Bank of America's recent deal to buy Honolulu Mortgage Co. catapults the San Francisco bank into the ranks of the top three mortgage lenders in
Last year, Honolulu Mortgage made roughly $300 million of home loans on
With the deal, "we almost quadruple our presence on the Hawaiian
Indeed, Hawaii is the kind of market that portfolio lenders crave.
The high cost of housing drives loan balances extremely high. Also,
And prepayment speeds are "perceptibly slower" than on the mainland, he
"It's a very natural fit for (Bank of America) and its expansion plans,"
"I just think the deal makes tons of sense."
Mr. Ringwald said his mortgage company continues to look for
Bank of America bought Honolulu Mortgage from HomeSide Lending Inc., the
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.