, and the ratings on five other classes in the deal were affirmed. The downgrades were attributed to expected losses on loans in special servicing, which the rating agency said are likely to "deplete the balance of class G and severely impact class H within the next 30-60 days."

Five classes of GE Mortgage Capital Commercial Mortgage Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2000-1, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class H, from BB-minus to B-plus; class I, from B-plus to B; class J, from B-minus to CCC; class K, from CC to C; and class L, from C to D. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on nine other classes in the deal. Fitch attributed the downgrades to "the imminent loss on one loan and the expected losses on several specially serviced loans." Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Standard & Poor's has announced that it will add Archstone-Smith to the S&P 500 Index after the close of trading Dec. 17.The Englewood, Colo.-based multifamily real estate investment trust will be added to the REIT sub-industry component of the S&P 500. According to the JP Morgan equity REIT research team, this is the seventh REIT to be included in the S&P 500 Index, bringing the total group weighting to 0.553%. The REIT will be added in the financials sector and will account for 0.066% of the Index, putting it among the top 325 constituents, according to JP Morgan. "We view this as further evidence that the group is gaining widespread visibility," JP Morgan said, adding that it expects the REIT's addition to the index to generate a demand for 19.6 million shares of Archstone-Smith.

Millennia Mortgage Corp., Laguna Hills, Calif., has announced the formation of a wholesale division.Citing its history of offering niche mortgage products and a "dedication" to technology, Millennia said it is "poised to deliver quality product to its expanding broker base." The company said it sells directly to 16 investors, offering loan products such as home equity loans, home equity lines of credit, stated-income loans, and loans with high loan-to-value ratios.

New York City developer Larry Silverstein says he expects the entire rebuilding effort at Ground Zero to be done by 2013, at an estimated total cost of $13 billion.Delivering the keynote address at a New York University capital markets conference in New York, Mr. Silverstein estimated that $7 billion of that total would come from private investors for the commercial real estate component, including an expected additional $1.1 billion insurance payout and Liberty Bond funding. Commenting on the recent jury verdict that found that the two planes flown into the World Trade Center towers on 9/11 constituted two separate attacks, he said, "It's extremely gratifying to have your position validated and your judgment call vindicated by a jury of your peers." The redevelopment schedule calls for 7 WTC building (a 52-story structure on which construction has already begun) to go up first, by the end of 2005 or early 2006. As for tenants, he said "active negotiations" are under way and expressed amazement at the amount of interest in the space. The Freedom Tower, which will be the tallest building in the world, at 1776 feet -- "for at least 10 minutes," until some developer tries to top it, he said -- is slated for completion in 2009.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.71% for the week ending Dec. 10 from 5.81% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell from 5.23% to 5.14%, while the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs declined from 4.19% to 4.15%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 of a point for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages and 0.7 of a point for ARMs and 30-year FRMs. "Responding to a weak labor market report that showed November job growth to be far less than had been anticipated, long-term yields -- and that includes mortgage rates -- reversed last week's hike and fell to the previous week's level," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "However, many other indicators remain strong, and this we think will lead the Federal Open Market Committee to raise short-term rates another quarter point to a target of 2 1/4%, putting upward pressure on frequently adjusting ARMs." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.02% and 5.36%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.77%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Freddie Mac is planning to roll out a new suite of affordable housing products, called "Home Possible," in the first quarter."This is no small pilot program," Freddie Mac chairman and chief executive Richard Syron said. "Home Possible will mean 'home sweet home' for hundreds of thousands of families." The secondary-market agency is lowering its credit score requirements so that more families will be eligible for its lowest-downpayment products, Mr. Syron told a conference on work force housing needs sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders and Freddie Mac. Company officials would not reveal the minimum acceptable credit score. The CEO also noted that Freddie is expanding its multifamily program by experimenting with delegated underwriting and focusing on small multifamily loans. In addition, Freddie is working with the NAHB and the AFL-CIO Investment Trust to increase the supply of affordable rental housing for working families. "Together, we're going into a dozen high-cost areas and creating 10,000 new apartments," Mr. Syron said.

Three classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-TFL1, have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: class G, from A-minus to BBB; class H-ALL, from BBB-plus to BBB-minus; and class J-ALL, from BBB to BB-plus. The ratings on three other Fitch-rated classes in the deal were affirmed. Fitch attributed the downgrades to the decline in performance of the Alliance Portfolio loan, the sole remaining loan in the pool. The master servicer is in discussions with the borrower, Fitch said.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, rose from 673.3 to 696.2 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended Dec. 3, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications rose 43.8% on the week and were up 15.4% from the level of a year earlier. The Purchase Index rose from 460.3 to 490.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index declined from 1912.3 to 1890.6. Refinancings represented 45.6% of total applications, down from 46.4% the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 34.5%, the MBA said. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell from 5.78% to 5.68%, and points (including the origination fee) rose from 1.25 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.

