Countrywide said it funded $21.96 billion in home loans during October, down from $41.9 billion in the same period a year ago, but up 4 percent from September.
More importantly, Countrywide originated just $42 million in subprime mortgages in October, marking a 99 percent decrease from the $3.25 billion originated in October of last year.
Adjustable-rate mortgage loan production totaled $3.1 billion, down 81 percent from a year earlier and 19 percent from September (hello fixed mortgages!)
The top U.S. mortgage lender also scaled back the origination of home equity loans, originating $1.36 billion in home equity products in October, 68 percent less than the $4.29 billion originated a year ago.
The total loan pipeline was down to $41 billion as of October 31, a marked decrease from the $61 billion they had in the same month last year.
Average daily mortgage loan application activity for October 2007 was $1.8 billion, down 34% from October 2006.
“October’s operating results continue to be indicative of current market trends,” said Chief Operating Officer David Sambol.
“Countrywide continues to work diligently toward mitigating the consequences our borrowers are facing as a result of the current market conditions,” he added.
If you were curious what the fate of wholesale and correspondent lending are, take note that loan production funded by Countrywide’s banking unit made up more than 90% of total fundings.
Wholesale loan fundings stood at $3.2 billion in October, a steep drop from the near $7.5 billion funded a year ago, while correspondent loan fundings were down to $9 billion from roughly $19.4 billion a year earlier.
The numbers clearly show that Countrywide is shifting its business model away from the now defunct secondary market, which would explain the decrease in the origination of high-risk loans.
Countrywide also cut 2,077 jobs in October, in addition to the 8,092 since August, ending the month with a total of 52,775 employees.
Shares of Countrywide were trading down six cents, or 0.45%, to $13.13 in midday trading on Wall St.