Inside Mortgage Trends

To Make the Most of Countrywide Purchase, BofA Must Merge Diverse Corporate Cultures

Driven by unrelenting downturns in the housing and mortgage markets, Countrywide Financial was forced to accept a bargain basement offer from Bank of America as the price of its ticket to safety. BofA will pay about $4.1 billion to acquire the largest... Read More

Downey Forced to Make Painful Accounting Change, Raising a New Issue Related to Modified Loans

Pressure on Downey Financial Corp.’s profitability and capital levels is expected to get worse following the reclassification of $99 million of modified residential mortgages as nonperforming assets, or NPAs, in the third quarter of 2007, according to... Read More

First NLC Will File for Bankruptcy, NovaStar Steps Closer to the Precipice

One subprime lender threw in the towel last week and another crept closer to the precipice. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey’s subprime originator said it will file for bankruptcy after the sale of First NLC to buyout firm Sun Capital Partners fell through. Sun had... Read More

Citigroup Reorganizes Mortgage Operations, Attributes Fourth Quarter Loss to Write-Downs

Shortly before Citigroup shook the stock market by reporting a $9.93 billion fourth-quarter loss, the finance giant announced that it was reorganizing its U.S. residential-mortgage business. The New York-based financial conglomerate has merged Citi... Read More

Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo Report Dismal Fourth Quarter, Trouble With Home-equity Loans

Two of the nation’s largest mortgage banking companies proffered explanations for a dismal fourth quarter this week, with some marked similarities. Both Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo reported that home-equity loans are proving to be one of their largest... Read More

Mortgage Industry Employment Keeps Dropping, As Wholesale Units Join Nonprime in Losing Jobs

The mortgage industry continues to downsize, most job cuts are coming in wholesale divisions and what remains of nonprime lending operations. In November, mortgage-related jobs dropped below 400,000 for the first time since 2001, the Bureau... [Includes two graphs] Read More

Countrywide Was the Top Lender/Servicer in the Third Quarter, as Consolidation Continues

Countrywide Financial continued to rank as the top mortgage servicer in the industry during the third quarter of 2007, a title it reclaimed from Wells Fargo in the second quarter, due in part to $20.45 billion in bulk... [Includes one chart and one graph] Read More

January 18, 2008

View Archived Issues

To Make the Most of Countrywide Purchase, BofA Must Merge Diverse Corporate Cultures

Downey Forced to Make Painful Accounting Change, Raising a New Issue Related to Modified Loans

First NLC Will File for Bankruptcy, NovaStar Steps Closer to the Precipice

Citigroup Reorganizes Mortgage Operations, Attributes Fourth Quarter Loss to Write-Downs

Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo Report Dismal Fourth Quarter, Trouble With Home-equity Loans

Mortgage Industry Employment Keeps Dropping, As Wholesale Units Join Nonprime in Losing Jobs

Countrywide Was the Top Lender/Servicer in the Third Quarter, as Consolidation Continues

Latest Imf News

Agency Jumbo Volume Holds Steady in Third Quarter

Housing Bill With Bipartisan Support Introduced in House

Fannie Mae’s MBS Holdings Increase Again in November

Trump Admin Reorients FSOC to Growth and De-Regulation

Featured Data

Non-Agency Jumbo Originations Slow in Third Quarter

Jumbo Servicing Volume Slightly Down in Third Quarter

Refis Lift Agency MBS to Three-Year High in November

Broker Channel Regains Some Share in Third Quarter

Featured Reports

Lender Profiles 2Q25: Top 25 (PDF)

GSE Repurchase Activity: Cumulative to Second Quarter 2025 (PDF Format)

Mortgage Profitability Report 2Q25 (PDF)

IMF HMDA Dashboard: 2024

Featured Poll

As homeowner equity continues to build, more and more lenders are launching home equity lending products. Are you thinking of joining this market?