Countrywide Financial Corp. boosted October loan production by 4 percent over the previous month, to $22 billion, funneling more than 90 percent of loan production through its banking division.
Nonpurchase loans represented the majority of mortgage loans funded in October, at $12.7 billion, with Countrywide facilitating an additional $9.3 billion in purchase loans.
Compared to a year ago, October loan production was down 48 percent, and delinquencies and foreclosures in Countrywide’s $1.47 trillion loan servicing portfolio continued to grow, the company announced today.
Delinquencies as a percentage of unpaid principal balance rose to 5.94 percent, compared with 3.97 percent a year ago. Foreclosures pending rose to 1.28 percent, more than double the 0.58 percent registered at the same time last year.
The Calabasas, Calif.-based lender said last month that it lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter, and last week warned that its long-term debt ratings could be downgraded to junk status (see Inman News story).
Countrywide slashed subprime loan production to $42 million in October — just 0.2 percent of loans funded — compared with $3.2 billion in October 2006. In the first 10 months of 2007, Countrywide made $17 billion in subprime loans, compared with $33.8 billion at the same time a year ago.
Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) funding fell to $3.1 billion in October, compared with $16.3 billion a year ago. For the year to date, Countrywide had funded $102.2 billion in ARM loans, compared with $181.4 billion in the first 10 months of 2006.
Countrywide made $2.1 billion in loans that were eligible for purchase or guarantee by government-sponsored entities Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in October, compared with $1.2 billion a year ago. Government loan fundings for the year to date were $17.5 billion, up from $10.7 billion in 2006.
Countrywide, which announced Sept. 7 it would lay off up to 12,000 workers, trimmed its total head count by nearly 4 percent in October, to 52,775.
A total of 2,643 positions were cut in loan originations, leaving 25,688 workers in that division, down from 34,326 in July. But Countrywide also added 210 workers in loan servicing and 220 workers in banking, resulting in a net head count reduction of 2,077 employees.
