May 15 average daily rates in Orange County for 30-year fixed loans with one-point fee: Conforming up to 5.943%, Jumbo up to 7.239% and Conforming-Jumbo up to 6.827% (Note: conforming-jumbo rates are for loans from $417,000 to $729,750, while conforming is up to $417,000 -- both types are sold to GSEs. Jumbos here are above $417,000 and not sold to GSEs.)
Source: Newspaper Chart Services 
Citigroup closing Orange, Irvine offices and cutting 1,860 jobs nationwide
May 7th, 2008, 1:04 pm · 6 Comments · posted by Matt Padilla, Register Reporter and Blogger
Citigroup said today it plans to close offices in Orange and Irvine, eliminating 419 local jobs, as part of a previously announced consolidation of its home lending businesses amid a housing slump and drop in demand for mortgages.
The New York-based financial services giant is shutting down and integrating the subprime operations it bought from billionaire Roland Arnall last year, before his death, and will cut 1,860 jobs nationwide, the company said. It’s keeping 70 sales positions.
The move is the latest blow to Orange County’s once mighty subprime lending industry. All the major players are gone or winding down operations as investors shun bonds backed by riskier mortgages.
Last summer Citigroup bought for an undisclosed sum Arnall’s wholesale and loan servicing businesses based in Orange. It dubbed them Citi Residential Lending.
Back in March, Citigroup said it would consolidate all home lending under its CitiMortgage name, which lately has focused much more on loans it can sell to government sponsored buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The fate of Orange and Irvine employees was unknown until now.
Citigroup is immediately eliminating 22 jobs in Orange. The remaining jobs will be phased out as the company restructures through March 2009.
The company said all employees are invited to apply for open positions within Citigroup, which is offering job fairs and severance based on experience and position.
Mark Rodgers, a spokesman, said in a statement, “Under the direction of Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, Citi continues to identify organizational efficiencies and streamline its business operations.”
The job cuts were first reported by the Web site Implode-O-Meter, which tracks mortgage industry consolidation. It quotes an anonymous source as saying as many as 3,000 jobs could be impacted.
Roland Arnall, founder of Orange-based subprime lenders Ameriquest Mortgage and sister company Argent Mortgage, died in March of cancer at age 68. Retail lender Ameriquest stopped making loans in August 2007, when Citigroup bought the wholesale platform — the business of making loans via mortgage brokers — of Argent.
- Citigroup consolidation hits Orange office
- Ameriquest to shut down
- Arnall resigning as U.S. Ambassador
- Was Citi’s purchase of Argent “akin to catching a falling knife”?
- Ameriquest employees speak
- Texas Rangers nix Ameriquest moniker
- Ameriquest parent and Citigroup reach agreement
May 7th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Under the Related Links, the first article “Citigroup consolidation hits Orange office”, I stated that this was coming. They announced to the employees in March that the Orange/Irvine offices would be completely shut down by June, but for some reason Mr. Rodgers denied it to the press.
I’ve also heard that AMC Servicing, now located in Racho Cucamonga, will be closing within two years. I haven’t been able to substantiate that with anyone that works for the company, but heck, they probably wouldn’t tell their employees if it was true anyway. Hopefully it’s not, because a lot of people relocated from OC to RC in order to keep their jobs.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Consumer borrowing rose in March at the fastest pace in four months, more than double the increase of the previous month.
I wonder is we Americans are ever going to learn to live within our means. Excessive spending is what got us in this mess to begin with.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-05-07-consumer-credit_N.htm
May 7th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Is Napoleon finally canned?!?!? Since I left, who is backing him up now?
May 8th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Here’s GOOD loan news from a lender friend of mine:
A few companies have significantly lowered their Jumbo Conforming 30 year fixed rates. The trend will likely continue for all lenders to modify their JC pricing, but for now here is a comparison:
Countrywide: 6.375 1.0 point No change from last week
Wells Fargo 6.250 1.0 point No change from last week
IndyMac Bank 5.750 1.25 points 6.125% -0- points
Wachovia 5.875 1.0 point 6.250% -0- points
The spread between Regular Conforming ($417k and below) and Jumbo Conforming ($417k to $729k) is now about even.
So much for the new “jumbo conforming” loans being considerably more expensive, and difficult to obtain. Just as predicted a month ago, these loans would “settle” into being less expensive than they were at first.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
More Good news from the same lender as my last post:
The Economic Stimulus passed in February allowed FNMA and FHLMC (FannieMae and FreddieMac) to purchase High Cost Area Conforming Jumbo (HCACJ) loans from lenders. Loans made between $417,000 and $729,600 started closing in March of this year, but no one was willing to buy them. FNMA had not yet created bundles of mortgage securities for these HCACJ’s, nor clear guidelines on how to sell the loans in the first place. In late April these agencies contracted with several banks to accept an HCACJ loan which is why pricing for these products have dropped. What was a 6.5% 30 year fixed HCACJ in April is now a 5.75% HCACJ in May.
Good news indeed. If you are a buyer with 20% down on a $1,000,000 priced home you can get a $700,000 1st at 5.75% and a $100,000 HELOC 2nd at 5.25%. Interest rates on jumbo loans are no longer the biggest stumbling block in front of home buyers today.
And, yes, Virginia, there are PLENTY of such buyers out there, going into escrow.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Another article that hits the median nail on the head:
Market anomalies skew home-price data: Chris Pummer, Market Watch
Commonly cited measures of U.S. home prices are overstating the degree to which the vast majority of Americans’ home values have declined in the last year, producers of two of the most widely tracked indexes acknowledged this week. Top officials with the National Association of Realtors and Standard & Poor’s agreed this week their monthly reports are giving imprecise readings of price changes at all levels — national, state and regional — due to rare market conditions that are skewing survey results. The NAR reported last week that U.S median home prices fell 7.7% in March from a year ago. The decline resulted largely from a market anomaly — a steep decline in costlier home sales due to tighter lending standards and high jumbo-mortgage rates, coupled with a foreclosure-driven spike in cheaper homes.
NAR’s Yun said the financial media is seizing on gloomy numbers and providing little analysis or historical perspective. He freely admits NAR’s readings aren’t accurately reflecting what’s happening with home values for the overwhelming majority of Americans. “Like any economic measure, it can be imprecise, and it is especially so now,” Yun said. As reported Tuesday, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index’s12.7% decline in February was the largest drop since its creation in 2001. Despite that index’s limited seven-year history, the Associated Press reported that home prices “plunged by a record” percentage and “at their fastest rate ever.” The glaring discrepancy in this case is that 17 of the 20 metro areas posted record annual declines, and yet 78% of the 330 metropolitan regions that NAR tracks reported price increases in the latest period — and that despite the acknowledged downward bias in current price readings. “Just like saying the average nationwide temperature today is 57 degrees doesn’t tell you anything, the same is true for real estate prices,” Yun said. “The only way to tell what your own home is really worth is to look at local-market conditions, do Internet research and utilize professionals (such as licensed appraisers) to help determine the value of your home.
This article thoroughly VALIDATES a point I made here TWO months ago.