Originations

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.79% for the week ending April 25 from 5.82% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate was unchanged, at 5.12%, and the average rate for one-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages was also unchanged, at 3.79%. Fees and points averaged 0.6 points for all three mortgage categories. "A tepid national economy has anchored mortgage rates to current low levels so far this year," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "However, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, the housing industry is the only bright spot in the economy right now." A year ago, the average 30-year and 15-year fixed rates were 6.88% and 6.35%, respectively, and the average one-year ARM rate was 4.91%, Freddie Mac said.

Republic Bancorp Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich., is being added to the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 Index.Republic, the holding company for Republic Bank, a residential mortgage lender, said the move will be effective after the close of trading on April 23. The company said it is the third-largest bank holding company based in Michigan and the 84th-largest in the United States. Republic can be found on the Web at http://www.republicbancorp.com.

Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC, Baltimore, has reported net income of $13.9 million ($0.50 per share) for the first quarter, down 7% from $14.9 million ($0.62 per share) a year earlier."The first quarter of every year has typically been the most difficult for us because the funding and development approvals our clients need are concentrated in the second half of the year," said Mark K. Joseph, MuniMae's chairman and chief executive officer. The company, which invests in multifamily debt and equity, also reported $154 million in multifamily financing activity for the first quarter. MuniMae can be found on the Web at http://www.munimaemidland.com.

Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M., has reported record net income of $39.1 million ($0.67 per share) for the first quarter, compared with $24.3 million ($0.62 per share) a year earlier.Thornburg Mortgage Home Loans Inc., the company's mortgage lending subsidiary, closed $863.1 million in loans during the quarter, up from $398.5 million a year earlier. "Mortgage origination volumes remain strong, with $568.7 million of loans in the pipeline at March 31, 2003, most of which we expect will close in the second quarter," said Joseph Badal, chief executive officer of the lending subsidiary. Thornburg Mortgage, a real estate investment trust that acquires and originates adjustable-rate mortgages, can be found online at http://www.thornburg.com.

A statewide effort to make homeownership more affordable to minorities in Utah has been launched by Freddie Mac, the Community Development Corp. of Utah, and Far West Bank.Catch the Dream Utah will include "aggressive outreach and borrower education" through the CDC, homeownership initiatives offered through Salt Lake City and other participating communities, and flexible low-downpayment mortgages from Far West, according to Freddie Mac, which will purchase the mortgages. The Utah initiative is part of a national Catch the Dream campaign under which Freddie Mac pledged last June to invest $400 billion in affordable housing through the end of the decade, with a focus on minority and immigrant families. The Hispanic population has soared nearly 140% In Utah over the past 10 years, and more than half of the new Hispanic residents have settled in Salt Lake City, Freddie Mac said. The government-sponsored enterprise can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Karen Nickerson has been hired to join the Real Estate Finance Group of Moody's Investors Service.Ms. Nickerson will be responsible primarily for a portfolio of real estate investment trusts, Moody's said. Prior to joining the rating agency, Ms. Nickerson worked at ING Realty Partners as principal, portfolio manager, and director of investor relations, and she has more than 10 years of experience in real estate finance, the rating agency said. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Kevin Schneider has been named senior vice president and chief commercial officer at GE Mortgage Insurance, Raleigh, N.C.Mr. Schneider will be responsible for the company's sales operation and oversight of its marketing and operations activities. He replaces Hank Reeves, who was recently promoted to vice president and general manager of GE Plastics America. Mr. Schneider was most recently chief quality officer at GE Commercial Finance in Stamford, Conn.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell to 1055.8 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 18 from 1134.6 the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications were down 6.7% on the week but up 105.9% from the level recorded a year earlier. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Purchase Index fell from 376.1 to 359.9, and the Refinance Index fell from 5546.7 to 5103.9. Refinancings represented 68.4% of total applications, down from the previous week's 69.4%, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 14.8%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell from 5.70% to 5.67%, and points (including the origination fee) increased from 1.43 to 1.44 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mbaa.org.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority has extended a deal in which it offers first-time homebuyers the lowest interest rate the agency has ever offered.The rate of 4.875%, with no discount points charged at loan closing, will now be available until May 30. The reason for the extension was to “give low- and moderate-income residents more time to take advantage of the opportunity to realize the American dream of homeownership,” the MSHDA said.

