In case you missed it, all the heavy hitters made appearances in this week's industry headlines. Most notably was American Home Mortgage filing for bankruptcy protection, which was approved by the courts yesterday. The company has already fired 6,000 employees as it prepares to shut down operations and evaluate remaining assets that could be sold. American Home wasn't alone though, as Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc eliminated their Alt-A loans and HomeBanc exited from the US market.
In the wake of these misfortunes however, several companies seem to not only be sustaining, but growing. Countrywide has stepped in and is taking over five HomeBanc branches over three states. It also seems as though they've increased their marketing efforts, last night I saw a Countrywide banner ad on the MSN home page (a pricey spot). In addition, and with no real surprise, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac find themselves poised to prosper as they offer to "rescue the credit markets" - but for a price!
Stay tuned until next time, when survival of the fittest continues. Have a great week.
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Steve Roberts |
| The market has changed, and phones aren't going to be ringing off the hook with people saying I want to get a lower rate knowing that all rates out there are lower then what they have currently. Its time to stop and revisit the way we are taking calls and handling the business that is available.
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Reuters |
| The near collapse of subprime loans has sent aftershocks into the broader mortgage market, pressuring some companies to quit or curtail their lending.
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WashingtonPost |
| For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the chronically embattled companies chartered by the government to make homeownership more attainable, the recent upheaval in the mortgage market presents financial and political opportunities.
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Bloomberg |
| Mortgage applications in the U.S. rose last week by the most since January, as cheaper borrowing costs encouraged more Americans to seek loans for home purchases and refinancing.
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NewYorkTimes |
| The private-mortgage insurer MGIC Investment said on Tuesday that it did not believe that it had to complete its $4.9 billion purchase of the credit risk manager Radian Group after their joint interest in a mortgage investor became all but worthless.
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MSNBC |
| Countrywide Financial, the largest mortgage lender in the US, will take over certain assets from Atlanta-based lender HomeBanc's retail mortgage operations, the companies announced on Tuesday.
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Bloomberg |
| U.S. home sales will tumble to a five- year low this year as a widening credit crunch reduces the number of buyers who can get mortgages, the National Association of Realtors said today.
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NewsDay |
| Taking the stand in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Tuesday, American Home Mortgage founder and chief executive Michael Strauss faced the public for the first time since his company experienced a spectacularly rapid collapse over the last three weeks.
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Forbes |
| The mortgage fallout continues to spread. Thornburg Mortgage, a lender once thought mostly immune to the recent sector turmoil, plummeted Tuesday on worries that it could become another margin call target.
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MarketWatch |
| UBS is telling mortgage brokers that it will no longer buy loans lacking documentation about borrowers' ability to repay, another sign that the supbrime mortgage virus has spread to the broader loan markets.
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Net360Bank |
| The price of credit protection for GMAC’s mortgage unit, called Residential Capital, shot up more than $100,000 a year last week, as measured by the derivatives market.
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MSNBC |
| Influential Democratic senators on Tuesday called for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage companies, to be given a bigger role in efforts to stabilise the troubled US mortgage market.
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BaltimoreSun |
| Amid all the hand-wringing and finger-pointing as housing markets collapse, mortgage foreclosures skyrocket and financial markets panic, there is very little attention being paid to the fundamental economic and political decisions that led to this mess.
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EdmontonSun |
| One of six people charged in what is believed to be the largest mortgage-fraud case ever in Alberta pleaded guilty to 10 counts yesterday.
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HDNews |
| A week before a former Kansas City councilwoman goes on trial for mortgage fraud, one of her alleged accomplices has pleaded guilty and said he will help prosecutors.
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