National Mortgage News articles from February 2004

National Mortgage News archives from February 2004

Inside Track.
February 2, 2004... OPEN FORUM Examining the GSEs 4 EQUITIES Downey Net Income Down, Servicing Performance Up 12 Home Builders Keeping Tabs on Land Availability Makes Smart Growth Smarter 13 PEOPLE 25 SPECIAL...

OFHEO Asks Freddie for 30% Surplus.
February 2, 2004... The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has asked Freddie Mac to maintain a 30% surplus over its minimum capital requirement, a measure that, for now, will have little immediate impact on the company. One analyst noted that, in...

Bond Yields Spike.
February 2, 2004... A sudden jump in rate-indicative bond market yields surprised and alarmed mortgage originators last week, who previously had been enjoying relative lower rates. The bond market reaction - which boosted the 10-year Treasury yield to a level...

'Pre-Emption' Issue Heats Up.
February 2, 2004... The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's "pre-emption" plans came under attack at a congressional hearing last week, but key Republicans defended the rules, which exempt national banks and their mortgage subsidiaries from state predatory...

Servicers Report Decent Growth in 4Q.
February 2, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) A Sample Name of Res Servicer Serv Vol Serv Vol Percentage at 12/03 at 12/02 Change Flagstar Bank FSB $33,764 $29,418 15% ...

Changing of Guard at E-Loan.
February 2, 2004... The chief operating officer of E-Loan resigned last Thursday, a day in which the company revealed that fourth-quarter earnings plunged 95% and its stock skidded by as much as 20%. E-Loan, based here, said it accepted the resignation of...

U.S. Mortgage Insurance Firms: Ranked by Policies-in-Force at 3Q 2003.
February 2, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) Name of Policies-in-for Rank by Pol. Is MI Unit Mortgage Insurer at 9/30/03 Written in 3Q Publicly Traded? Mortgage Guaranty Inv. $190,963 1 ...

Correction-BridgeSpan/Still in Business.
February 2, 2004... Our earlier report in the Jan. 19 issue of NMN that BridgeSpan had ceased all operations was incorrect. We regret the error. The BridgeSpan website has relaunched, after having been taken down in the wake of the closure of Bridgespan Title. The...

UP Merger Creates Top 20 Servicer.
February 2, 2004... When Regions Financial here merges with Union Planters Corp., Memphis, Tenn., it will create a Southeast-based regional mortgage giant that will rank 20th among all residential servicers nationwide, according to figures compiled by National...

M&A Result.
February 2, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) UP and Regions Merger Servicing Bank Name Serv at 9/30 Mkt Sh Rk Union Planters Mort $28,818 0.42% 28 Regions Mortgage $16,030 0.23% 38 ...

Banking Industry Opposes Required SEC Stock Registration by FHLBs.
February 2, 2004... The banking industry is throwing cold water on a Federal Housing Finance Board proposal that would require the Federal Home Loan Banks to "voluntarily" register their stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For the past 18...

Emerging Technology.
February 2, 2004... Technology can help target and qualify the emerging markets candidates lenders will need to remain successful in this decade. That's the compelling argument of David Flaxman, chief e-solutions technology officer of Fannie Mae and one of the...

Examining the GSEs.
February 2, 2004... Mr. Falcon recently testified before a House Financial Services Subcommittee on OFHEO's December report of the special examination of Freddie Mac. Excerpts of his statement are presented as our Open Forum. In the early 1990s, Freddie Mac...

MBA Seeking Stronger GSE Oversight and a National Lending Standard.
February 2, 2004... Strengthening federal oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and getting Congress to pass a national lending standard that protects consumers from predatory lending tops the Mortgage Bankers Association's legislative agenda this year. ...

IRS Targeting Real Estate Fraud.
February 2, 2004... Guess who's going after the property flippers and crooked mortgage brokers? None other than the Internal Revenue Service. The number of real estate fraud investigations conducted by the IRS criminal unit has doubled in the past two years,...

1st Republic Does CBO.
February 2, 2004... First Republic Bank here and its Trainer Wortham & Co. subsidiary have completed a $275 million collateralized bond obligation, the net proceeds of which have been used to purchase a securities portfolio that consists primarily of...

Lipper: Returns in Fan/Fred Funds Top '03 Rankings.
February 2, 2004... Mutual funds invested mainly in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities topped the rankings of mortgage funds in 2003, reporting an average cumulative total return of 2.50%, according to data from Lipper Inc., New York. Funds invested...

