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Inside Mortgage Trends

April 28, 2006

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Mortgage Banking Profits Slip in 1Q06 Despite Improved Production Margins

Mortgage banking profits fell during the first quarter of 2006 even though most margins on new loan production increased, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Profitability. A diverse group of 27 major mortgage lenders reported a combined $2.76 billion in earnings on their mortgage operations during the first quarter of this year. That was down 8 percent from the $3.01 billion these same firms reported in the fourth quarter of 2005. … [One data table included] Read More

The Financial Accounting Standards Board Moves Closer To Adopting Fair Value Option Guidance

Fair value accounting is very close to becoming a reality for mortgage firms as the Financial Accounting Standards Board is now considering comment letters, the last step before adopting the proposed statement, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities.” Countrywide supports the proposed rule as does the Mortgage Bankers Association. The guidance would “lead to greater transparency” for those who read and use financial statements, Countywide’s Anne McCallion, senior managing director of… Read More

Chase Teams With Innovative Online Site That Caters to Self-Directed Homebuyers Needing Help

Chase has inked a deal to power the mortgage center of BuySide Realty, an online buyers’ agent, which has just been launched. It is just the kind of alliance that Thomas Garvey, vice chairman of Chase Home Finance, is looking for these days, since the leads generated from the Web site are “warm handoffs.” Those are shoppers who have telephoned BuySide expressing an interest in buying a home, which they have found without the help… Read More

In an Industry Struggling With Image, HomeBanc Works to Create a Corporate Moral Compass

The mortgage industry has a checkered reputation, whether deserved or not. Yet one company is standing out and it is because HomeBanc Mortgage puts its employees first, even before the consumer. The Georgia-based lender placed 14th this year on Fortune Magazine’s best 100 companies-to-work-for list and was ranked No. 1 as best place to work in Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Raleigh, NC, by those cities’ respective business journals. … Read More

PHH Works Hard to Carve Out a Profit Sustaining Share of the Market Now That It Is On Its Own

PHH Mortgage is preparing for life after its spin-off from Cendant with a business strategy that focuses on outsourcing and strategic partnerships. But how much business is there to be had from those relationships? Apparently not much, if you believe analysts at Morgan Stanley. “The outsourcing niche may be viable, but it does not appear to be large,” the investment bank said in a recent report initiating its coverage of PHH’s stock. … Read More

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