|
|
Mortgage Headlines
|
powered by
|
 |
|
|
Last Updated Friday, January 17, 2003 10:49 AM CST
|
|
Rates to Hover at Current Levels, Freddie Economist Says
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's weekly index, applications took a 2.4% fall to 1154.3 for the week ending January 10, compared with last week's 1182.3. On the rise, Freddie Mac's weekly survey revealed the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to be 5.97% for the week ending Jan. 17. Mortgage rates should hover around their current levels, and 2003 should be another strong housing market year, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie. Half of mortgage experts polled on Bankrate.com's weekly panel said they expect rates to head south over the next 30 to 45 days.
BoA 2002 Net $9.25 Billion
Bank of America reported $2.61 billion in net income during the third quarter, compared with $2.24 billion during the third quarter. On a yearly basis, the bank reported $9.25 billion in net income during 2002. A spokeswoman said the company's mortgage banking income reached $206 million during the fourth quarter.
Household Net Drops
Household International, Inc. reported $338 million in net income for the fourth quarter. This is an almost 53% increase from third quarter's $221 million. For the fourth quarter, the Prospect Heights, Ill.-based company announced $45.8 billion in real estate-secured owned receivables, an almost 5.6% decrease from third quarter's $48.5 billion. Securitization revenue on an owned basis totaled $536 million during 2002, a 5% increase from the fourth quarter of 2001.
Record $848.9 Billion Business Volume During 2002 at Fannie
Fannie Mae reported net income of $4.6 billion in 2002, a 21.6% decrease from 2001's year-end total of almost $5.9 billion. That year-to-year decrease is because of $4.5 billion in mark-to-market losses, on a pre-tax basis, in the time value of purchased options -- interest rate "swaptions" and interest rate caps, Fannie said. Fannie's business volume reached a record $848.9 billion by the end of the year. This represents an almost 38.0% increase from 2001's total of $615.3 billion. Fannie's combined book of business, which is the gross balance of mortgages held in portfolio and outstanding MBS held by other investors, ended the year at $1.820 trillion.
SunTrust Reports 2002 Earnings
SunTrust Banks, Inc. reported almost $72.7 billion in average loans during the fourth quarter, an almost 1.4% increase from third quarter's $71.7 billion. It reported $68.1 million in mortgage servicing-related losses during the fourth quarter, more than the almost $11 million loss reported during the same time last year. SunTrust also reported $103.3 in mortgage production-related income for the fourth quarter, an almost 77.0% increase from last year's $58.4 million.
Record $5.3 Billion Flagstar December Production
Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. announced that it closed $5.3 billion in residential mortgage loans, beating its previous record of $5.2 billion during November. The company reported closing $15.6 billion in loans during the fourth quarter. Flagstar announced closing a corporate annual record of $43.2 billion in mortgage loans.
Calif Sues Long Beach for Interest Overcharges
The California Department of Corporations filed the suit in the Superior Court of Sacramento County and is seeking $9 million in civil penalties against Long Beach Mortgage Company, Washington Mutual's subprime lending branch, a department announcement said. In 1999, the state department found that Long Beach was overcharging its borrowers by beginning interest charges too early, the announcement said. The state department instructed Long Beach to pay back its borrowers the overcharged interest and stop the overcharging practice. After a review of loans that Long Beach originated between Dec. 14, 1999, and Jan. 31, 2002, the department said it still finds the lender in noncompliance even after Long Beach claimed to have implemented safeguards to correct the problem.
407,000 Employed in Mortgage Lending
About 407,000 people held the title of mortgage broker or banker during the month of December, according to the seasonally adjusted monthly report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That represents an almost 1.8% increase from November's figure of about 400,000. The bureau also reported December's general unemployment rate at 6.0%, tied with November and April for the highest rate of 2002.
Countrywide 2002 Production 1/4 Trillion
Countrywide Financial Corporation reported $102.1 billion in total fundings for the fourth quarter, which is the first time Countrywide has produced a $100 billion-quarter. Countrywide reported a monthly record in total fundings with December's $35.2 billion. Year-to-date, the company reported funding $250 billion, an 82% increase from the $138.2 billion produced in 2001.
MortgageDaily.com Users Top 10,000
The number of registered MortgageDaily.com users has passed the ten grand mark, according to a user registration system implemented in August. Of the more than 10,000 registered users of the online industry news publication, about 63% of them said they work in loan origination. Users who work in loan production, including loan processors, sales managers, underwriters, and closers, total more than 6% of the registered readership, down a bit from the 7% who claimed this field in October.
