A look at stories across HousingWire’s weekend desk…with more coverage to come on bigger issues: Regulators closed seven banks Friday, at a cost of more than $7.33bn to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF). That brings the 2010 total of bank closing through the first four months of the year to 64. In 2009, there were 29 bank closings from January through April. The Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico closed three banks. As HousingWire previously reported, analytics firm Trepp believes the FDIC is focusing its resources toward one problematic region at a time. Last week it was Illinois, and as Trepp partner Foresight Analytics projected, this week it was Puerto Rico. The three bank closures there accounted for $5.28bn of the DIF cost. Mayaguez-based Westernbank Puerto Rico closed and San Juan-based Banco Popular de Puerto Rico did not pay a premium to assume all the failed bank’s $8.62bn in deposits and $9.39bn of $11.94bn in assets. The 46 Westernbank branches reopened as Banco Popular locations. The closures is estimated to cost the DIF $3.31bn. Hato Rey-based R-G Premier Bank of Puerto Rico closed and San Juan-based Scotiabank de Puerto Rico paid the FDIC a 1.35% premium to assume all the failed bank’s $4.25bn in deposits. In addition, the bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank’s $5.92bn in assets. The 29 R-G Premier Bank branches reopened as Scotiabank locations. The closure is estimated to cost the DIF $1.23bn. San Juan-based Eurobank closed and San Juan-based Oriental Bank and Trust paid the FDIC a 1.25% premium to assume all the failed bank’s $1.97bn in deposits. In addition, the bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank’s $2.56bn in assets. The 22 Eurobank branches reopened as Oriental Bank and Trust locations. The closures is estimated to cost the DIF $743.9m. The Washington Department of Financial Institutions closed Everett-based Frontier Bank. San Francisco-based Union Bank, National Association did not pay a premium to assume all the failed bank’s $3.13bn in deposits and will purchase essentially all of the bank’s $3.5bn in assets. The 51 Frontier Bank branches reopened as Union Bank locations and the estimated cost to the DIF is $1.37bn. The Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation closed Port Huron-based CF Bancorp. Troy-based First Michigan Bank paid the FDIC a 0.75% premium to assume all the failed bank’s $1.43bn in deposits. In addition, the bank agreed to purchase $870m of the failed bank’s $1.65bn in assets. The 22 CF Bancorp branches reopened as First Michigan Bank locations and the estimated cost to the DIF is $615.3m. The Missouri Division of Finance closed Creve Coeur-based Champion Bank. Liberty-based BankLiberty did not pay a premium to assume all the failed bank’s $153.8m in deposits and will purchase $152.6m of the failed bank’s $187.3m in assets. The sole Champion Bank branch reopened as a BankLiberty branch and the estimated cost to the DIF is $52.7m. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) closed Butler, Mo.-based BC National Banks. Butler-based Community First Bank did not pay a premium to assume all the failed bank’s $54.9m in deposits and and will purchase essentially all of the bank’s $67.2m in assets. The four BC National Banks branches reopened as Community First Bank branches and the estimated cost to the DIF is $11.4m. The US government’s share of the nation’s mortgage market grew even larger during the first quarter, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Government-related entities backed 96.5% of all home loans during Q110, up from 90% in Q109. The increase was driven by a jump in the share of loans backed by the government-sponsored enterprises. “Fannie and Freddie have to get smaller and less relevant in order to revamp them, and instead, every day they’re getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” Paul Bossidy, the CEO of mortgage analytics firm Clayton Holdings, told the Journal. The FDIC, Federal Reserve System Board of Governors, OCC, and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) issued final guidance (download here) on Correspondent Concentration Risks (CCR) Friday. The CCR Guidance outlines the agencies’ expectations for financial institutions to identify, monitor and manage credit and funding concentrations to other institutions on a standalone and organization-wide basis, and to take into account exposures to the correspondents’ affiliates, according to a joint release by the agencies. The CCR Guidance clarifies that each financial institution should establish appropriate internal parameters commensurate with the nature, size, and risk characteristics of their correspondent concentrations. According to the release, an institution’s internal parameters should detail the information, ratios, or trends that will be reviewed for each correspondent on an ongoing basis, instruct management to conduct comprehensive assessments of correspondent concentrations that consider its internal parameters, and revise the frequency of correspondent concentration reviews when appropriate. The Miami metro area posted an above-average increase in home sales in March, as condos resold at their fastest pace in four years, giving that home-type category an abnormally large share of overall sales, according to a report by MDA DataQuick. The median price paid for all homes sold rose insignificantly from February and fell 11.3% below the year-ago level, marking the smallest annual decline in 22 months, DataQuick added. Mortgages were mixed this past week, as greater angst permeated the markets, stemming from concern over financial regulation and Greek contagion, according to the JP Morgan (JPM) “Securitized Products Weekly” report. Lead analyst Matthew Jozoff wrote that the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) sector will be buffeted by global events. Further, near-zero net supply in 2010, remaining buyout cash, and the potential for solid bank demand are positive signs for the sector. In addition, Jozoff wrote that while the overall level of mortgage refinancing “has been disappointing,” around 5m borrowers have incrementally benefited from refinancing since January 2009. “Just as importantly, lower short rates have helped millions of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) borrowers reset lower. As an example, a borrower who took out a 4.375% 5/1 in 2003 would have reset to the same level in 2008, but then reset down to 3.375% in 2009. This year, that same mortgage will reset to 3.25% at current rates,” he wrote. Write to Austin Kilgore. The author held no relevant investments.

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