Three classes of DLJ Commercial Mortgage Corp. commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 1999-CG3, have been downgraded by Moody's Investors Service.The downgrades were as follows: class B-7, from B2 to Caa1; class B-8, from B3 to Caa2; and class C, from Caa2 to Ca. In addition, Moody's upgraded six classes and affirmed the ratings on five classes in the transaction. The certificates are collateralized by 154 mortgage loans secured by commercial and multifamily properties, and the pool includes a conduit component, representing 90.9%, and two shadow-rated loans, the rating agency said. The downgrades were attributed to realized and expected losses from six specially serviced loans and to LTV dispersion. Based on Moody's analysis, 13.5% of the conduit pool has a loan-to-value ratio greater than 100%, compared with only 1.0% of the pool at securitization, the rating agency said. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

HomeStreet Bank, Seattle, has announced the launch of a Builder Preferred Lending program that offers special benefits to mortgage customers who buy new homes.HomeStreet said the program is modeled after its Hometown Home Loan program, under which affinity relationships are developed with private employers, municipalities, and labor groups to provide employer-assisted housing benefits to employees. Under the new program, a builder designates HomeStreet Bank as a "preferred lender," and homebuyers have access to customized benefits such as reduced closing costs and loan programs offering low downpayments or downpayment assistance, the bank said. HomeStreet can be found on the Web at http://www.homestreet.com.

The National Association of Realtors has boosted its home sales forecasts for 2004 and 2005, calling for record existing-home sales of 6.58 million this year and 6.38 million next year, and record new-home sales of 1.18 million this year and 1.13 million in 2005.At its annual Realtor conference in November, the NAR was forecasting resales of 6.55 million this year and 6.30 million next year, and new-home sales of 1.17 million this year and 1.07 million in 2005. The NAR's latest forecast calls for housing starts of 1.95 million this year, the highest level since 1978, and 1.87 million in 2005. "We're setting our fourth consecutive record year for existing-home sales, and even with strong fundamentals such as household growth, low interest rates, and an improving economy, we simply can't set records every year," said NAR chief economist David Lereah. The NAR can be found online at http://www.realtor.org.

In a major victory for New York real estate developer Larry Silverstein, a New York jury has decided that the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center Towers constituted two attacks for insurance purposes, which could result in an additional payout of as much as $1.1 billion for rebuilding commercial real estate space at Ground Zero.In a written statement, Mr. Silverstein said the verdict means that an additional one billion dollars of insurance proceeds will be available for the rebuilding. This, combined with Liberty Bond financing, "will ensure a timely and complete rebuild of the World Trade Center," he said. Mr. Silverstein added: "I strongly felt, and the jury agreed, that the destruction of the Twin Towers by two separate airplanes at two separate times was two separate occurrences, and that these insurers have an obligation to pay their fair share to help make Lower Manhattan whole again." Of the nine insurance companies affected by the decision, at least one, Germany-based Allianz, said it would appeal the jury decision.

Class F of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc.'s mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-FL1, has been downgraded from Caa2 to Ca by Moody's Investors Service.In addition, Moody's affirmed or confirmed the ratings of two other classes in the deal. The rating agency said the certificates are collateralized by two mortgage loans -- the Bank One Center Loan, which accounts for 77.4% of the pool, and the St. Louis Marketplace Loan. Both loans are specially serviced. The downgrade was attributed to permanent interest shortfalls caused by special servicing and liquidation fees. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Nehemiah Community Reinvestment Fund, Sacramento, Calif., has announced that Fannie Mae will provide a $2 million line of credit for the fund, which is the community development lending affiliate of Nehemiah Corp. of America, a downpayment assistance provider.The LOC will be used to make loans to create or preserve affordable housing, transitional housing, and housing for people with special needs. NCRF said it expects to leverage the funding over the next three years to make nearly $13 million in loans for community development projects worth more than $40 million. "Nehemiah created NCRF to help community and faith-based groups alleviate the scarcity of affordable housing in their communities," said Scott Syphax, president and chief executive officer of Nehemiah Corp. "By providing these organizations with short-term, below-market-rate loans, NCRF works to stimulate the creation and preservation of safe, decent affordable housing neighborhood by neighborhood across the nation." Nehemiah can be found online at http://www.nehemiahcorp.org, and Fannie Mae can be found at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Gramercy Capital Corp., a New York-based investor in commercial mortgage-related loans and securities, says it expects to realize net proceeds of nearly $95 million for its investment activities from an offering of common stock.The company reported that it is selling 4.23 million shares of its common stock at $17.27 each, in a private placement, to some institutional investors. It is also selling 1.28 million shares at the same price to its affiliate SL Green Realty Corp., which will enable the real estate investment trust to maintain "substantially the same ownership percentage interest in Gramercy Capital" after the private placement, Gramercy said.

Mortgage Benefits Corp., Redwood City, Calif., has announced an agreement with Los Angeles-based Unisource Information Services to provide bundled discounts on settlement services to members of MBC's MortgageChoice Plan, a group mortgage benefit offered through employer benefit packages.Unisource services include title insurance, settlement services, credit reporting, and flood determination. "Bundled settlement services are a natural fit for The Mortgage PPO platform and enhance the value of the MortgageChoice Plan by providing all essential mortgage services in one seamless package," said Marsha Tiller, founder and president of MBC. "By partnering with companies that offer a preferred pricing package, such as Unisource, we provide plan members with more convenience and significant discounts that they couldn't negotiate on their own." MBC can be found online at http://www.mortgageplans.com.