A trend toward integration of the real estate and mortgage businesses has been widely predicted. But recent developments have been a mixed bag.
Last week, for example, a New Jersey builder pulled out of the mortgage business, and earlier in the month a residential lender in Tukwila, Wash., formed a real estate agency.
Home Lending Associates Inc. said it had launched wholly owned Home Lending Real Estate Associates Inc. of Seattle in a bid to accelerate its expansion in the purchase segment of the mortgage market. The new unit will provide real estate brokerage services to the public as well as arrange purchase financing.
Home Lending has originated about $100 million in mortgages, mostly refinancings, so far this year.
In New Jersey, Calton Inc., a homebuilder, sold its mortgage unit, Lancot Mortgage Inc., because it has decided to concentrate on its main business. The buyer was Carl I. Brown & Co., a private mortgage-banking company based in Kansas City.
