Countrywide's real estate loan production falls 19%

Countrywide Financial Corp. reported Wednesday that mortgage loan funding in July totaled $36 billion, a 19 percent decline from the same month last year.

The number of adjustable-rate loans funded in July plummeted 27 percent to $16.9 billion. At $125 billion, year-to-date adjustable rate volume is down 10 percent from last year.

"Residential mortgage loan production for the month of July 2006 reflected current market conditions," said Stanford L. Kurland, president and chief operating officer. "The decline in purchase activity was consistent with our overall funding volume, as the pace of home sales has slowed."

Total mortgage funding in units for July was 194,831, down 18 percent from the 236,763 units in the same month last year. Average daily mortgage loan application activity in July was $2.5 billion, a decrease of 15 percent from last year. The mortgage loan pipeline was $62 billion on July 31, 2006, compared with $77 billion at the end of the month last year.

Home equity loan funding for the month was up 4 percent, to $3.8 billion, and year-to-date home equity funding is 16 percent greater than last year, at $27 billion. Government-backed fundings also rose 5 percent, from $995 million to $1.05 billion.

The number of adjustable-rate loans funded in July, however, plummeted 27 percent to $16.9 billion. At $125 billion, year-to-date adjustable-rate volume is down 10 percent from last year.

Countrywide funded $3.4 billion in subprime home loans in July, down from $3.7 billion last year. Year-to-date subprime funding volume of $24 billion is about the same as last year.

Countrywide's servicing portfolio continued to grow, adding $14 billion from the previous month and $220 billion from last year. At the end of the month, the mortgage loan service portfolio stood at 7.8 million units totaling $1.2 trillion, up 22 percent from the 6.9 million units and $991 billion being serviced at the end of July 2005.

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