Originations

John Williams, founder and director of Post Properties, has initiated a proxy effort to elect his nominees to the Atlanta-based multifamily real estate investment trust's board of directors.Mr. Williams - also the REIT's largest shareholder, with ownership of about 7.3% of Post shares outstanding, according to his filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission - has proposed George R. Puskar, Roy E. Barnes, Paul J. Dolinoy, Thomas J.A. Lavin and Jansen Noyes III as nominees for the Post board, in opposition to those proposed by Post's incumbent board. If elected, Mr. Williams' nominees will submit a plan "to raise the quality of corporate governance, improve operating performance and enhance shareholder value," according to Mr. Williams. In response to this development, Moody's Investors Service has placed the ratings of Post Properties "under review for downgrade," citing concerns about the effects of the likely proxy fight on the REIT's "strategic direction and financial profile." The ratings of Post Properties' preferred stock, senior unsecured debt and senior unsecured debt shelf are impacted by the Moody's action. Moody's has had a negative rating outlook on Post since February 2002, the rating agency reports.

GreenPoint Financial Corp. here and its A/alternative A credit mortgage subsidiary have made a "substantial" equity investment in The Winter Group, formalizing a strategic relationship the bank holding company has had with the secondary market loan platform/broker-dealer.Each of the two New York-based companies also have made some other notable business moves recently. The Winter Group, which includes broker-dealer Terwin Capital, LLC, has secured a $600 million warehouse line from Merrill Lynch. Separately, GreenPoint has announced that its mortgage funding subsidiary has entered an agreement with PBIS Insurance, an affiliate of The Prieston Group, to cover alt A loans purchased through the former's correspondent channel against breaches of representations and warranties related to fraud. GreenPoint can be found online at http://www.greenpoint.com.

The Market Composite Index, an overall measure of mortgage applications, fell to 1246.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended April 4 from 1262.5 the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers of America's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.On an unadjusted basis, applications were down 1.0% on the week but up 159.7% from the level recorded a year earlier. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Purchase Index rose to 400.8 from 364.7, and the Refinance Index fell to 6162.8 from 6484.6. Refinancings represented 70.3% of total applications, down from the previous week's 73.3%, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 14.4%. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.80% from 5.63% and points (including the origination fee) decreased from 1.50 to 1.38 for loans with 80% loan-to-value ratios, the MBA reported. The MBA can be found online at http://www.mbaa.org.

Kennedy Wilson, an international real estate investment fund management and real estate services firm, has created a division of Kennedy Wilson Properties that will focus on "value added and opportunistic commercial real estate investments" on the West Coast, the company said.The new group, led by senior managing director Robert Hart, will concentrate on acquiring, repositioning and disposing of multifamily and commercial properties throughout the Western U.S.

GMAC Residential Funding, Minneapolis, has added three new credit data providers to its Assetwise Direct automated underwriting system, giving originators more choice in their evaluation process.Factual Data Corp., Informative Research and its affiliate INFO1 have been integrated into Assetwise Direct, bringing to five the number of credit providers offered to originators using Assetwise Direct to evaluate loans at the point-of-sale. The company also said Assetwise Direct has been enhanced to allow lenders the opportunity to apply their own brand identity to the system to establish a stronger presence at the point-of-sale.

Proposed changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act will likely put more pressure on lenders to automate decision-making in the loan application process so that they can meet disclosure deadlines, according to a speaker at the MBA National Secondary Market Conference in New York.Derek Long, president of Lenders E-Source, said that a three day deadline for making disclosures to consumers means that lenders will need to know where a loan can fit in the secondary market right away. Lenders will have to "be confident that you know where your loan is going to go," he said at the conference.

In an indication that U.S. commercial real estate may be bottoming out, the performance of more individual markets showed improvement in the fourth quarter of 2002 than in the third quarter, according to a study by Moody's Investors Service.The rating agency's "Red-Yellow-Green" index on U.S. commercial property markets changed very little nationally, but Moody's did see changes in specific markets. Only five of 50 office markets covered by the study are expected to see "negative absorption" of space over the next 12 months, according to the report. Even the stressed hotel sector some improvement, with its overall score rising to 24 points from 7 in the third quarter. However, of the 25 hotel markets covered by Moody's, three are "green," meaning they see little trouble; four are "yellow," and require monitoring; and 17 are in the "red" zone, meaning they are under stress. Of 53 multifamily markets covered by Moody's, 28 are green, 25 are yellow, and none are red.

