Countrywide Credit Industries and Standard Federal Bank are among the few mortgage-related companies that issue monthly production figures. And their reports for April provide an interesting study in contrasts that is a microcosm of what's happening in the mortgage industry at large.
Standard, based in Troy, Mich., reported that adjustable-rate loans accounted for 63% of its loan closings in April, in sharp contrast to the 19% in April 1994.
On the other hand, Countrywide, Pasadena, Calif., made just 23% of its loans at adjustable rates in April this year, against about 33% a year earlier. The volume of ARMs was little changed, at about $700 million each month, so declining fixed-rate loans made the difference for Countrywide.
Countrywide, as a mortgage bank, sells all its loans in the secondary market. But Standard, a thrift with a heavy involvement in mortgage banking, sells some loans and keeps some in portfolio.
With the market running so strongly to ARMs, which carry little interest rate risk, the thrift has been building its loan portfolio rapidly in the last 12 months.
As of the end of April last year, Standard held a scant $98.7 million in loans. This had ballooned to $514 million by the end of April this year. But the thrift appears to be accumulating fixed-rate and ARM loans in about equal volume.
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SANTA ROSA, Calif. - North American Mortgage Co. reported that net income in the first quarter was $5.7 million, or 30 cents a share. A year earlier, net income was $11.1 million, or 70 cents a share.
The company said, however, that the two periods were not directly comparable because the 1995 results reflect the effects of an amendment to the accounting rules for servicing rights. But the change may not be applied retroactively to 1994.
North American said, however, that if the company had not applied this new accounting standard in the first quarter of 1995, it would have reported a net loss of $643,000 and a net loss per share of 4 cents.