The Nehemiah Corp. of California, Sacramento, has announced a series of new hires in key markets aimed at strengthening the company's "strategic national and local outreach" in the nonprofit downpayment assistance industry.The new staff will operate as area managers responsible for attracting increased industry participation in Nehemiah's downpayment assistance program. The regional team includes: Butch Rochelle in North Carolina; Chris Campbell in Indiana; Curt Rice in Southern California; Dawn Willey in Colorado; Greg Nicholson in Florida; Jennifer Maxwell in Nevada; John McDonald in Utah; Ken Dickson in Arizona and New Mexico; Leslie Kane in Georgia; Ron Stivers in Northern California; Sean O'Leary in Washington, Idaho, and Montana; Tim Chatfield in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky; Tim Sasser in Dallas/Fort Worth; and Tina Wyszynski in Oregon. Nehemiah has also established three new national channel manager positions and made the following appointments: James Maxwell, national builder relations manager; Suzette Robinson, national lender relations manager; and Phil Edwards, national real estate relations manager. Nehemiah can be found online at http://www.getdownpayment.com.

Tarragon Realty Investors, New York, has reported the addition of five executives to its management team.Richard Schaffer is joining Tarragon as a managing director in the company's Fort Lauderdale development office. Mr. Schaffer, who was previously president of Walden Equities, a real estate broker, will be involved in obtaining new projects for Tarragon's for-sale housing division, Tarragon said. Gary Steinfeld was hired as a senior vice president with responsibility for "broadening the company's development portfolio in the Metro New York area." Most recently, he was a vice president with AvalonBay Communities. The other additions are: Jennifer A. Nevitt, chief strategist; John Scott Kendall, managing director, for-sale housing; and Ron Leichtner, managing director, corporate finance (responsible for corporate and project acquisitions and joint ventures).

Steve Khoshabe has been named president and chief executive officer of United Financial Mortgage Co., Oak Brook, Ill., and Matt Kauffman has been promoted to chief financial officer.Mr. Khoshabe succeeds Joseph Khoshabe as president and CEO, and the latter will maintain his title as chairman of the board of directors, the company said. Mr. Kauffman was formerly controller of United Financial. The company can be found online at http://www.ufmc.com.

For a majority of prospective homebuyers, coming up with enough money for a downpayment is the biggest barrier to homeownership, according to a survey sponsored by the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.In the online survey of renters who plan to buy a home in the next year, 51% of respondents said they consider making a downpayment the chief hurdle on the path to homeownership and 84% said they do not expect to make a 20% downpayment, which is required by most lenders. "Coming up with a downpayment remains the greatest challenge for many families to overcome in buying a home," said MICA executive vice president Suzanne C. Hutchinson. "Many prospective homebuyers may not be aware that they can become homeowners years sooner with a low downpayment and private mortgage insurance." MICA can be found online at http://www.micanews.com.

One-fourth of homebuyers aged 50 and older are paying more for their latest home than for their previous one, and the new home likely features amenities like structured wiring and exterior maintenance services, according to a study by the National Association of Home Builders and Countrywide Home Loans.The study, to be released at the NAHB's forthcoming Seniors Housing Symposium, was designed to determine what baby boomers and older homebuyers want. "Probably the most striking aspect of the initial results of this study is that many homebuyers aged 50+ are not simply cashing out the equity they built up in the home they raised their children in and downsizing into a less expensive house or apartment," said Jack L. Haynes, executive vice president of Countrywide's National Builder Division in Plano, Texas. "Baby boomers continue to rewrite the rules of consumer behavior at every stage of life, and homebuilders and mortgage lenders need to be prepared to meet their changing demands." The study of builders and developers found that more than half of their buyers in age-qualified, age-targeted, and independent-living communities are spending the same or more on homes. The NAHB can be found online at http://www.nahb.com, and Countrywide can be found at http://www.countrywide.com.

