Countrywide Loan Fundings Jump 13 Percent; Pending Foreclosures Up 50 Percent

Countrywide Financial Corporation said Thursday that mortgage loan fundings for January 2007 reached $37 billion, up 13 percent from January 2006. Average daily mortgage loan application activity in January was $2.8 billion, up 17 percent from January 2006.

Countrywide’s servicing portfolio, the second largest in the nation behind leader Wells Fargo, surpassed $1.3 trillion at January 31, 2007, an increase of $190 billion from last year.

The company’s mortgage loan pipeline stood at $59 billion as January closed, up slightly from $57 billion at January 31, 2006.
In spite of healthy funding levels and portfolio growth, Countrywide is continuing to feel the sting of the housing downturn, with pending foreclosures up 50 percent from year-ago levels.

Countrywide reported pending foreclosures at 0.69 percent of its servicing portfolio during January 2007, up sharply from the 0.46 percent reported last year and a 7 percent increase from month-ago levels. Pending foreclosures were reported at 0.65 percent during December 2006.

Delinquencies also remain elevated, up 6.5 percent from year-ago levels. Countrywide reported a portfolio delinquency rate of 4.71 percent during January, compared to 4.42 percent during January 2006.

Countrywide continues to decrease its future exposure to exotic and higher risk loans, reporting drops in funding for both subprime and pay-option loans. Nonprime loan fundings for the month of January were $2.9 billion, compared to $3.0 billion in January 2006, and the company said it funded $2.7 billion in pay-option loans during January, down $6.9 billion from the same month in 2006.

For more information, visit http://www.countrywide.com.