COUNTRYWIDE JULY FUNDINGS UP 63%.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer CALABASAS - Countrywide Financial Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC) is a diversified financial marketing and service holding company engaged primarily in residential mortgage banking and related businesses. Corp.'s purchase fundings increased an annual 63 percent to $13.4 billion in July, the company said Monday, an indication that the residential real estate market recorded another strong month. Average daily application volume remained strong at $2.5 billion, an increase of 85 percent over July 2002. Analyst John Karevoll at DataQuick Information Systems, which tracks the real estate market, said these numbers indicate that buyers were out in force in California and the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area last month. July will be the best month sales-wise for the region and the state since September 1988, when consumers bought 34,653 and 47,846 previously owned homes respectively, Karevoll said a preliminary analysis indicates. ``We're seeing some very strong numbers out there, and it looks like August will be strong also,'' he said. The market is still solid, top to bottom. ``We're really far away from any dangerous statistical threshold as far as affordability for the vast majority of homeowners,'' Karevoll said. Calabasas-based Countrywide's July numbers also showed that: --Loan fundings for the month, including refinancings, totaled a record $52 billion, exceeding the $50 billion mark for the first time. --By July's end, loan fundings had surpassed $284 billion, more than $30 billion more than total fundings for all of calendar 2002. --At month's end, the mortgage pipeline totaled $70 billion, down from $82 billion in June, but still the still the company's third-highest total. The company said that the dip was expected. --The servicing portfolio reached $577 billion, nearly $200 billion greater than July 2002. ``The third quarter of 2003 commenced with strong operational results,'' Stanford L. Kurland, the company's chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , said in a statement. Interest rates started rising last month amid indications the economy was improving, and this may have caused business to spike A burst of extra voltage in a power line that lasts only a few nanoseconds. See power surge, power swell, sag and surge suppression. (jargon) spike - To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a (sometimes temporary) device that forces a specific result. . This ``encouraged applicants who were timing the market to refinance Refinance 1. When a business or person revises their payment schedule for repaying debt. 2. Replacing an older loan with a new loan offering better terms. Notes: When a business refinances they typically extend the maturity date. , as well as brought last-minute shoppers into the market,'' Kurland said. Paul Miller The name Paul Miller is shared by a number of people.
An extension and/or increase in amount of existing debt. business, but it won't dry up over the short term. And Countrywide's aggressive marketing campaign is paying off, too. ``We know they are stealing a lot of market share. We don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if that is going to stick after the refinancing cycle,'' he said. |
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