Selected National Mortgage Fund Performance.
February 2, 2004... (part 1 of 3) Latest Tot 1 Year Fund Net Assets 12/31/02-12/31/03 Prim Name ($Mil) Cum Tot Ret(%) Rank ...

Judge Rules NYC Anti-Predatory Lending Law Pre-Empted.
February 2, 2004... In a ruling falling on the side of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the New York City Council's anti-predatory lending law was invalidated by Justice Michael D. Stallman of Manhattan Supreme Court last week. Some in the industry say they are glad Local...

Roundup: Canadian Housing Starts Hit Highest Level Seen Since 1988.
February 2, 2004... Housing starts in Canada have reached their highest level since 1988, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has reported. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 217,600 in December, compared to 215,000 in November, the...

EMEA: RMBS Largest asset class.
February 2, 2004... Residential mortgage-backed securities became the largest structured finance asset class in Europe, the Middle East and Africa during 2003, according to recent report written by Judit Seymour, a vice president and senior analyst at Moody's...

European RE 'Modestly Good'.
February 2, 2004... Many real estate investors anticipate "modestly good" profitability in European markets this year, according to a report released by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP at the ULI's European Property Development and...

RE fund increases capital.
February 2, 2004... The capital of the Credit Suisse real estate fund Siat, which invests in residential property, has been increased by 106.3 million Swiss francs (about $83.9 million), Credit Suisse Asset Management has reported. "The proceeds from the...

Earnings Roundup: Downey Net Income Down, Servicing Performance Up.
February 2, 2004... Downey Financial Corp. here reported that net income for the fourth quarter fell to $23.8 million, or $0.85 per share, from $40 million, or $1.43 per share in the fourth quarter of 2002. Net income for the full year was also down, totaling...

Golden West Earnings Top $1B.
February 2, 2004... Golden West Financial here, parent of World Savings Bank, reported record net earnings in excess of $1 billion for 2003. The company reported diluted earnings per share of $7.14 for the full year, up 17% from 2002. The company, a major...

First Horizon's Income Rises.
February 2, 2004... First Tennessee National Corp. here said its First Horizon Home Loans mortgage subsidiary had pretax income of $428.7 million for all of 2003, up 58% from $271.9 million for 2002. The parent company had net earnings for the year of $473.3...

New Century Earnings Set Record.
February 2, 2004... New Century Financial Corp. here has reported record net earnings of $245.5 million ($6.56 per share) for 2003, compared with $179.7 million ($4.62 per share) the year before. For the fourth quarter, the company reported record earnings of...

Flagstar Earnings.
February 2, 2004... Flagstar Bancorp Inc. here reported fourth-quarter earnings of $36.7 million (earnings per share $0.57), up from $32.1 million (EPS $0.51) in the same period of 2002. While lower refinancing rates did take a toll on mortgage originations, a...

RAIT Net Income On Upswing.
February 2, 2004... RAIT Investment Trust had net income of $13.5 million ($0.60 per share) for the fourth quarter, a 15.4% increase over the net income of $11.7 million ($0.63 per share) for the fourth quarter of 2002. And for the year ended Dec. 31, 2003,...

Branch Expansion Affects Amcore.
February 2, 2004... Amcore Financial Inc. here reported fourth-quarter 2003 earnings per share of $0.39, compared to $0.49 for the same period in 2002, a decline the company said was due to "expenses incurred from branch expansion, significantly lower mortgage...

Earnings Loan Vols Back Trend.
February 2, 2004... Loan volumes reported recently in conjunction with lenders' earnings continue to bear out previous expectations that year-end results would show that the boom in originations seen last year slowed during the last quarter of 2003. For...

Study: Keeping Tabs on Land Availability Makes Smart Growth Smarter.
February 2, 2004... Buy land, Will Rogers once said. They ain't making any more of it. Well, as it turns out, they aren't keeping track of it, either, says Charles Ruma, president of the National Center for Housing and the Environment. "So many times...

Looking at Affordable Housing as a 'Workforce' Issue.
February 2, 2004... Bobby Rayburn, the new president of the National Association of Home Builders, hopes to do for the term "workforce housing" what his predecessors have done for the phrase "smart growth." NAHB, which held its annual convention here, coined...