Six months ago at its annual convention, the Mortgage Bankers Association was looking for $1.8 trillion in loan originations in 2003.Two months ago, the MBA raised its forecast to $2 trillion. Now, Chief Economist Doug Duncan expects this year's volume to reach a "best ever" $2.6 trillion. "Half of that is already in the pipeline, so it's not too much a stretch" to believe loan production this year will top last year's record of $2.5 billion, Mr. Duncan said at the MBA's National Secondary Market Conference in New York. The economist expects 58% of this year's total to be refinancings, just about the same as the 59% recorded in 2002. But he thinks home sales will remain flat. Mr. Duncan also predicted "only a modest uptick" in mortgage rates over the year, to 6.1% in the third quarter and 6.3% in the fourth. "Rates will rise through the end of the year, but only modestly," the economist said. As for the overall economy, Mr. Duncan said jobs remain key. "War is on everyone's mind, but at the end of the day, jobs are what is going to make the difference," he said. Unfortunately, he is looking for the unemployment rate to rise. Over 400,000 jobs have been lost of the payroll side in the last two months, he pointed out.

The ratings of five classes of Credit Suisse First Boston Mortgage Securities Corp.'s commercial mortgage pass-through certificates, series 2001-FL2, have been lowered by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.The ratings were lowered as follows: class J, from BB to BB-minus; class K, from BB-minus to B; class L, from B-plus to B-minus; class M, from B to CCC-plus; and class N, from B-minus to CCC. The ratings on classes K, L, M and N were also placed on CreditWatch negative. Ratings were affirmed on 10 other classes of the series and raised on four other classes. "The lowered ratings are the result of the pool's overall debt service coverage decline since issuance and the weakened operating performance of five loans," S&P said. "The CreditWatch placement of the four downgraded classes reflects the interest shortfalls that are occurring in various classes whose interest recovery is expected in the next few months. If the interest recoveries should extend beyond that period, the ratings on some or all of the shorted classes will be set to D." S&P can be found online at http://www.standardandpoors.com.

Rhombic Corp., Campbell, Calif., has changed its name to Silverado Financial Inc. and announced a new strategic direction focused on the mortgage and real estate industries.Rhombic also announced plans for a 5-for-1 reverse stock split, and said it will apply to the National Association of Securities Dealers for a change in trading symbol and CUSIP number. Silverado will be a services company focused on mortgage brokerage, mortgage banking, property management, commercial property investment, and software technology related to the real estate and lending industries, the company said. John E. Hartman, president and chief executive officer of Rhombic, said the reverse stock split "will allow the company to provide a higher value per share, position it to acquire valuable assets, and raise additional capital with lower dilution to our shareholders."

LandSafe Inc., a subsidiary of Countrywide Financial Corp., will provide access to flood determinations through the users of Calyx' Point loan origination software.The Point version 4.1 interface allows originators using the system to request flood information from LandSafe without swapping applications. The request is transmitted through the Internet.

The PMI Group Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., has reported making an additional $24.4 million investment in RAM Reinsurance Co. Ltd., a Bermuda-based financial reinsurer.The investment enables PMI to maintain a 24.9% stake in RAM Re, which raised a total of $91.6 million of additional capital, including an unspecified initial investment by MBIA Inc., one of the world's largest financial guarantee insurers. Brad Shuster, president of PMI Capital Corp., a PMI Group subsidiary, said the investment by MBIA had enabled RAM Re to preserve its triple-A rating with Standard & Poor's. PMI Group, through its subsidiaries, provides mortgage insurance in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, and mortgage guaranty reinsurance in Hong Kong. It can be found online at http://www.pmigroup.com.

Over 85% of banks are expecting to generate commercial real estate loan volume for 2003 equal or greater to their 2002 volume, according to a survey of senior loan officers at 119 banks conducted by Bridger Commercial Funding.The San Francisco-based capital markets intermediary said that 51% of banks are reporting "somewhat tighter" underwriting and 37% are reporting unchanged standards. On the borrower side too, demand remains reasonably strong, Bridger reports. About 75% of survey respondents said that borrower demand for commercial real estate loans is either "somewhat strong" or "moderate." And, in the current low interest rate environment, 83% of bankers report "very strong" or "somewhat strong" borrower demand for long-term, fixed-rate financing. Demand for short-term floating rate debt seems to be on the decline, with 63% of respondents reporting "moderate" or "somewhat strong" interest. Two-thirds of the respondents expect that the performance of commercial real estate overall will remain strong over the next 12 months, with moderate delinquency levels and limited foreclosures. The multifamily sector is seen as the strongest, with office, retail and warehouse property expected to be "reasonably strong." The lodging sector is seen as the most vulnerable. Bridger's website is at www.bridgerfunding.com.