Rates Rise From Record Lows
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.95% during the week ending Jan. 10, up a bit from last week's 5.85%, according to Freddie Mac. One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.03% this week. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America reported an increase in mortgage applications for the week ending Jan. 3, which came in at 1182.3. That number is a 24.3% increase from the previous week's index of 950.9. This week's panel of mortgage experts on Bankrate.com's weekly survey said they think mortgage rates are headed south again.
Scratch & Dent RMBS Issuance Up
Moody's Investors Services reported that the market for non-standard residential mortgage-backed securities deals backed by scratch-and-dent, reperforming, sub-performing, and non-performing loans is gaining ground. However, some analysts say this characterization is skewed because issuance in general has multiplied. The four major categories of non-compliance that lead to a scratch-and-dent label are misassigned credit grade, poor appraisal quality, consumer law compliance issues, and missing loan documentation.Reperforming loans have suffered a serious 90-day or more delinquency in the past, but are back in shape and have demonstrated payment ability once again. Non-performing loans are seriously delinquent, and the expected outcome for them is liquidation.
New Century Production Soars
New Century Financial Corporation reported almost $4.5 billion in volume during the fourth quarter, an 18.4% increase from the third quarter's $3.8 billion.December hit record volume with a reported $1.7 billion, compared with almost $1.3 billion in November and $750 million in December 2001. New Century's fiscal year 2002 finished up with almost $14.2 billion in loan volume.
Economy to Escalate CMBS Delinquencies
The credit performance of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) has been exceptionally strong over the past 10 years, according to a report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P). However, the report also said the slow economic recovery will produce escalating delinquencies. The report, "Credit Performance of U.S. Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities," revealed the results of a study that began in September examining cumulative principal losses and the potential future losses of 237 pools of multi-borrower CMBS issued in the United States that were rated by one or more of the three U.S. rating agencies between 1994 and mid-2002, S&P said.
30-day Q3 Delinquency Down 14 bps, 90's rise
Mortgage delinquency slowed during the third quarter and foreclosures remained flat, according to the National Delinquency Survey released Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA). For one-to-four unit residential properties, the delinquency rate was 4.66% during the third quarter, the MBA found. That seasonally adjusted rate is an 11 basis points (bps) decrease from second quarter, and a drop of 17 bps from third quarter 2001.
Cendant's High Default Rate in KC & St. Louis Spur HUD Audit
After completing an audit of Cendant Mortgage Corp. because of its high default rate in St. Louis, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has asked the lender to indemnify more than 1,000 loans that were improperly endorsed for federal insurance coverage. HUD also recommended that the federal Mortgage Review Board require Cendant and the Office of Housing to begin protecting the insurance fund against future losses.
Quicken Settles Charges it Failed to Provide Adverse Action Notices
Quicken Loans, Inc. has agreed to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the mortgage lender violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the FTC announced Dec. 30. The federal regulator said Quicken failed to provide "adverse action" notices, which notifies consumers when their credit report is wholly or partly the reason for denial of credit. Quicken told its customers who didn't preapprove for an online loan that they had "unique borrowing needs." Quicken then instructed them to click through to provide contact information. Consumers who received the "unique borrowing needs" advisory but did not submit the contact information online received no further contact from the Lavonia, Mich.-based company, the FTC said.
Max FHA Loan Now $280,749
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced last week that the loan limit on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured single-family mortgages will increase to a maximum of $280,749 in high cost areas. In low cost areas, the new limit is $154,896. The annual FHA increase follows Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's conforming loan limit increase, announced in November.
How Low Can They Go?
Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 5.85% -- its lowest point since Freddie began tracking it in 1971. The average 15-year fell eight basis points from last week to a record low 5.24%, Freddie said. The average one-year adjustable rate mortgage rose five BPS from last week record low to 4.06%, according to Freddie's survey. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America said overall applications rose 4.7% from last week, with the application index reaching 950.9.
Bankers, Appraiser Accused in Builder Fraud Case
According to a copy of an FBI affidavit completed in May, A. William Erpenbeck, Jr., who was president of homebuilder The Erpenbeck Company, directed his employees to deposit checks made out to construction lenders to the company's own account at Peoples Bank of Northern Kentucky. The FBI estimates that Erpenbeck diverted approximately $25 million in construction payoff proceeds to the company account. The affidavit accuses two bank executives of falsely listing down payments in order to secure loans on properties they purchased from Erpenbeck. A Kentucky appraiser is also being investigated for her role in determining values on properties that were financed for more than the loan amount.
COFI Tumbles to Lowest Level in Decades
According to the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, the monthly weighted average cost of funds index (COFI) for savings institutions in the 11th District fell to 2.537% in November, down from 2.708% in October. With this latest drop, the COFI stands at its lowest level in decades.
|
|
This mortgage news summary reprinted with permission of
|
|
|
For the entire text of any of these stories please visit
|
|
|
|
