Countrywide Sees Production Drop 40 Percent in November; Delinquencies Jump

Countrywide said Thursday morning that mortgage loan production in November dropped 40 percent versus year-ago levels, falling to $23.2 billion. Subprime production fell precipitously, with the Calabasas-based lender funding just $17 million in non-prime mortgages during November — Countrywide had funded more than $3 billion worth of subprime loans in the year-ago period. In spite of the drop in funding, the company’s mortgage loan servicing portfolio continued to grow, reaching $1.47 trillion at November 30, 2007, an increase of $193 billion, or 15 percent, from November 30, 2006. “November’s operating results reflect the trends of today’s mortgage market,” said David Sambol, president and COO at Countrywide. “Origination mix continues to shift as third-party originated fundings as a percent of total mortgage loan fundings have decreased year-over-year and retail fundings as a percent of total have increased. In addition, government fundings represented 10 percent of total mortgage loan fundings in November 2007 versus 3 percent in November 2006.” Sambol also noted that retail deposits at Countrywide Bank continued to grow during the month, and totaled $31 billion at the end of November. Delinquencies — representing newly-troubled borrowers not yet in foreclosure — climbed dramatically during November, with the number of delinquent loans rising 41 basis points as a percentage of loans serviced to 6.34 percent. The number of delinquent loans stood at 4.57 percent one year ago. As a percentage of unpaid principal balance, delinquencies rose an even more staggering 58 basis points. The volume of foreclosures rose as well, hitting 1.28 percent of UPB in November, up from 1.23 percent in October. For more information, visit http://www.countrywide.com.