Originations

Only 8% of Americans plan to refinance their mortgage in the next year, down from 16% in October 2002, according to the Cambridge Consumer Credit Index.The index survey found that 35% of those surveyed had refinanced in the past two years, up from 24% in 2002, and that 57% have not refinanced and have no intention to do so. Regarding spending plans, 30% of the respondents said they plan to use money saved from refinancing to pay off non-credit-card debt (such as car loans), 23% plan to increase their savings, 22% plan to spend the money on major purchases (such as home improvements or cars), and 10% plan to pay off credit card debt. The index can be found online at http://www.cambridgeconsumerindex.com.

Surging home values will spur consumer spending on furniture, consumer electronics, and home improvements in the months ahead, according to Deloitte Research's Leading Index of Consumer Spending.In addition, tax refunds and rising payroll employment will provide the cash needed for downpayments on new homes, Deloitte predicted. "Many consumers postponed buying new homes until interest rates reached bottom," said Carl Steidtmann, chief economist at Deloitte Research and the author of the monthly index. "With interest rates on the rise, they have decided to get off the dime to avoid higher rates." Mr. Steidtmann said consumers are "in a strong position to continue spending" and advised retailers to "plan for strong demand, particularly in housing-related products and consumer electronics." The company can be found online at http://www.deloitte.com/us.

The ratings of Sun Communities Inc. and its operating partnership, Sun Communities Operating LP, have been lowered by Moody's Investors Service and withdrawn.Sun's preferred stock shelf was downgraded from (P)Ba1 to (P)Ba2, and the ratings of Sun Communities Operating LP were downgraded as follows: senior unsecured debt, from Baa3 to Ba1; senior unsecured debt shelf, from (P)Baa3 to (P)Ba1; and subordinate debt shelf, from (P)Ba1 to (P)Ba2. Moody's attributed the actions to management's decision to change the capital structure of the real estate investment trust to rely primarily on secured debt financing with high leverage, and to Sun's recent successful tender of practically all its outstanding unsecured debt. Southfield, Mich.-based Sun owns and operates a portfolio of 127 manufactured housing communities, mainly in the Midwest and the Southeast.

Origen Financial Inc., Southfield, Mich., has priced an initial public offering of 8 million shares of common stock at $8 per share, for a total offering of $64.0 million.Since the start of trading on Nasdaq, the stock has traded in a narrow range between $7.99 and $8.05 per share. Lehman Brothers is the managing underwriter and Credit Suisse First Boston and Flagstone Securities are the co-managers. Origen is a manufactured home loan originator and servicer that has elected to take real estate investment trust status.

MILA Inc., Mountlake Terrace, Wash., a wholesale nonprime lender also doing business as Mortgage Investment Lending Associates, has announced the addition of a jumbo loan program available to qualified borrowers for up to $1 million in 13 states.Brokers may access the program through DecisionPoint, MILA's instant automated underwriting system, the company said. The jumbo loan program, designed for first mortgages, is an enhancement of the company's standard first-mortgage loan maximum of $650,000. The loans are available in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. The company can be found online at http://www.mila.com.

Employment in the mortgage industry jumped 1.7% in March as low mortgage rates spurred refinancing and homebuying.The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that jobs in the mortgage banking/broker sector rose from 436,700 in February to 444,300 in March. The 7,600 jump in new hires came during a month when 30-year fixed mortgage rates dipped below 5.4%. The 30-year mortgage rate moved above 6.0% at the end of April, and the strong April jobs report is putting more pressure on rates. The BLS reported that the U.S. economy generated 288,000 new jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% from 5.7% in March. (There is a one-month lag in the BLS's reporting of mortgage-sector employment data. The April employment report released Friday only provided mortgage banking/broker data for March.) The BLS can be found online at http://stats.bls.gov.

America West Airlines has announced a partnership with Awards for Mortgage and Real Estate that enables members of the airline's frequent-flyer program to earn miles for mortgages and other real-estate-related transactions.Under the arrangement, members of FlightFund can earn miles when obtaining mortgage or home equity loans from Chase Home Finance, Washington Mutual Inc., or the Corporate Mortgage Services Division of Wachovia Mortgage Corp. Miles can also be earned from home sales and van line services, the airline said. Further information is available at http://www.awardsformortgageandrealestate.com/americawest.