Commercial/MF Lending: Mixed Scenario Ahead.
February 2, 2004... The year ahead might well turn out to be a good news/bad news scenario for commercial real estate. The good news is that an improving economy is likely to translate into higher job formation, which will benefit all the property types. ...

Commercial MBS Interest Shortfall Solutions a Short Term Fix?
February 2, 2004... The commercial mortgage-backed securities industry is making progress in dealing with the issue of interest shortfalls on deals, but it is possible that the issues could crop up later in a different form. The problem came to the fore as the...

Moody's Sees Strengthening CRE.
February 2, 2004... The worst may be over for commercial real estate, according to Moody's Investors Service. Based on its quarterly Red-Yellow-Green report, both multifamily and shopping centers are expected to perform well over the next year, the hotel sector is...

Economic Recovery May Not Translate into CRE Investment Gains.
February 2, 2004... An improving U.S. economy, which makes for increased demand and better fundamentals for most property types, bodes well for the commercial real estate outlook, according to Prudential Real Estate Investors. PREI is concerned however that...

Top Commercial Servicers at 9/30/03.
February 2, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. Horsham, PA 2 Midland Loan Svc/PNC RE Finance Overland Park, KS 3 GEMSA...

Investor Targets Growth by Acquisition.
February 2, 2004... HEI Hospitality has plans to increase its hotel investments to more than $1 billion, according to the company. To further this aim, the company has hired Clark W. Hanrattie, as senior vice president and chief investment officer, from...

Top Commercial Mortgage Lenders in 3Q/03.
February 2, 2004... (Dollars in Millions) (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. Horsham, PA 2 Wachovia Charlotte, NC 3 Holliday...

CMBS Issuance to Benefit from Rates, Refis.
February 2, 2004... Issuance of commercial mortgage-backed securities is likely to stay flat or drop from its 2003 level of approximately $75 billion, according to Standard & Poor's. Kim Diamond, a manging director in the S&P structured finance rating group,...

Loan Loss Reserve Project Sees Shift.
February 2, 2004... The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has decided to change the focus of its loan loss reserve project, which had run into strong objections from federal banking regulators and the banking industry. "We are going to...

GE IPO Docs: Groundwork Laid in Europe.
February 2, 2004... When a firm files an "S1" statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it usually includes all of its hopes, dreams and fears as the company prepares to sell its shares to the public. The new S1 filed by General Electric on behalf...

Freddie Purchases Hit 17-Month Low.
February 2, 2004... Loan purchases by Freddie Mac hit a 17-month low in December, reflecting the slowdown in originations in the primary market. However, the news isn't all bad. Purchase commitments rose for the second month in a row. Also, for the year,...

Senate Passes OFHEO/FHA MF Bill.
February 2, 2004... The Senate has passed the $820 billion omnibus appropriations bill that provides additional funding for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and new loan commitment authority for the Federal Housing Administration multifamily...

Publicly Traded 'Subprime' Related Firms.
February 2, 2004... B&C Stock Price Index: 259.7 Change: -18.1 (part 1 of 2) Company 52 wk/lo 52 wk/hi 1/29/2004 Aames (AMSF) 1.11 3.47 3.15 American Business Fin. (ABFI) ...

Countrywide Tops the Charts in 4Q.
February 2, 2004... A slowdown in mortgage lending volume during the fourth quarter did little to dent Countrywide Financial Corp.'s earnings momentum or its ambitious plan to increase market share. In fact, the company originated more home loans than any other...

OCC Comments on the States.
February 2, 2004... Since 1863, the OCC has supervised national banks to ensure a safe, sound and competitive banking system, according to Kevin Mukri, spokesperson for the department. The office follows one uniformed set of federal regulations in all 50 states,...

Yields, Rates to Spike on February 6?
February 2, 2004... Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association, says he expects the federal government to revise employment data upward soon, and that could portend a further increase in the 10-year Treasury yield and mortgage rates. ...

People.
February 2, 2004... CALIFORNIA Folsom-Central Pacific Mortgage promoted Ed Fuchs, who previously held the position of senior vice president of finance and secondary marketing, to executive vice president of finance and secondary marketing. In his new...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 2, 2004... Tanner Cornett joined Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., Cincinnati, as a home mortgage consultant. Her name as stated in the Jan. 19 issue of NMN was incorrect. We regret the error. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

'Thrifts Should Prepare for Rate Rise'.
February 2, 2004... The Office of Thrift Supervision wants thrifts to prepare for rising interest rates and the agency plans to issue new guidance to the industry soon. "We are closely monitoring how thrifts transition from the current intensive 'mortgage...

