Macquarie Mortgages USA Inc. - Wholesale

Several have sent us copies of the announcement emailed this morning to brokers and correspondents of Jacksonville, FL based Macquerie Mortgages USA Inc.:

"As of 12pm Monday 10 March 2008, Macquarie Mortgages USA will no longer be accepting applications for new mortgages.

This decision was made due to the significant increase in the cost of funding new mortgages resulting from the deterioration in global credit markets.

The business will continue to provide full services to existing mortgage customers.

While we are ceasing new mortgage applications, the quality of Macquarie's US mortgage portfolio remains high with no sub-prime exposure and very low default rates.

This is not a closure of the business. It is a withdrawal from the writing of new mortgages only."

That pretty much clears it up for anyone still wondering about "the strategic direction of Macquarie Bank's North American mortgage businesses" as speculated in this 2008-03-06 Melbourne Herald Sun article. The article goes on to state that Peter Maher, head of Macquarie's banking and financial services group, "confirmed that Macquarie was reviewing the future of its North American mortgage businesses - Macquarie Mortgages USA and the Toronto-based Macquarie Financial."

"Mr Maher stressed that the winding down of the Australian mortgage business did not mean that a similar fate was in store for the North American businesses." The Sydney Morning Herald reported the same day that parent Macquarie Group had announced "it would substantially wind back new lending."

Employees have not yet been told of any plan for layoffs according to one AE we were able to contact. Most links for Correspondent and Broker related pages on their web site no longer work. An archival copy of their Products page can be viewed here.

Macquarie Mortgages USA Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Group in Sydney, Australia.

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