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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (84685)	8/11/2007 2:03:38 PM
From: Les H	Respond to of 306849

I have been developing a database on wholesale mortgage prices that lets me peer into the heart of the problem, if there is one. Wholesale prices are those that lenders quote to mortgage brokers and small lenders called "correspondents." My database covers 11 of the largest wholesale lenders, and because they account for a large share of what is an extremely competitive market, it is safe to assume that their prices are "the" wholesale market prices. While most price differences are small, in every case I take the lowest of those shown. Wholesale prices have much less statistical "noise" than retail prices because they do not include markups, which can vary widely from one transaction to another. Further, the transaction characteristics underlying the wholesale data are well-defined. I know the loan amount, property value, type of property, state location, purpose of loan, use of property, borrower's FICO score, type of documentation, whether borrower escrows taxes and insurance, and lock period. None of the available series on retail prices contain this amount of detail on factors that affect mortgage prices. The data are available for each of 14 separate loan programs, of which six are fixed-rate and eight are adjustable-rate. Data will be available for individual states, and for a U.S. average. Subprime mortgages are not covered, though alt-A and other intermediate credit categories are included. To simplify price comparisons, I adjust all rates to zero points and fees. The interest rate is the only price used. heraldtribune.com