Criimi Mae, Rockville, Md., has reported net income of $2.5 million ($0.16 per share) for the first quarter, a 42% decline from $4.3 million ($0.28 per share) for the first quarter of 2003.The net income for the first quarter includes net interest margin of $10.9 million; writedowns of about $3.1 million on some of the mortgage real estate investment trust's noncore assets; a $700,000 loss on extinguishment of debt; and $500,000 of impairment on a subordinated commercial mortgage-backed securities piece, Criimi Mae said. Mark Jarrell, Criimi Mae's president and chief operating officer said the REIT is beginning to realize "significant annualized interest savings" related to the refinancings of its insured mortgage portfolios. "And we executed loan modifications on the largest borrowing relationship in our special servicing portfolio during the first quarter of 2004 and expect to return those loans to the master servicers later this year," he said.

American Residential Investment Trust Inc., San Diego, has completed its name change to AmNet Mortgage Inc.AmNet is the abbreviated name of its primary operating subsidiary, American Mortgage Network. In addition, the company announced that it plans to move from the American Stock Exchange, where it trades under the symbol INV, to the Nasdaq National Market System. The move is expected to take place in mid-June, at which time the company's ticker symbol will change to AMNT. John M. Robbins, chief executive of AmNet, said the company believes that listing on Nasdaq "will help us attract a broader range of investors through greater visibility." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.amerreit.com.

Sales of existing condominiums and cooperatives dipped slightly to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000 in the first quarter, still not far below the record rate of 941,000 set in the third quarter of last year, according to the National Association of Realtors.The condo and co-op resales rate in the fourth quarter was an upwardly revised 940,000, and in the first quarter of 2003 the rate stood at 843,000. "Mortgage interest rates were at the second-lowest level on record in the first quarter, so it should come as no surprise that we see condo sales within a fraction of a percentage point of a record," said NAR chief economist David Lereah. "Couple this with a demographic push at both ends of the market, along with an improving economy, and you have a powerful combination for an exceptional condo market." The association also reported that the median existing-condo price was $173,300 in the first quarter, up 14.5% from that of a year earlier. The NAR can be found online at http://realtor.org.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.12% for the week ending May 7 from 6.01% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 5.35% to 5.47%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs inched up from 3.75% to 3.76%. Fees and points averaged 0.7 of a point for all three mortgage categories. "A steady drip of good economic news coupled with the Federal Reserve's change of language in their statement this week reinforced market expectations that the Fed may raise rates sooner than expected," said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist. "That expectation carried over into the housing sector, causing a rise in mortgage rates for the seventh week in a row." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 5.62% and 4.97%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 3.66%, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

IndyMac Bank, Pasadena, Calif., has reported an agreement to buy the nation's largest reverse mortgage lender, Financial Freedom Holdings Inc., Irvine, Calif.Lehman Brothers Bank FSB, New York, owns the majority of Financial Freedom, with the remaining shares owned by James Mahoney, Financial Freedom's chief executive. IndyMac said it has agreed to acquire Lehman Brothers' 93.75% equity stake for approximately $80 million. Mr. Mahoney will retain his share of the company. He and other members of senior management have entered into employment agreements with IndyMac. The company said it would have a permanent capital deployment of $50 million to $60 million. Those funds could come from a common stock offering or the issuance of trust preferred securities. Financial Freedom originates the Federal Housing Administration's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage and Fannie Mae's Home Keeper product as well as its own proprietary product. Approximately 93% of the loans are HECMs that were sold to Fannie Mae. Financial Freedom's volume in 2003 totaled $976 million.

CitiFinancial, New York, and the Chicago-based National Training and Information Center have announced an expansion of their partnership into the area of promoting stable homeownership through financial literacy.Citi said it will provide a financial education curriculum, and $250,000 over two years, to support the program. "Over the past year, CitiFinancial has demonstrated their willingness to combat predatory lending," said Inez Killingsworth, an NTIC board member. "They are sending a clear message to other financial institutions that it is good business to invest in our communities." In the original partnership agreement, Citi and NTIC agreed, among other things, to review Citi's real estate lending initiatives and encourage the adoption of similar practices by other lenders. NTIC acts as a resource center for grassroots and neighborhood groups. Citi can be found online at http://www.citigroup.com, and NTIC can be found at http://www.ntic-us.org.

