Post by unlawflcombatnt on Aug 16, 2007 2:29:12 GMT -6
from the Los Angeles Times:
Lender reports rising defaults
Countrywide home foreclosures and delinquencies surge to five-year highs in July
Mortgage stocks tumble
.
By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
8/15/07
"In a grim report that helped send mortgage stocks reeling, No. 1 home lender Countrywide Financial Corp. said Tuesday that foreclosures and delinquencies jumped in July to the highest levels in more than five years.
The company's monthly report also shows that its volume of new loans to people with poor credit has sharply contracted despite the disappearance since last year of scores of smaller rivals that specialized in sub-prime mortgages.
A spokesman for Calabasas-based Countrywide said Tuesday that layoffs were possible The company's stock sank 8%....
Delinquent loans accounted for 5.1% of the mortgages on which Countrywide collects payments, up from 4.11% a year earlier and 4.98% in June.
The levels of delinquencies and foreclosures were the highest in more than five years....
Countrywide said its sub-prime lending in July totaled $1.8 billion, down 46% from $3.35 billion in July 2006. The company made 14% fewer home loans in July than in June. Daily mortgage applications fell 15%.
Except for government-sponsored mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which purchase mainly loans to customers with good credit, the secondary market for home loans "is just not working," Piper Jaffray analyst Robert Napoli said in a note to clients....
Countrywide shares fell $2.15, or 8.1%, to $24.46, bringing their loss this year to 42%.
Other mortgage stocks also tumbled Tuesday on bad news of their own and in reaction to Countrywide's difficulties:
* Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. of San Diego, a once well-regarded sub-prime lender, fell 32 cents to $5.50. The stock is down 38% in two days on news that a buyout firm wants out of a deal to acquire Accredited.
* Impac Mortgage Holdings of Irvine, whose shares are down more than 85% this year, reported a second-quarter loss of $152.5 million compared with a $26.4-million profit a year earlier. Its shares fell 45 cents to $1.20.
* Thornburg Mortgage Inc. of Santa Fe, N.M., sank $6.67, or 47%, to $7.61, after postponing a dividend. The stock rebounded after hours to $9.48, when the lender said it had no plans to seek bankruptcy protection....."
Lender reports rising defaults
Countrywide home foreclosures and delinquencies surge to five-year highs in July
Mortgage stocks tumble
.
By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
8/15/07
"In a grim report that helped send mortgage stocks reeling, No. 1 home lender Countrywide Financial Corp. said Tuesday that foreclosures and delinquencies jumped in July to the highest levels in more than five years.
The company's monthly report also shows that its volume of new loans to people with poor credit has sharply contracted despite the disappearance since last year of scores of smaller rivals that specialized in sub-prime mortgages.
A spokesman for Calabasas-based Countrywide said Tuesday that layoffs were possible The company's stock sank 8%....
Delinquent loans accounted for 5.1% of the mortgages on which Countrywide collects payments, up from 4.11% a year earlier and 4.98% in June.
The levels of delinquencies and foreclosures were the highest in more than five years....
Countrywide said its sub-prime lending in July totaled $1.8 billion, down 46% from $3.35 billion in July 2006. The company made 14% fewer home loans in July than in June. Daily mortgage applications fell 15%.
Except for government-sponsored mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which purchase mainly loans to customers with good credit, the secondary market for home loans "is just not working," Piper Jaffray analyst Robert Napoli said in a note to clients....
Countrywide shares fell $2.15, or 8.1%, to $24.46, bringing their loss this year to 42%.
Other mortgage stocks also tumbled Tuesday on bad news of their own and in reaction to Countrywide's difficulties:
* Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. of San Diego, a once well-regarded sub-prime lender, fell 32 cents to $5.50. The stock is down 38% in two days on news that a buyout firm wants out of a deal to acquire Accredited.
* Impac Mortgage Holdings of Irvine, whose shares are down more than 85% this year, reported a second-quarter loss of $152.5 million compared with a $26.4-million profit a year earlier. Its shares fell 45 cents to $1.20.
* Thornburg Mortgage Inc. of Santa Fe, N.M., sank $6.67, or 47%, to $7.61, after postponing a dividend. The stock rebounded after hours to $9.48, when the lender said it had no plans to seek bankruptcy protection....."