Countrywide Reports Drop in Adjustable National, Florida Home Loan Funding

It appears as though Florida home mortgage demand is slowly - but, hopefully, surely - returning. Applications rose again last week.

This news comes on the heels os an accouncement by major home loan provider, Countrywide Financial Corp., that its mortgage loan fundings for August were down 24 percent compared to last year, at $40 billion.

For the year to date, national and Florida mortgage loan fundings stood at $296 billion, down four percent from 2005.

Specifically, the most significant drop off appears to be in the market for sub-prime, or adjustable-rate Florida home loans, fundings. Last month, these figures for were off 52 percent from last year, at $18 billion. Meanwhile home equity funding remained essentially flat, at $4.1 billion. Nonprime fundings in August were down 21 percent year over year, to $3.7 billion.

The situation isn’t ideal for any provider, but Countrywide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo put the latest numbers in the most positive light, noting that total loan fundings were up 12 percent over last month, “but declined year over year as a result of the expected industry slowdown.”

Mozilo noted that the $138 billion in year-to-date purchase activity is off only six percent from 2005, when the company posted all-time highs. Countrywide’s servicing portfolio has increased by $208 billion in the last year and stood at $1.2 trillion at the end of August.

It won’t be going bankrupt any time soon. The good news is that buyers may be gaining a greater understanding of Florida home loans that cause danger down the line; the lack of funding in that area will hopefully lead to a foreclosure reduction in the state.