GMAC-Resi layoffs are truly going to happen industry wide. They are not the most exposed of the mortgage heavyweights; in fact, they are very diversified, and the subprime market freefall we are about to see only affects their subsid Homecomings. They acquired Homecomings and its portfolio (and locations and staff) in whole a number of years ago, and are just now fully integrating all their companies (GMAC Mortgage, Homecomings, GMAC-RFC, master servicing)under the ResCap umbrella. GMAC-RFC is the largest warehouse lender in the country, as well as one of the biggest players in the MBS/ABS market.
Countrywide, WaMu, have much bigger exposure issues. Not only is the subprime market a big exposure, but I would bet that the REO areas are under huge pressure to restructure. Can you blame them–think of what’s in the pipeline. Think of trying to forecast this market and estimating the reserves necessary to cover your losses. When you’re wrong, its millions of dollars wrong.
