Note 4 - Mortgage Banking Derivative

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

Note

4

.

Mortgage Banking Derivative

As part of its mortgage banking activities, the Bank enters into interest rate lock commitments, which are commitments to originate loans where the interest rate on the loan is determined prior to funding and the customers have locked into that interest rate. The Bank then locks in the loan and interest rate with an investor and commits to deliver the loan if settlement occurs (“best efforts”) or commits to deliver the locked loan in a binding (“mandatory”) delivery program with an investor. Certain loans under interest rate lock commitments are covered under forward sales contracts of mortgage backed securities (“MBS”). Forward sales contracts of MBS are recorded at fair value with changes in fair value recorded in noninterest income. Interest rate lock commitments and commitments to deliver loans to investors are considered derivatives. The market value of interest rate lock commitments and best efforts contracts are not readily ascertainable with precision because they are not actively traded in stand-alone markets. The Bank determines the fair value of interest rate lock commitments and delivery contracts by measuring the fair value of the underlying asset, which is impacted by current interest rates, taking into consideration the probability that the interest rate lock commitments will close or will be funded.

Certain additional risks arise from these forward delivery contracts in that the counterparties to the contracts

may

not be able to meet the terms of the contracts. The Bank does not expect any counterparty to any MBS to fail to meet its obligation. Additional risks inherent in mandatory delivery programs include the risk that, if the Bank does not close the loans subject to interest rate risk lock commitments, it will still be obligated to deliver MBS to the counterparty under the forward sales agreement. Should this be required, the Bank could incur significant costs in acquiring replacement loans or MBS and such costs could have an adverse effect on mortgage banking operations.

The fair value of the mortgage banking derivatives is recorded as a freestanding asset or liability with the change in value being recognized in current earnings during the period of change.

At

March

31,

2017

the Bank had mortgage banking derivative financial instruments with a notional value of

$38.7

million related to its forward contracts as compared to

$99.6

million at

March

31,

2016.

The fair value of these mortgage banking derivative instruments at

March

31,

2017

was

$93

thousand included in other assets and

$71

thousand included in other liabilities as compared to

$377

thousand included in other assets and

$306

thousand included in other liabilities at

March

31,

2016

.

Included in other noninterest income for the

three

months ended

March

31,

2017

was a net gain of

$290

thousand, relating to mortgage banking derivative instruments as compared to a net gain of

$209

thousand as of

March

31,

2016.

The amount included in other noninterest income for the

three

months ended

March

31,

2017

pertaining to its mortgage banking hedging activities was a net realized loss of

$845

thousand as compared to a net realized loss of

$168

thousand as of

March

31,

2016.