Gulf Coast B & T is the New Mortgage Origination Leader in New Orleans

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The New Orleans mortgage market use to be dominated by the large national bank holding companies. You would need to look back a long time ago to not see mortgage lenders such as Countrywide, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo as the leaders of the New Orleans mortgage market.

Things are different in 2009. Banks and mortgage lenders headquartered here in New Orleans metro are out performing the national companies. The report above provides mortgage market share of mortgage lenders who originated conventional purchase mortgages in New Orleans for the first quarter of 2009. Gulf Coast Bank and Trust is the leader. Standard Mortgage and Whitney National Bank are near the top in conventional mortgages.

The market share report below describes FHA mortgage market share. Gulf Coast Bank and Trust leads the New Orleans mortgage market originating the most FHA purchase mortgages in 2007. Eustis Mortgage and Standard Mortgage are second and third in FHA mortgages in New Orleans.

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The Business Bank Approaches the Top of Minneapolis FHAVA

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What a difference a year makes. During the first quarter of 2008, few mortgage lenders realized that FHA and VA mortgages were to become the key growth products in their markets. In metropolitan Minneapolis, only 1,903 FHA and VA mortgages totaling $370 million were originated in the first three months of 2008. The volume in the first three months of 2009 was triple over the same period in 2008. FHAVA originations passed $1 billion.

The Minneapolis mortgage market’s “green shoot” is The Business Bank of Minnetonka. The Business Bank, whose mortgage division is known as Prime Mortgage, gained the largest market share during over the past year. In the Minneapolis market area, The Business Bank ranked 19th in FHA VA mortgage originations during the first quarter in 2008. Now in 2009 they are second in the market right behind Wells Fargo. A local bank is about to challenge Well’s first place position.

Welcome The Business Bank to the big boy club of Minneapolis!

FHA/VA Average Mortgage Amount Reaches Three Year High

In March 2009, the Average FHA/VA Mortgage Amount reached a new monthly high during the January 2006 through March 2009 timeframe. The FHA/VA Average Mortgage in March was $185, 752. See the chart below for the month-by-month trend over the last three years.

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As the chart shows, this growth in the FHA/VA Average Mortgage Amount has been pretty consistent since the maximum loan amounts were raised last year. As the housing market bounces back, we should expect this trend to continue. We will perform this analysis again in the future to see if we are correct.

Higher Average Loan Amounts on Conventional Refinance Mortgages

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There has been a spike in the average mortgage loan amount for conventional refinance mortgages. This makes sense based upon the record low interest rates for new mortgages and the need for homeowners having variable rate mortgages to replace them with less risky fixed rate mortgages. More home owner debt refinanced at current interest rates results in significant savings for the borrowers. Based upon data collected from municipal recordings from more than 500 counties nationwide, the average conventional refinance mortgage jumped passed $210,000 in 2009 from below $200,000 in 2008. Because of stricter underwriting requirements and depressed home values, fewer conventional refinance mortgages were originated than previous time periods during the past 10 years.

Conventional Purchase Mortgages Continue to Trend Down

Conventional Purchase Mortgages continued to trend downward in March. The chart below shows the trend over the last two years of monthly Conventional Purchase Mortgages nationwide.

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The March 2009 numbers are nearly two-thirds lower than March 2008. It will be interesting to compare the numbers later on this Spring to see if there is any improvement.

FHA Purchase Mortgages: Market Where the Sun Shines

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The chart above reflects monthly FHA endorsements of purchase money mortgages. HUD endorses most mortgages for FHA insurance thirty to sixty days after closing.

Originations of FHA purchase mortgages show a steady increase during the first quarter of 2009. In the first quarter of 2009, 182,535 FHA purchase mortgages were endoresed by HUD. This was a 77 percent increase over the same period in 2008. In March 2009, FHA purchase mortgage originations were nearly 60,000. This represents a 43 percent increase over March 2008 when there were roughly 41,800 endorsements of FHA purchase mortgages.

Note that the peak of FHA purchase originations during the third and fourth quarters of 2008. This peak occurred as a result of legislation that made all seller assisted down payment assistance mortgages ineligible for FHA insurance. Many seller assisted down payment transactions were rushed though the September 30 deadline. The trend trend line of new FHA purchase mortgages indicates that FHA purchase mortgages in 2009 are likely to outpace FHA purchase originations in 2008.

VA Purchase Mortgage Orginations Grow in First Quarter 2009

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Veteran Administration (VA) purchase mortgages are growing at a steady pace. Since 2007, monthly VA purchase mortgage originations have outpaced the origination volume over the same month of the prior year. This trend has continued into the first quarter of 2009.

The leading VA purchase money mortgage originators for 2009 include Wells Fargo with a market share exceeding 12 percent. Wells Fargo is followed by USAA Federal Savings Bank, Countrywide Bank, ,First Tennessee MetLife Bank, and Metrocities Mortgage.

New Record Highs for FHA Refinance Mortgages!

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FHA refinance mortgages surpassed the records set during the refinance boom of 2003. More than 80,000 refinance mortgages were endorsed for FHA insurance in March 2009. the previous record was 71,487 set back in September 2003.

The total mortgage dollar amounts have set records most months since May 2008 with $8.85 billion dollars in FHA refinance mortgages. In March 2009, the total dollar volume of FHA refinance mortgages exceeded $15 billion dollars. FHA continues to grab more market share across the nation as lenders have become reluctant to offer conventional financing not meeting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines.

The leading FHA funding mortgage originators for the first quarter of 2009 are Countrywide Bank, Wells Fargo Mortgage, Taylor Bean & Whitaker, Flagstar Bank, and MetLife Bank.

Veterans Administration Refinance Mortgages Climbing HIGH!

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Veterans Administration (VA) guaranteed refinance mortgages have been on a steady climb during the first quarter of 2009. The chart shows the monthly number of VA mortgages for refinance over the past 30 months. March 2009 had over 15,000 new VA refinance mortgage originators, more than triple the number of the same type of VA mortgages for March of the prior year. The increase in VA mortgages for refinance is the result of low interest rates, more stringent qualifications for conventional mortgages, and easier qualifications for eligible veterans.

The average mortgage amounts of VA refinance mortgages are exceeding $215,000 in each of the first three months of 2009. The leading VA refinance mortgage originators include Wells Fargo Mortgage, National City Mortgage (Now PNC Bank), USAA Federal Savings Bank, Mortgage Investors Corp., and Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage.

First Quarter Conventional Purchase Mortgage Originations Real Slow!

We hear a lot about sales of existing homes stabilizing. The conventional mortgage data has yet to confirm that trend. The chart above shows monthly conventional mortgage originations for home purchases. New lows are seen for the first quarter of 2009.

Since a large proportion of home purchases are distress sales (foreclosed real estate owned by banks and short sales), purchasers of homes might be using their own cash or non conventional sources for home purchases.