Cambridge Loan Origination Requests Dip Slightly in November

CHICAGO, IL--After a sizable bump in October, Cambridge Realty Capital Companies reports that loan origination requests processed by the company during the month of November were slightly off last year’s pace.

Cambridge Chairman Jeffrey A. Davis  (top right photo) says the company reviewed 20 loan requests in November totaling $246.8 million. This compares with 22 loans totaling $347.4 million for the same month last year.

For the year to date, the numbers for both origination totals and dollar volume continue to trail last year’s totals for the same 11-month period. Through November, the company has processed 281 loan origination requests totaling $3.8 billion, compared with 308 loans totaling $4.6 billion for the same period in 2008.

Davis points out that lenders close a relatively small percentage of loan requests received, but believes it’s useful to track this information as an indication of market direction.

“The slightly lower loan request numbers for November 2009 are not enough to reverse a trend that has seen borrower optimism improve noticeably in the second half of the year.

" But the lower dollar value for origination requests we’ve seen all year continues to indicate that fewer new construction loans are in the mix,” he said.

Cambridge Provides $13.4M HUD Lean Loan to Refinance Astoria Nursing and Rehab Center in Sylmar, CA

Cambridge Realty Capital Companies has provided a $13.4 million FHA-insured Lean first mortgage loan to refinance Astoria Nursing and Rehab Center (bottom right photo),  a 218-bed skilled nursing home facility in Sylmar, Calif.

Cambridge Chairman Jeffrey A. Davis said the 33-year term loan was arranged for the owner, a California limited liability company, utilizing HUD’s Section 232 pursuant to Section 223(f) funding program and the agency’s new Lean application and loan approval process. The fully amortized loan included funds for rehab construction.

The transaction was coordinated by National Origination Manager Hymie Barber of Catalyst/Cambridge Healthcare Finance, the company’s West Coast affiliate. It was underwritten by Cambridge Realty Capital Ltd. of Illinois, the Cambridge subsidiary responsible for underwriting HUD Section 232 loans.

Davis said HUD’s new Lean management process has introduced sweeping changes in the way HUD applications and loans are submitted and approved. By organizationally restructuring and adopting the highly touted “Lean” management concept pioneered by Toyota Motor Corp., HUD made a bold commitment to process loans on a timetable that more closely resembles the timing for conventional loans.

As part of the change, responsibility for processing HUD Section 232 loans has shifted from HUD field offices to FHA’s Office of Insured Health Care Facilities (OIHCF) in Washington, D.C. In place today is a unified, single source for program and policy development, and a more consistent and user-friendly platform for borrowers and lenders, he noted.

Contact::
Evan Washington, Phone: (312) 521-7603, Fax: (312) 357-1611, E-Mail: ew@cambridgecap.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/CambridgeCap