Hersha Hospitality Trust, Harrisburg, Pa., and CNL Hospitality Properties Inc., Orlando, Fla., have announced that CNL has invested $10 million in convertible preferred partnership units of Hersha Hospitality LP.The companies said CNL has committed to invest up to an additional $15 million in Hersha Hospitality LP, the operating partnership of the Hersha real estate investment trust, and up to $40 million in a joint venture with the partnership. The preferred partnership units and joint venture interests are convertible into common stock of the REIT at $6.7555 per share, the weighted average closing price of the stock over the 20 trading days ended April 21. CNL will own a majority limited partnership interest in the joint venture, and the REIT, which owns and operates mid-priced hotels in the Northeast, will serve as the general partner of the venture, the companies said. They can be found online at http://www.hersha.com and http://www.cnlonline.com.

Loan volume placed for the fourth quarter on senior housing and care properties was up 53% compared with that of a year ago, according to the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industries.The Annapolis, Md.-based organization also reported that capital placed in the industry was up 26% for the fourth quarter compared with the third-quarter level, with the total amount outstanding remaining fairly constant at $11.4 billion. "When looking at the amount of permanent debt placed during the quarter by product type, there was a pretty hefty increase on the independent-living side," said Ray Lewis, an NIC board member and senior vice president and chief investment officer of Ventas. "That could be reflective of the increased role that the 'agencies', Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are playing." Short-term debt outstanding for assisted-living properties increased by about 13%, and the skilled nursing sector had the highest level of delinquencies, NIC said.

Berkshire Income Realty Inc., Boston, an affiliate of the Krupp Funds Group, has announced the completion of the last of six exchange offers for its 9% series A cumulative redeemable preferred stock.The offers were made to the holders of interests in six Krupp funds: Krupp Government Income Trust; Krupp Government Income Trust II; Krupp Insured Plus LP; Krupp Insured Plus II LP; Krupp Insured Plus III LP; and Krupp Insured Mortgage LP. The last offer, for Krupp Insured Mortgage, involved an exchange of 0.0750 share of the preferred stock for each of up to 5.0 million shares of KIM, Berkshire said. Approximately 4.16 million shares were validly tendered (and not withdrawn) under the offer, representing about 27.8% of KIM's outstanding shares. Berkshire, a real estate investment trust formed to acquire, own, and operate multifamily residential properties, can be found on the Web at http://www.berkshire-group.com.

ABN Amro Apartment Lending, Ann Arbor, Mich., has changed the name of its wholesale lending division to InterFirst Wholesale Apartment Lending.The retail lending division will continue to operate as ABN Amro Apartment Lending. "The change to InterFirst Wholesale Apartment Lending will accomplish a branding separation between ABN Amro Mortgage Group's retail and wholesale apartment lending operations," said William Newman, executive vice president of the company. "In addition, it will further allow AAMG to leverage the well-established InterFirst name, identity, and expertise." AAMG is an indirect subsidiary of Netherlands-based ABN Amro Bank NV, which can be found online at http://www.abnamro.com.

Fannie Mae has announced the appointment of 29 new members to its 61-member Housing Impact Advisory Council, which meets three times a year with the company's senior management to discuss affordable housing issues.One of the new appointees, Loretta A. Armenta, president and chief executive officer of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, will co-chair the council along with returning member Bob J. Nash, vice-chairman of Shorebank Corp. Council members include civic leaders; executives of nonprofit organizations, state housing agencies, and financial institutions; developers; and professionals in the fields of law, housing, and real estate. Members serve staggered two-year terms. Fannie Mae can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

SouthTrust Corp., Birmingham, Ala., has announced several organizational changes at the holding company level and at SouthTrust Bank, the parent company of SouthTrust Mortgage.Julian Banton, chairman and chief executive officer of the bank, will assume the additional roles of president and chief operating officer of SouthTrust Corp. Tom Coley has been named vice chairman of SouthTrust Corp. and elected to the holding company's board of directors. A 14-year veteran of SouthTrust, Mr. Coley's experience has included management positions in mortgage lending and corporate banking, among other areas. Glenn Eubanks, a 19-year veteran of the company, has been named president and COO of the bank and elected to its board, the company said. His previous management roles have included president and chief banking officer of the bank, as well as responsibility for the bank's commercial real estate business unit. Frank Schmidt, who has been with the company for 39 years, has been named vice chairman of the bank and elected a member of its board. SouthTrust can be found on the Internet at http://www.southtrust.com.