Responding to the "groundswell for standardization," Fannie Mae is offering a new pooling option for conventional five-year hybrid adjustable rate mortgages.Effective for pool dates as of May 1, the company will offer a standard MBS option for conforming hybrids indexed to the one-year Wall Street Journal LIBOR and carrying a 5-2-5 cap structure.

In February, mortgage insurers underwrote $26 billion of new, primary MI coverage and the performance of existing policies improved, according to the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.The new insurance volume is down 6.5% from January's $27.8 billion. By category, February volume breaks down to $22.7 billion traditional and $3.3 billion bulk. Application volume declined by nearly 5% from January, from 247,955 to 236,050. For the first time in nearly a year, there are more primary insurance cures than there are defaults. There were 52,288 cures compared with 49,334 defaults for a ratio of 106%. The last time the ratio was over 100% was in March 2002. In January, the ratio hit a recent low of 75.9%.

American Mortgage Acceptance Co., a New York City-based multifamily real estate investment trust, has announced a public offering of 1.7 million common shares of beneficial interest at a price of $15 per share.AMAC said the net proceeds will total approximately $24 million. The underwriters, RBC Capital Markets and JMP Securities, have been granted a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 255,000 shares to cover overallotments. The REIT can be found on the Web at http://www.americanmortgageco.com.

Charter Municipal Mortgage Acceptance Co., New York, has announced that a subsidiary has closed a $100 million bond securitization and another subsidiary has closed a $75 million revolving credit facility.In the securitization, Tax-Exempt Multifamily Housing Trust Certificates Series 2003A, CharterMac and its consolidated subsidiaries contributed 19 fixed-rate, tax-exempt multifamily housing and senior housing revenue bonds totaling about $196.8 million, the company said. Out of the trust were sold $100 million in class A certificates to institutional investors via Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. The credit facility, a secured revolving tax-exempt bond warehouse line of credit, has a two-year term, with a one-year extension option. It bears interest at 150 basis points above the London interbank offered rate or 25 bps above the prime rate, the company said. CharterMac, an investor in the financing of affordable multifamily housing, can be found on the Web at http://www.chartermac.com.

BankAtlantic Bancorp, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., is planning to separate Levitt Corp., its real estate development subsidiary, in a tax-free spinoff under which Levitt would become a separate publicly traded company.Subject to regulatory ruling, the transaction is expected to take place in the third or fourth quarter, the banking conglomerate said. The spinoff would include all of Levitt's 100%-owned subsidiaries: Levitt and Sons, a homebuilder; Core Communities, a developer of "masterplanned" communities; and Levitt Commercial, an industrial and retail property developer and investor. "In deciding on this course of action, we determined that Levitt Corp.'s future growth prospects would be better met as a free-standing entity, with independent access to capital and debt markets," said Alan B. Levan, chief executive officer of BankAtlantic. "Further, we believe this action will augment the ability of our banking subsidiary, BankAtlantic, to expand its capital access and improve its growth potential." The spinoff will return BankAtlantic to its "more traditional roots as a Florida-based financial services and banking company," Mr. Levan said.

Capital flowed into real estate "at a brisk pace" in the first quarter despite the fact that fundamentals weakened in all sectors of the market, according to a quarterly investor survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.Apartment and industrial assets have suffered as capital has shifted into the retail and office sectors, the PricewaterhouseCoopers Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey found. "With few alternative hedges against risk in the broader economy, investors are still willing to pay a premium for the relative safety of quality real estate," said Peter Korpacz, director of the Global Strategic Real Estate Research Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. "However, if occupancy rates and rents remain sluggish or continue to worsen, and interest rates rise, prices could drop precipitously." The survey also found that capital is flowing into fewer regional markets, especially the Midwest and the West Coast. PwC can be found on the Web at http://www.pwcglobal.com.

Oak Street Mortgage LLC, Carmel, Ind., has announced that it plans to invest in companies in the nonmortgage areas of the financial services sector in order to diversify and create a long-term, sustainable business.The company said it has established criteria such as industries of interest, ideal company size for investment, desired structure and level of investment, and management style. "We are aggressively looking at a variety of diversification options, including acquiring or starting an insurance agency, collection company, commercial finance company, and a bank," said Richard Dennen, director of business development at Oak Street. The company can be found online at http://www.oakstreetmortgage.com.