The survey found the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased by 11 basis points to 5.58 percent from 5.47 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 1.14 from 1.21 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.  

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased by 12 basis points to 5.18 percent from 5.06 percent one week earlier, with points increasing to 1.13 from 1.07 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The average contract interest rate for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) increased by 18 basis points to 4.60 percent from 4.42 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 0.97 from 1.01 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The one-year ARM rate is at its highest level since May 2002.

The Market Composite Index stood at 853.4, an increase of 9.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 778.4 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased by 9.5 percent compared with the previous week and was up by 23.2 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. The four-week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index is up by 1.3 percent from 783.4 to 795.0. 

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index increased by 9.1 percent to 520.8 from 477.4 the previous week, and the Refinance Index increased by 10.2 percent to 2788.2 from 2529.2 one week earlier. The four-week moving average is up by 0.8 percent for the Purchase Index from 485.6 to 491.5, while this average is up by 2.0 percent from 2515.2 to 2560.7 for the Refinance Index.

Other seasonally adjusted index activity includes the Conventional Index, which increased by 9.1 percent to 1278.7 from 1172.4 the previous week, and the Government Index, which increased by 18.8 percent to 143.9 from 121.1 the previous week. 

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 45.7 percent of total applications from 45.4 percent the previous week. The ARM share of activity increased to 30.7 percent of total applications from 30.0 percent the previous week.

The survey covers nearly 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage originations, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.
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Latino Expo USA takes place in conjunction with the NCLR Annual Conference and is open to the public at no cost. It features a Homeownership Fair, which offers "hands-on" training in home repair and improvement, house-painting techniques, and other educational features, and is a free resource for families seeking information and counseling from experts on such topics as establishing credit, qualifying and applying for mortgage loans, working with realtors, and more.

For more information, visit www.nclr.org/conference.

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Credit Plus Inc., Salisbury, Md., announced release of “lead generation,” a pre-screened or credit-based list to enable lenders to pre-qualify mortgage candidates. 

Through lead generation, lenders or mortgage brokers can identify specific demographics (income, residence location, property type, children, etc.) and credit-based information to have a list generated.  For example, a broker can tell Credit Plus that his ideal customer makes $100,000 a year, has $10,000 in credit card debt and has a credit score of 620. The company can then take that information and supply the loan officer with a list of consumers with similar qualities.

The data that is provided is scrubbed against the National Do Not Call list. Consumers can opt out of the list. When lenders or brokers use the live credit database, they are obligated to send firm offers of credit stating that the consumer is being sent the pre-qualification based upon credit history.

Credit Plus has also been named 1st Metropolitan Mortgage’s preferred credit vendor. Through this arrangement, 1st Metropolitan Mortgage’s current and new branches will use Credit Plus for credit reports, flood reports and title insurance.

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The United States Trustee Program, a division of the Justice Department, announced that it will begin accepting applications for approval as a budget and credit counseling agency or provider of a financial management instructional course for bankruptcy filers, under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act ("BAPCPA") of 2005.

The application forms and related materials are posted on the program's web site at www.usdoj.gov/ust. For additional information, applicants may contact the program at (202) 514-4100.

Under BAPCPA, which was enacted on April 20, all individual debtors who file bankruptcy on or after October 17 must undergo credit counseling within six months before they file bankruptcy and must complete a financial management instructional course after they file bankruptcy.

The program enforces bankruptcy laws and provides oversight of private trustees. It has 21 regions and 95 field offices, but does not cover Alabama or North Carolina.

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TransUnion Settlement Solutions, Chicago, announced availability of its Pre-Decision Qualifier (PDQ), which is designed to give lenders an instant and accurate value range for a subject property, allowing them to qualify potential borrowers before ordering a full appraisal report.

In addition to an estimated property value range, PDQ delivers property characteristics for up to 15 recent neighborhood sales, a notation indicating irregular sales history for a subject property or others in the vicinity and transaction history information for a subject and neighboring properties.

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HouseValues Inc., Kirkland, Wash., announced a new service designed to help mortgage professionals write more business by enabling them to build strong relationships with both prospective home buyers and local real estate agents. The service is available nationwide.

The service includes three elements: 1) exclusive home buyer leads, 2) a proprietary mortgage customer relationship management (CRM) system, and 3) dedicated training and account management support.
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"It is ironic that in the same week that President Bush reminded us of the continued threat of terrorism at home, the Treasury Department recommended dismantling a program that provides economic stability in the face of those threats, all the while recognizing that TRIA has worked," Reid said. "Based on limited information, the Bush Administration has concluded that market forces will correct the market failures in the private insurance market caused by the risk of terrorism."

But Reid noted that many experts in the real estate, construction and insurance industries disagree with the Treasury Department and they are individuals confronted with the problem every day.

"TRIA has worked according to Treasury and we believe it should probably be extended in some fashion. Otherwise, it looks like we will return to the 'Terrorism Dark Ages of 2002,'" said Bernie Brown, president of Insurance Advisers, LLC, Stamford, Conn.  "That’s the period in commercial lending history when cardboard boxes filled with terrorism insurance policies littered the offices of lenders throughout the land. During this period, lenders sent emails marked urgent that instructed borrowers to obtain terrorism insurance or else, “else” being the threat of a lawsuit. Let’s cross our fingers and hope some form of TRIA extension passes Congress, as we do not long to return to the Dark Ages of 2002."

Two bills currently sit in Congress that would extend TRIA beyond December 31. S. 467, the Terrorism Insurance Backstop Extension Act of 2005, was introduced in February by Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Robert Bennett, R-Utah. The bill would reauthorize and extend the federal terrorism reinsurance program provided by TRIA. In March, H.R. 1153 was introduced by Reps. Tom Capuano, D-Mass.; Steve Israel, D-N.Y.; Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa.; and Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y . That bill also proposes to extend TRIA.