Simon Property Group, Indianapolis, has acquired Plaza Carolina, a 1.1 million-square-foot San Juan, Puerto Rico, retail property for $309 million, as well as interests in two Northeastern United States properties.The retail real estate investment trust said the Plaza Carolina acquisition -- from a partnership 50% owned by the California Public Employees' Retirement System and 50% by the State of Michigan Treasury -- was financed by a private placement by Credit Suisse First Boston of a five-year, $260 million loan at a blended rate of 3.1%, including a fixed- and a floating-rate component. CalPERS and the Michigan Treasury have also sold their interests in the 655,000-square-foot Bangor Mall, Bangor, Maine, and the 1.1 million-square-foot Montgomery Mall in Montgomeryville, Pa., to the other partners in the assets. As a result, Simon's interest in Bangor Mall has risen from 32.6% to 67.6%, and its interest in Montgomeryville Mall has risen from 23% to 54%, according to the REIT.

Wintrust Financial Corp., Lake Forest, Ill., has announced plans to acquire SGB Corp. (d/b/a WestAmerica Mortgage Co.) and its affiliate, Guardian Real Estate Services Inc.The terms of the stock-and-cash transaction were not disclosed. WAMC, one of the largest privately held mortgage lenders in the nation, is chiefly engaged in originating and buying residential mortgages for sale into the secondary market, Wintrust said. Its main origination offices are located in Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Arizona, New Jersey, Florida, and Nevada, and the company has wholesale and correspondent offices in other states. WAMC and Guardian will become direct subsidiaries of Barrington Bank & Trust Co., a wholly owned banking subsidiary of Wintrust. Edward J. Wehmer, president and chief executive officer of Wintrust, said the three owners of the two companies have signed a multiyear contract and agreed to stay on and manage their operations. Wintrust can be found online at http://www.wintrust.com.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, rose from 748.0 to 780.9 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 30, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications rose 4.8% on the week but were down 35.3% from the level of a year earlier. The Purchase Index climbed from 463.5 to 482.5 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the Refinance Index rose from 2403.0 to 2516.0. Refinancings represented 44.0% of total applications, unchanged from the previous week, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 32.1%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose from 6.01% to 6.10%, and points (including the origination fee) rose from 1.28 to 1.38 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC, Baltimore, has reported net income of $1.2 million ($0.04 per share) for the first quarter, compared with $13.9 million ($0.50 per share) a year earlier.Mark K. Joseph, MuniMae's chairman and chief executive officer, nevertheless expressed satisfaction with the quarterly results, citing "seasonality in our tax credit equity syndication business, which we significantly expanded through a July 2003 acquisition." He also cited MuniMae's cash available for distribution per common share, which the company uses as its primary measure of performance. "While our CAD per share for the first quarter of 2004 [$0.37] did come in below the prior-year results [$0.50], it significantly exceeded our expectations," Mr. Joseph said. MuniMae, which invests in multifamily debt and equity, can be found on the Web at http://www.munimaemidland.com.

Equity Office Properties Trust, Chicago, has reported net income of $65.3 million ($0.16 per share) for the first quarter, a 54% decline from $141.7 million ($0.35 per share) a year earlier.EOP, the largest office real estate investment trust by market capitalization, attributed the decline to asset sales and joint ventures totaling about $1.5 billion in 2003, a decline in occupancy, and a decline in rental rates on new and renewal leases. "At a macro level, we are encouraged by the second consecutive quarterly decline in office vacancy rates, in the quarter's broad-based positive net office space absorption, and in the positive office job growth that occurred in March," said Richard Kincaid, the REIT's president and chief executive officer. ".... While conditions in most markets continue to be challenging, and are likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future, we anticipate a gradual improvement in office fundamentals over the balance of 2004 and into 2005." The REIT can be found online at http://www.equityoffice.com.

Gary M. Ralston has retired as president and chief operating officer of Commercial Net Lease Realty Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Orlando, Fla.The REIT said Craig Macnab, the company's chief executive officer, has assumed the title of president. Commercial Net Lease Realty invests in single-tenant retail, office, and industrial properties subject to long-term net leases. It can be found online at http://www.cnlreit.com.

Lane Barnett has been named president and chief executive officer of GMAC Real Estate Franchised Offices, an operating subsidiary of GMAC Home Services, Oak Brook, Ill.Mr. Barnett was most recently executive vice president in the parent company's Support Services Group. The parent company also announced four other executive promotions. Johnny Elliott has been named executive vice president of new business acquisitions at GMAC Home Services, and Brian Peterson has been named chief financial officer of the company. Judy O'Brien has been named EVP and chief operating officer of GMAC Real Estate Company Owned Offices. And Maggie Ryan has been named senior vice president of global services for GMAC Global Relocation Services.