by Calculated Risk on 9/05/2007 02:14:00 AM

From Mathew Padilla at the O.C. Register: First American CFO sees weakness in commercial real estate

Frank McMahon, chief financial officer of The First American Corp. in Santa Ana, said during a conference call today that the market for securities backed by commercial loans dropped dramatically in August.

He said it’s natural for borrowing costs to rise and price appreciation to slow on commercial real estate as a result.

The CRE slump may be here.

Also, Padilla notes that First American is cutting 1,300 jobs, and that there are rumors of large layoffs at Countrywide:

National Mortgage News reports that Countrywide Financial Corp. may cut 7,000 to 10,000 jobs, citing “industry officials close to the situation.”