On Friday, the Mortgage Bankers Association encouraged Congress to “act now by holding hearings on this important issue.” Gail Davis Cardwell, senior vice president of MBA's commercial/multifamily group, said the failure to extend TRIA in the short term “will result in the commercial real estate investment markets becoming more dysfunctional as time progresses, rating agencies placing loans on ‘watch lists,’ potential ratings downgrades, increased costs, drags on productivity and lower yields to investors, who include those on fixed incomes.”

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on "The Department of Treasury's Report to Congress: 'Assessment: The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002.'" Witnesses are to be announced. Reid said he will work for the extension of TRIA and looks forward to the Senate banking committee's hearings, scheduled for next Thursday, July 14 at 10:00 a.m. EDT

TRIA has been effective in enhancing financial capacity to write terrorism risk insurance coverage, effecting its wide availability and affordability, Davis Cardwell said.

Reid said it is not his intention to allow the Bush Administration to dismantle the national terrorism insurance program, legislation the Administration described as effective. "The Administration should not endanger our economic security and gamble on the potential impact of a terrorist attack," he said. "The federal government should take every step to defend our national and economic security from a terrorist attack."
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The direct return of the portfolio is nearly 6 percent. The entire property portfolio matches the investment strategy of the API Property Fund. “The investors in the Property Fund obtain all the advantages offered by the limited-partnership corporate structure, including substantial diversification within business properties through a relatively small investment and co-ownership of a very attractive property portfolio," said Tonny Nielsen, managing director of Aberdeen Property Investors Denmark A/S.

The value of the Property Fund’s portfolio reached more than $223.8 million and covered more than 1.13 million square meters in the metropolitan area. The estimated return on equity is minimum 10 percent for the Property Fund after the transaction.

Torbjörn Wiberg, CEO of Diligentia AB said the company pursued its strategy of focusing more on property investments in Sweden and “generally reducing our exposure to properties on the basis of our existing property portfolio.” Wiberge said the value of the portfolio is 30 billion in Swedish Kronos, or nearly $3.8 billion in the U.S.
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The Series 4 topics include:

• Role of the rating agency;

• Critical loan documents;

• MBA 101;

• Impounds—taxes, insurance and reserves; and

• Business strategies—effective communication.

If you are unable to attend the commercial forum in Washington this July 28, Series 4 moves to Dallas on Tuesday, September 27.

The Series 3 forum recently wrapped up in San Francisco on June 27 with nearly 60 attendees. It was a successful educational event for all participants. MBA appreciates the support from the host of this forum, Dechert LLP, Philadelphia.

For more information on the commercial Regional Servicing Forums, please visit http://events.mortgagebankers.org/regionalservicing2005. We look forward to coming to a city near you.

(Please note that the advertisement for this program listed in the July issue of Mortgage Banking magazine on page 28 lists the wrong location. The forum will take place in Washington, D.C.)<.>
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Tokyo took the top spot as the most expensive city, followed by Osaka, Japan, the survey said. London fell to third place from its No. 2 position last year, followed by Moscow, which also dropped a place, and Seoul, South Korea .

New York ranked a mere 13th on the list, while the next U.S. city, Los Angeles, ranked No. 44, followed immediately by White Plains, N.Y. Comparatively, Cleveland (No. 109); Pittsburgh (No. 111); Portland, Ore. (No. 112); and Winston-Salem, N.C. (No. 119) were U.S. cities on the list with the lowest costs of living. Asuncion, Paraguay was the least expensive city in the survey.

Mercer’s survey covers 144 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. The survey is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

“Currency fluctuations and exchange rates can have a huge impact on how much expatriates receive and what they can buy with that money,” said Yvonne Sonsino, partner at Mercer. “The challenge for multinational companies is to ensure their expatriate compensation packages remain fair and attractive enough to retain key employees, while making sure they do not pay over the odds and find themselves at a competitive disadvantage."

“While there has been significant investment by multinationals in traditionally ‘low-cost’ countries, the gap appears to be closing and local salaries are shooting up as a result of higher living expenses and an increased demand for skills,” Sonsino added. “Companies need to keep pace with the changes, and we find that many are now seeking guidance as they make regular review of their expatriate compensation packages a standard procedure.”

In Europe, London remains the most expensive city, with a score of 120.3, compared to a base score of 100 for a city such as New York. “Steep accommodation and transport costs together with the appreciation of the pound against the U.S. dollar have contributed to the city’s high ranking,” said Marie-Laurence Sepede, research manager at Mercer. Scores are based on the cost of living for expatriates who are likely to stay in Central London, where accommodation is more expensive. Other cities in the United Kingdom are less costly, with Glasgow in No. 40 position and Birmingham in No. 47 (scores 87.5 and 85.8).

Moscow is the second most expensive city in Europe ranked No. 4 position (score of 119), followed by Geneva at No. 6 (113.5) and Zurich at No. 7 (112.1). Other high-scoring cities include Copenhagen, ranked No. 8 (110), Oslo, which moved up from No. 15 to No.10 because of the appreciation of the Norwegian Krone against the U.S. dollar; and Milan , ranked No. 11 (104.9).

Budapest, Hungary, ranked No. 24 (score 93.3), is the costliest city of countries that joined the European Union (EU) last year. “Many cities in the new EU accession countries have risen sharply in the rankings this year, as they make strides to bring their economic infrastructure up to EU standards. Central and Eastern Europe are becoming increasingly attractive for investment by multinationals,” Sepede said. Warsaw, Poland; Prague, Czech Republic; and Bratislava, Slovakia have all risen by more than 10 places, the survey said.
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