Mortgage loan fundings for the month of April totaled $36 billion, rising 5 percent from April 2005, Countrywide Financial Corp. announced today. That brought year-to-date fundings to $139 billion, up 11 percent from last year.
Monthly purchase volume was $16 billion, a decline of 3 percent from April 2005. Year-to-date purchase activity totaled $63 billion, an 8 percent increase from last year.
Adjustable-rate loan fundings for the month of April were $17 billion, a decrease of 12 percent from April 2005. Year-to-date adjustable-rate volume totaled $69 billion, up 1 percent from last year.
Home equity loan fundings for April rose by 11 percent from April 2005 to $3.9 billion, which brought year-to-date home equity loan fundings to $15 billion, up 22 percent from last year.
Nonprime loan fundings in April were $3.3 billion, which compares with $2.9 billion for the same period last year. Year-to-date nonprime volume totaled $12 billion, which compares with $13 billion produced for the year-ago period, the company announced.
Consolidated pay-option loan fundings for the month were $6.7 billion, compared with $7.5 billion in April 2005. Year-to-date pay-option fundings were $26 billion, compared with $23 billion for the same period ended April 30, 2005. Countrywide noted that the various mortgage loan funding categories are not mutually exclusive and are not intended to total 100 percent of total fundings.
Average daily mortgage loan application activity in April was $2.6 billion, roughly flat compared to the April 2005 level. The mortgage loan pipeline fell by 3 percent from April 30, 2005, to $64 billion at April 30, 2006, and was about level with the previous month.
The mortgage loan-servicing portfolio totaled $1.2 trillion at April 30, 2006, an increase of $250 billion, or 27 percent, from April 30, 2005.
Total assets of banking operations were $79 billion at April 30, 2006, an increase of $23 billion, or 42 percent, from April 30, 2005.
Securities trading volume in the capital markets segment for the month of April was $282 billion, an increase of 11 percent from April 2005, bringing year-to-date securities trading volume to $1.3 trillion, which was up 16 percent from the comparable period of 2005, the company reported.
Net earned premiums from the Insurance segment were $92 million for the month of April 2006, compared with $68 million for the prior year period. Year-to-date net earned premiums were $372 million, an increase of 39 percent from the comparable period in 2005.
“Countrywide’s Mortgage Banking segment produced strong operational results in the month of April 2006, despite a 21 basis point rise in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield during the month and three fewer working days,” said Stanford L. Kurland, Countrywide president and chief operating officer, in a statement.
“Mortgage loan fundings of $36 billion for April 2006 were down 10 percent compared to March 2006, but were actually up 4 percent on an average daily funding basis. The mortgage loan pipeline of $64 billion bodes well for continued strength in near-term funding volume. On the servicing side, the portfolio continued to grow, reaching $1.2 trillion at the end of April,” he added.
Founded in 1969, Countrywide originates, purchases, securitizes, sells, and services prime and nonprime loans; provides loan closing services such as credit reports, appraisals and flood determinations; offers banking services which include depository and home loan products; conducts fixed income securities underwriting and trading activities; provides property, life and casualty insurance; and manages a captive mortgage reinsurance company.
