Fri, Feb 12 2021, 9:38 AM
As of Monday, bonds had closed at higher yields for 8 straight days. Such streaks beg for a correction. They rarely last longer. The correction bec...
Thu, Feb 11 2021, 3:24 PM
Friendly Bounce May Already Have Run Its Course
Friendly bounces after strong selling sprees are slightly mo...
Thu, Feb 11 2021, 11:52 AM
Fannie Mae will implement a new version of its Desktop Underwriter (DU) after the weekend of March 13 . Version 11.0 apply to loan casefiles submitted...
Thu, Feb 11 2021, 10:42 AM
Most of the accommodations that have been allowed lenders and borrowers by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) due to the COVID-19 pandemic were...
Thu, Feb 11 2021, 10:35 AM
A high percentage of those who told the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) late last year that they were thinking of buying a home have now ...
Thu, Feb 11 2021, 9:27 AM
For the most part, this week has been "so far, so good" through Wednesday. Yields have pushed back nicely after topping out at the highest levels in ...
Thu, Feb 11 2021, 9:18 AM
I’ve never set foot on a Lear Jet, but was not excited to hear the iconic product ceasing production. Freddie Mac’s 4 th quarter results are pretty ex...
Wed, Feb 10 2021, 4:02 PM
Mortgage rates haven't been moving much recently, but they've logged enough small victories to make it back to the lower levels seen on February 1st ....
Wed, Feb 10 2021, 3:23 PM
CPI and 10yr Auction Make a Case For a Near-Term Rate Ceiling
NOTE: charts look weak this morning despite st...
Wed, Feb 10 2021, 9:51 AM
Here we are in the seemingly 58 th week of 2020. What’s new? The podcast of today’s commentary features thoughts from the Millennial host on how lende...
Wed, Feb 10 2021, 9:29 AM
Contrary to some of the wholesale price pressures suggested by recent reports (like the ISM manufacturing "prices paid" component, which rose to the h...
Tue, Feb 9 2021, 3:18 PM
Locking vs Floating After Underwhelming "Rally Day."
The recent losing streak in the bond market made it inc...
Tue, Feb 9 2021, 11:35 AM
Access to mortgage credit increased again in January. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) rose 2...
Tue, Feb 9 2021, 11:27 AM
Mortgage delinquencies are continuing a slow retreat into pre-pandemic territory. CoreLogic's Loan Performance Report for November put the percentage ...
Tue, Feb 9 2021, 9:27 AM
After 8 straight days with yields closing higher than they opened, bonds are starting out in stronger territory with a chance to reverse the curse. T...
Tue, Feb 9 2021, 9:13 AM
Yesterday I flubbed up by discussing the Administration’s proposal to eliminate credit unions and have the CFPB control the credit process . The artic...
Tue, Feb 9 2021, 8:48 AM
Consumers expressed more positive sentiments toward the housing market as 2021 arrived, sending Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) a bi...
Mon, Feb 8 2021, 4:03 PM
Reasons For Both Hope and Fear In Today's Trading
Bonds have been in a consistent trend leading toward highe...
Mon, Feb 8 2021, 1:29 PM
Even with the accelerating pace of home price increases, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) still sees homes remaining affordable. The N...
Mon, Feb 8 2021, 10:25 AM
There were spooky stories told around bond market campfires late last week. The monster in those stories was the looming specter of the Treasury au...
Mon, Feb 8 2021, 9:27 AM
A Pennsylvania man is suing Smart Water for not making him smart, and here, in this Commentary, I’d like to formally announce my lawsuit against Thin ...
Fri, Feb 5 2021, 5:30 PM
Guys around the nation have nine days to forget that nine days from now is Valentine’s Day, and florists everywhere have already ordered roses (in the...
Fri, Feb 5 2021, 5:16 PM
Treasury Slide Transcends NFP; MBS Outperform
Bond yields rose overnight--well before NFP came out--followin...
Fri, Feb 5 2021, 10:03 AM
The day is young, but off to an uncommonly volatile start following 2 key inputs. The overnight session brought news of the Senate passing the $1.9 t...
Thu, Feb 4 2021, 3:54 PM
Markets May Be Underestimating Tomorrow's Jobs Report
Today's trading session was rather uneventful for b...
Thu, Feb 4 2021, 11:33 AM
The homeownership rate fell in the fourth quarter down 1.6 percentage points from its third quarter level but remained higher than in the same quarter...
Thu, Feb 4 2021, 10:45 AM
Making headlines is United Wholesale averaging $15 billion a month in production and earning total net income of $3.4 billion for 2020 , quite a chang...
Thu, Feb 4 2021, 10:05 AM
This is a bit of a paradoxical outlook. In short, things have been consistently downbeat enough for the bond market that we're due to see a friendly d...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 4:20 PM
Bad Vibes Persist For Bonds and Rates
Bonds began the day in weaker shape, thus keeping the threat of an ong...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 9:52 AM
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but the bond market is in the midst of a big-picture correction from the all-time lows seen in the middle of ...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 9:31 AM
Companies and organizations around the nation are wondering about when in-person conferences will become the norm again. While they’re wondering about...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 8:16 AM
CoreLogic reports that December saw yet another acceleration in home price increases. The company's Home Price Index (HPI) rose 9.2 percent on an annu...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 3:44 PM
Mortgage Rates were steady to slightly lower yesterday even though prevailing trends in the bond market suggested caution. Today's trading is a differ...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 3:39 PM
Mid-Day Recovery, But Broader Risks Remain
Bonds did well enough yesterday to suggest yields might not be in...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 11:18 AM
The Urban Institute (UI) has looked at a final mortgage rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in late 2020 which would provid...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 11:06 AM
Public and privately funded construction spending ended 2020 with a 4.7 percent increase over spending in 2019. The U.S. Census Bureau said the combin...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 10:49 AM
Okay boys and girls, besides it being a snow day in the Northeast, and Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil's 135th prognostication, here is today’s sh...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 9:47 AM
Between Friday and Monday, it looked like the bond market might try to hold at slightly better levels than those implied by the recent bounce at 1.0% ...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 3:42 PM
Fairly Balanced Day For Bonds and Fairly Balanced Outlook For Now
This morning's commentary discusses the tw...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 3:40 PM
Mortgage Rates did well last week, with the average lender getting very close to long-term lows by Wednesday. After that, however, volatility in the b...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 1:36 PM
The current Mortgage Monitor from Black Knight looks at the recent small increases in mortgage rates and their potential impact on home sales. The com...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 11:08 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 22.4 percent in December compared to a 29.5 percen...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 11:01 AM
January’s already in the rearview mirror and our industry is keeping an eye on all kinds of things. Like silent movies moving into “the Talkies” in 19...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 9:14 AM
Bonds find themselves in an interesting position heading into February. On the one hand, there's a well-established tepid recovery narrative that coi...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 5:35 PM
Decent Recovery After Scary Start But Risks Remain
10yr yields were as high as 1.105% at one point today, bu...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 4:52 PM
After spiking in early January, interest rates returned to near-all-time-low levels by the middle of the week. By the end, however, the market began t...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 11:11 AM
Pending home sales retreated for the fourth straight month in December. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said its Pending Home Sales Index,...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 10:20 AM
One should never stop learning. For example, I just began reading a great book: “How to Cook Crack and Clean a Crab.” Step One: Use commas. I learned ...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 9:40 AM
Yesterday's bond market weakness ran the risk of signalling an end to the winning streak enjoyed since January 12th. Those gains were fairly steady a...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 8:15 AM
While the number of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE) loans in forbearance continued to decline last week, that 4,000 loan improvement was more than of...
