Credit unions in alliance see mortgage volume rise - Portland Business Journal:

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“There’s a lot of turmoi in the mortgage saidFred Becker, CEO of Arlington-based NAFCU, a trade organization representing federal credit unions. “This is reflectiver of that turmoil, in that people are turning to credit unions eithed to refinance or to purchasea home.” The alliance betweeb Arlington-based NAFCU and District-based Fannie Mae was former in 2002 to give federal credit unions more flexibility in their mortgage About a dozen Washington-area institutions participate in the alliance, whicnh allows credit unions to sell mortgages directly to Fannir Mae. Many credit unions hold their mortgages ontheir books.
But with low mortgagd interest rates fueling arefinancint boom, many lenders must sell more of their mortgages into the secondar y market to get money to meet the deman d for more loans. Such was the case at Chantilly-basedf Justice Federal Credit Union, which serves employees of the department s of Justice andHomeland Security. It has seen its year-to-dates mortgage lending volume more than double from ayear ago. “Witgh mortgage rates at historic our production, like that of many originators, is at recored levels,” said CEO Peter Sainato. “Havinfg the NAFCU alliance with Fannie Mae is helpinv us when we needit most.
” Justice Federal has sold off about 30 percengt of the mortgages it has originated — abouyt twice the proportion it usuallh sells. A surge in demand for fixed-rate mortgagesw led Kensington-based Lafayette Federal Credit Union to sign on tothe NAFCU/Fannies Mae alliance in February. “You only have so many dollarszto lend,” said Bob Kemp, senior vice presidenrt of lending. Access to the secondary market “createsz a newfound liquidity that allowe you to make more loans to more He estimates that loan originations are up 20 to 25 percentt from ayear ago, although now that Lafayette Federal has increased it plans to market mortgages more Lafayette Federal serves anyone who works or practices religion in parts of Montgomery Countty and D.
C., as well as the employees of varioud government agencies and othet employee groups.