Fannie Retains Whitewater Prosecutor.
February 2, 2004... Fannie Mae, which is being audited by its regulator for its accounting practices, has retained the legal services of former Whitewater prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, and his law firm. A Fannie Mae spokeswoman confirmed that the mortgage giant...

FHA Sets Deadline for Scorecard Link.
February 2, 2004... All automated underwriting systems must be linked to the Federal Housing Administration's TOTAL Scorecard by May 1 to continue processing FHA single-family loans, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. "The [TOTAL]...

Inside Track.
February 9, 2004... OPEN FORUM In Support of Pre-Emption 4 HOME BUILDERS Federal Housing Administration Backing Creation of More New Homes 23 PEOPLE 24 SPECIAL REPORT Special Section Servicing Next week in San...

Bush Budget Inflexible on GSEs.
February 9, 2004... Judging by the new federal budget, the Bush administration has no plans whatsoever to back down from creating a tough new regulator for all three housing GSEs. In explicit language, the White House said it fears an "unexpected economic...

A $2 Trillion Market.
February 9, 2004... The banner mortgage year of 2003 for residential originations has extended into the commercial side of the business as well. The Mortgage Bankers Association announced at its Commercial Real Estate Financing convention in Orlando, Fla., last...

MBA: GMACCM Is Still No.1.
February 9, 2004... The latest ranking of commercial mortgage servicers by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows little change at the top compared to the MBA's previous ranking. GMAC Commercial Mortgage remained the top commercial mortgage servicer at the...

MBA Commercial Mortgage Servicer Rankings '03: Based on Total Master/Primary Servicing Volume 12/31/03.
February 9, 2004... Rk Company ($ Million) No. of Loans 1 GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. $213,726 60,683 2 Wachovia Securities $120,228 16,304 3 ...

The 'Very Small' Buying Loans.
February 9, 2004... Thrifts and banks were as active secondary mortgage market players as ever last year, but more "very small" institutions than ever sold their loans, according to a real estate lending survey by America's Community Bankers. Almost twice as...

Rresidential Servicers Ranked by Number of Loans: Serviced at 9/30/03.
February 9, 2004... (part 1 of 2) Rk Organization Name Location 1 Washington Mutual Seattle, WA 2 Countrywide Fin'l Corp. Calabasas, CA 3 Wells Fargo Home Mtg San Francisco 4 Chase Home Finance Edison, NJ 5 ...

Dot-Com Office Vacancies at 28.26%.
February 9, 2004... Do you know the way to San Jose? If you're looking for cheap office space you may want to head for this city, once the epicenter of the dot-com boom. According to figures compiled by the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, the...

Court: Ex-GSE CEO Must Cooperate.
February 9, 2004... A federal judge has ordered former Freddie Mac chairman and chief executive Leland Brendsel to testify before the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which continues to probe the mortgage giant's $5 billion accounting scandal. ...

Homeownership Rate Hits New Record High.
February 9, 2004... The U.S. homeownership rate ended 2003 at a record rate of 68.6%, according to the government, and minority homeownership rose above 50% for the first time. The Census Bureau reported that homeownership rates rose from 68.4% in the third...

Promotion Spotlight: Tim Anderson.
February 9, 2004... Dexma Inc., Edina, Minn., has named Mr. Anderson its executive vice president for business solutions. He previously was an EVP at DocuTech. Mr. Anderson has received an award from NMN affiliate Mortgage Technology, recognizing him as an...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
February 9, 2004... * The commercial servicing volume rankings as of the end of September 2003 included the following companies: Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, Dallas, had $12 billion in servicing and ranked sixth; ARCS Commercial Mortgage, Calabasas, Calif., had $11...

Fannie Mae Ceases Buying of B&C Loans with Mandatory Arbitration Clauses.
February 9, 2004... In order to combat predatory lending, Fannie Mae said it will stop purchasing subprime mortgages with mandatory arbitration clauses and will prohibit prepayment penalties longer than three years. The move is an extension of Fannie's American...

Tiberi Introduces 'Zero Down' Bill.
February 9, 2004... Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, has introduced a bill to create a federally insured zero downpayment mortgage to increase homeownership opportunities for borrowers who do not have the cash for a downpayment or closing costs. The bill (H.R. 3755)...

