TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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LOCAL EDITION ANALYTICS significant mispricing of risks in the Non-Agency RMBS market- place." "It's striking to see how the state that has maintained the best LTVs (loan-to-value ratios) throughout the crisis is also pay- ing the highest weighted average coupon among major markets," said Bill Hunt, Opera VP and author of the company's Mobiuss Market View report. "This fact has interesting ramifications on everything from prepayments, de- faults, and loss severities to credit support for bonds exposed to Texas borrowers and properties." Envoy Mortgage Expands into Homebuilder Market LAUNCHING A NATIONWIDE HOMEBUILDING DIVISION, THE MORTGAGE COMPANY HOPES TO TAP INTO THE THRIVING MARKETPLACE. TEXAS // Envoy Mortgage is expanding its business with the launch of its new National Builder Division platform. The independent full-service is growing overall, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. "Conventional mortgages are making a comeback while FHA mortgages are not," said Thomas Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys. "Reasons for the growth in conventional mortgages include low rates, increased underwriting of high LTV mortgages by private mortgage insurers, and a price structure including insurance premiums that is cheaper than the FHA alternative." FHA-backed transactions made a slight increase in August to 25.9 percent from 25.5 per- cent in July. The percentage is down from January, when FHA transactions accounted for 27.3 percent of all home purchase transactions. Overall, mortgages were used to finance 68.9 percent of home pur- chase transactions in August, an increase from 67.5 percent in July. According to a HousingPulse mortgage banking firm wants to get in on the resurgence in the homebuilder market segment by offering targeted products and services to meet their specific needs. To that end, Envoy seeks to capitalize on the company's core strengths to develop rela- tionships with homebuilders and developers across the country. "Everyone knows the economy has been struggling, and that pain was especially felt in the new home construction seg- ment," said Suzanne Schakett, SVP of Envoy's new divi- sion. "Those struggles did not necessarily have to do with homebuilders mishandling their business in any way, but rather with cash flow constraints from the banks and their inability to acquire interim construction financing, among other factors." "Today, however, there is a release, the trend toward mort- gage financing rather than cash transactions is due to a surge in purchases of non-distressed properties. The HousingPulse Distressed will partner with large and small homebuilders, using construction market research and expertise to focus on helping clients expand their footprint in new construction communities. Through the new division, Envoy hopes to provide the best and most competitive loan products and to serve as an exten- sion of their clients' sales teams through onsite coverage, co-brand- ing, and customized solutions to help generate traffic. Schakett said the company The National Builder Division wants to avoid offering "vanilla mortgage products" and instead wants to help builders get every- thing they need to sell homes. "With this new platform, renewed energy being felt in the industry, and homebuilders are excited for the first time in sev- eral years," Schakett added. said. "It is important that we offer a variety of products to aid builders and their buyers in making their dream of owning a new home a possibility." Headquartered in Houston, Envoy Mortgage operates a net- work of retail branches, offering origination in 47 states. Conventional Mortgages Make a Comeback Envoy Mortgage is able to ef- fectively leverage all of our tools and resources to help homebuild- ers and developers sell homes and deliver a best-in-class home- buying experience," Schakett CITING BROAD MARKET CONDITIONS, A RECENT INDUSTRY SURVEY SHOWS THAT TRADITIONAL PRODUCTS ARE EXPANDING IN POPULARITY. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA // The popularity of FHA mort- gages is slowing down, while the use of mortgage financing Property Index (DPI) showed the share of home purchases for distressed properties decreased to 40.4 percent in August, a drop from 42.2 percent in July. The fig- ure for August is also the lowest level recorded since January 2010. When investors do buy distressed homes, a large major- ity of investors (77 percent) in August said they relied on cash. The Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey includes about 2,500 real estate agents across the U.S. According to feedback from agents, mortgage availability im- proved over the summer months. "Mortgages for homebuyers with less than 20 percent down were available more than in previ- ous months," said one agent from California. A Texas agent said, "Contrary to media reports, there is no shortage of mortgage money available for buyers with down payments less than 20 percent." THE M REPORT | 65 ORIGINATION SERVICING ANALYTICS SECONDARY MARKET