www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN0927223520070810?rpc=44
Research), on Thursday said difficult mortgage market conditions are likely to hurt operations in the near term. Countrywide, the largest mortgage lender, said it faces "unprecedented disruptions" in the debt market and secondary market for mortgages. It said these "could have an adverse impact on the company's earnings and financial condition, particularly in the short-term." Washington Mutual, the largest US savings and loan, said liquidity in the market for less-than-prime home loans and securities backed by the loans has "diminished significantly." It said that while this persists, its ability to raise liquidity by selling home loans will be "adversely affected." The lenders offered their assessments in quarterly reports filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Many US mortgage lenders have struggled as housing price appreciation slowed, borrowing costs rose, defaults soared and investors grew wary of holding all but the safest home loans. Dozens of weaker lenders have been sold, quit the industry, or gone bankrupt this year. Calabasas, California-based Countrywide last month posted a 33 percent decline in second-quarter profit and slashed its full-year earnings outlook. It said delinquencies had risen, especially among people who took out home equity loans. The rate on "prime" home equity loans rose to 370 percent from 296 percent in March and 151 percent in June 2006. For all loans, the delinquency rate rose to 498 percent from 429 percent in March, and 392 percent in June 2006. Countrywide said it believes it has "adequate" near-term funding liquidity to combat the market environment, but that the situation "is rapidly evolving and the potential impact on the company is unknown."
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