Mortgage Rates Pressured Higher After Fiscal Cliff Deal

Mortgage rates moved to their highest levels since December 19th this morning after Congress passed a last-minute bill softening the blow of the Fiscal Cliff. The legislation has been and may continue to be characterized as some sort of "deal" that averts the impending Cliff. While that's true in the short term, the most obvious "yeah but" is the fact that spending cuts were merely delayed. Markets reacted as-expected to the presence of a "deal" (in the sense that "something" was better than "nothing...

Shadow Inventory Decline Continues, Currently at 7.2 Month Supply

The residential shadow inventory of distressed homes continues to shrink according CoreLogic's monthly report for October. The improvement is across all metrics; number of units, months supply, dollar volume and transition rates. The inventory as of October was 2.29 million units or a 7.2 month supply at the current absorption rate. The number of units in the inventory represented a 12.3 percent decrease from October 2011 when the inventory consisted of 2.62 million units, an 8.6 month supply. The...

• NAR Weighs in on Cliff Deal; M&A and Concentration in Banking - Could Lenders Share Back Office Functions?
• To be Frank: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
• MBS RECAP: Holding Ground Fairly Well Against Post-Cliff-Deal Weakness
• Mortgage Jobs Heading into 2013; Several States' Minimum Wages to Rise Tomorrow; Agency and Investor Updates Continue
• Consumer Loan Defaults Hit New Lows while Mortgage Defaults Rise
• MBA, Others Weigh in on LO Training and Licensing; In Conjunction with States, the CFPB Flexes its Muscles

Micro News

Around the Web

• 'Cliff' Deal Does Not Mean 'Meaningful Improvement' in US Debt Ratio: Moody's
• OCC Says Almost 500000 Seek Reviews of Foreclosures
• Long Interest Rates, 1790 to Present
• Why Isn't the Thirty-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage at 2.6 Percent?
• Architects Issue Statement on "Fiscal Cliff" Vote
• Why 'Fiscal Cliff' Deal Will Help the Housing Recovery

Video News

	Bill Gross Reacts to Tax Deal
	Housing Higher on 'Fiscal Cliff' Agreement
	Santelli's Midday Bond Report

Today's Comments

	"Locked a 15 year this PM at 2.75%. With rates this good, I'm hesitant to float as the potential for improvement, while there, is less than the potential..."
	"I don't see them requiring bank LO's to pass licensing tests. The biggest banks have way too many personal bankers selling 1st lien portfolio loans..."
	"Gosh, MIke, sorry you are so offended. Not sure why you would think there's a limited pool of folks eligible to refi with HARP, FHA and VA streams..."

Today's Q&A