In Support of Pre-Emption.
February 9, 2004... Rep. Oxley, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's regulations to pre-empt state predatory lending laws, made his remarks on Jan. 28 at a hearing by the Oversight and...

Rate-Indicative Treasury Yield Fell Back But Was Poised for Possible Change.
February 9, 2004... The rate-indicative 10-year Treasury note yield at press time last Thursday had receded back to levels near where it had been before it had spiked on news that the Federal Open Market Committee changed the wording of its policy statement,...

'Rumor' Boosts Greenpoint Stock.
February 9, 2004... GreenPoint Financial Corp.'s share price jumped suddenly last Wednesday, reaching a 52-week high of $44.85, according to Yahoo! Finance. The company's stock was trading close to $40 last Tuesday before the spike. Its shares were trading at...

Survey Says: Affluent Believe in a Real Estate Bubble.
February 9, 2004... A growing number of affluent Americans are worried that there is a real estate bubble brewing, according to a study conducted for the McDonald Financial Group, a subsidiary of KeyCorp here. When asked if they believed real estate was...

MGIC Index Shows Stability.
February 9, 2004... Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.'s national Market Trends Index did not change between the third and fourth quarters 2003, remaining at 6.58. The index is a barometer of single-family real estate market conditions, with 1.00 being a weak...

MFP Volume Up 158%.
February 9, 2004... The Federal Home Loan Banks Mortgage Partnership Finance program funded $72.1 billion of loans last year, up 158% from the year before. The FHLBank of Chicago, which coordinates the MPF program, also said that 707 FHLB member financial...

Triad Stands Out Among Mortgage Insurers When It Comes to Earnings.
February 9, 2004... Triad Guaranty Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., bucked the trend of the other three publicly traded mortgage insurance companies by reporting higher year-over-year earnings for the full year and the fourth quarter of 2003. The company reported...

Fannie Mae Invested $36 Billion in Multifamily in '03.
February 9, 2004... Fannie Mae made a total investment of about $36 billion in multifamily housing last year, the government-sponsored enterprise has reported. More than 85% of the multifamily units financed by Fannie Mae last year were in the affordable housing...

GSEs, Countrywide Re-Up With ACB.
February 9, 2004... America's Community Bankers has renewed its secondary mortgage market partnerships with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Countrywide Home Loans. ow in its fourth year, the pact with Fannie Mae is the cornerstone of the ACB's mortgage solutions...

Bank Finds Money Talks When Adding Home Equity Lines of Credit.
February 9, 2004... When Pulaski Bank decided to grow its portfolio by offering borrowers home equity lines of credit to go along with their first mortgages four years ago, the St. Louis-based thrift thought it had the perfect fit for its customers. After...

Roundup: BridgeSpan Says Top Exec Departing, Fidelity to Buy Sanchez.
February 9, 2004... BridgeSpan Inc., a title company and online closing specialist that recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has announced that Larry Walker will resign as president and chief executive officer next month. BridgeSpan, based...

Fidelity to Acquire Sanchez.
February 9, 2004... Fidelity National Financial here has agreed to acquire Malvern, Penn.-based Sanchez Computer Associate, FNF reported. In a prepared statement, FNF chairman and chief executive officer William P. Foley II said that this acquisition...

Fiserv Reports Record Earnings.
February 9, 2004... Fiserv Inc. here has reported record net income of about $81.974 million ($0.42 per basic share) for the fourth quarter, compared with $68.228 million ($0.36 per basic share) for the same quarter a year earlier. "Fiserv finished 2003 with...

Midland Launches 'Enterprise!'.
February 9, 2004... Midland Services Inc. here has gone live with its new Web-based Enterprise! loan management system. To its credit, $90 billion in commercial real estate loans were being serviced on the Enterprise! platform at press time. The system was...

GMAC-RFC Seeks Local Partners in Germany.
February 9, 2004... GMAC-RFC is looking for local German business partners to work in conjunction with its recently established mortgage lending effort in that country, an executive from the company, based here, told National Mortgage News. The acquisition of...

Roundup: A Big Yen For Yen, Etc.
February 9, 2004... The American mortgage market will need to attract more money than ever from overseas to meet the demand for housing in the coming years, a top secondary market official said last week. "Over the course of the next 10 years, we must find $6...