Thu, Dec 17 2020, 4:03 PM
Seasonally Sideways Sans Stimulus
With Fed day behind us, the much-anticipated stimulus/spending bill is all...
Thu, Dec 17 2020, 1:53 PM
In November, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released a new regulatory capital framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs). At the t...
Thu, Dec 17 2020, 10:30 AM
While housing completions were down, residential construction improved again in November . Permitting was especially strong with a 6.2 percent month-o...
Thu, Dec 17 2020, 10:22 AM
According to Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report, loans closed during November had an average note rate of 2.97 percent. The 30-year note rate for ...
Thu, Dec 17 2020, 10:07 AM
Who would’ve thought that one day we’d be smoking weed at a family gathering, but the illegal part would be the family gathering? For most of us, fami...
Thu, Dec 17 2020, 8:58 AM
The combination of a friendly press conference with Fed Chair Powell and an unfriendly absence of change to the bond buying policy left the bond marke...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 4:36 PM
Today marked the release of an updated policy statement from the Federal Reserve. In other words, it was Fed day! Lots can happen on Fed days--especia...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 4:30 PM
Fed Abstains From Bond-Buying Change, But Powell Delivers
Speculation about whether or not the Fed would mak...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 2:02 PM
The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum ...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 12:27 PM
After setting successive survey highs in September, October, and November, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 10:30 AM
Mortgage application volume was relatively flat as the nation eased into the holiday season. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Co...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 10:09 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says applications for new home purchases suffered a significant downturn in November but remain well above the ...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 9:36 AM
A recent spate of positive news has allowed Fannie Mae to upgrade several pieces of its economic forecast this month. The approval of at least one COV...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 9:35 AM
Twenty-three housing and economic experts have told the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) they expect the post-pandemic economic rebound to cont...
Wed, Dec 16 2020, 9:33 AM
Fiscal stimulus has been a hot topic for the bond market since the pandemic first kicked into a high enough gear to require fiscal support for the US ...
Tue, Dec 15 2020, 5:12 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed today, depending on the lender. The bond market--the driving force behind interest rate movement--was stronger yesterday. Ma...
Tue, Dec 15 2020, 4:59 PM
What Exactly Might The Fed Do Tomorrow and Why Should We Care?
MBS suffered, somewhat, from supply/demand is...
Tue, Dec 15 2020, 10:12 AM
“We were so poor when I was a kid that we couldn’t afford tinsel. We had to wait for Grandpa to sneeze.” At the opposite end of the economic spectrum,...
Tue, Dec 15 2020, 9:54 AM
With the exception of a surprise stimulus plan announcement or a huge departure from expectations in certain economic reports, the bond market is lock...
Mon, Dec 14 2020, 3:15 PM
Bonds Catch a Break From Downbeat Headlines; Fed Still in Focus
Wednesday's Fed announcement is the biggest ...
Mon, Dec 14 2020, 9:11 AM
Between vaccines, Brexit, covid surges, covid lockdowns, holiday retail, and various political headlines, it seems like the market should have a diver...
Fri, Dec 11 2020, 5:58 PM
An Epic Tale of Mortgage Rates vs MBS vs Treasuries
Risks are beginning to mount for the rate outlook--at le...
Fri, Dec 11 2020, 11:33 AM
The various types of foreclosure filings - default notices, scheduled auctions, and actual lender repossessions - declined in November. RealtyTrac, a ...
Fri, Dec 11 2020, 10:26 AM
The past few months have seen several troubling, but not unexpected developments for the long-term rate outlook. While they're not the type of thre...
Thu, Dec 10 2020, 4:06 PM
Bonds Are Getting Ready to Move, Probably
Bonds are always moving, to some extent, but they haven't moved ou...
Thu, Dec 10 2020, 4:05 PM
It's old news that 2020 is unprecedented for a lot of bad reasons, but how about a few that aren't so bad? As is often the case when anything causes m...
Thu, Dec 10 2020, 10:08 AM
One interesting theme that's emerging in December is that of weaker economic data actually hurting the bond market. This is certainly not in the conv...
Thu, Dec 10 2020, 9:59 AM
“My ability to remember song lyrics from the 80s far exceeds my ability to remember why I walked into the kitchen.” The Baby Boomers are certainly rid...
Thu, Dec 10 2020, 9:48 AM
Homeowner equity rose again in the third quarter of 2020, reaching the highest total in over six years. CoreLogic's quarterly report on that asset say...
Wed, Dec 9 2020, 4:47 PM
MBS-Specific Volatility Today, But No Major Change to Bigger-Picture
A fresh (or perhaps "slightly less stal...
Wed, Dec 9 2020, 4:46 PM
While all is easily forgiven in light of all-time low rates, the pandemic made a mess of the mortgage market in many ways. Most messes have been resol...
Wed, Dec 9 2020, 10:05 AM
Last night, a new stimulus plan was floated to Pelosi by Mnuchin. In theory, it includes provisions for several democratic sticking points, thus offe...
Wed, Dec 9 2020, 10:04 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said access to mortgage credit improved in November for the first time in several months but is still only abou...
Wed, Dec 9 2020, 9:58 AM
I’m gonna ask my Mom if that offer to “slap me into next year” is still on the table. It’s great to be a lender in 2020, and should be into 2021, but ...
Tue, Dec 8 2020, 4:47 PM
Bond Watchers Clearly Can't Choose The Wine in Front of ______
There are quite a few potential justification...
Tue, Dec 8 2020, 10:52 AM
After climbing for three straight months Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) stalled in November , declining 1.7 points to 80.0. The ind...
Tue, Dec 8 2020, 10:50 AM
By mid-November, bonds were rallying after hitting their weakest levels since the start of the pandemic. Due to the timing (i.e. heading into a holid...
Tue, Dec 8 2020, 10:41 AM
Huh? Talk of a government shut down? Again? Are you the typical lender off to a record December, after setting records in November, October, September...
Tue, Dec 8 2020, 8:39 AM
While the rate of non-current loans remained sharply higher than a year ago, CoreLogic reports that serious delinquencies , loans more than 89 days pa...
Mon, Dec 7 2020, 4:59 PM
You might think you know mortgage rates. You might make assumptions about where they'll go and what they'll do based on past precedent. For decades, y...
Mon, Dec 7 2020, 4:19 PM
Bond Market Threats on Hold For Now, But Still Lurking
Brexit-related headlines helped the bond market recov...
Mon, Dec 7 2020, 1:51 PM
The pandemic keeps manifesting itself in the housing market in small but potentially significant ways and there was another data point in Black Knight...
Mon, Dec 7 2020, 9:48 AM
It was impossible to avoid Brexit-related headlines in 2016. Indeed, they were the driving force behind Treasury yields hitting new all-time lows at ...
Mon, Dec 7 2020, 8:54 AM
Large-scale mortgage in-person conference activity, and official mortgage business travel, appears to be shut down until at least the summer of 2021. ...
Fri, Dec 4 2020, 6:03 PM
Big Bond Spike, Mortgage Rate Defiance, Lock or Float?
Today was characterized by an aggressive spike in 10y...
Fri, Dec 4 2020, 5:53 PM
Mortgage loans ultimately "turn into" bonds and those bonds have a certain value to investors. When those values change, so do the rates offered by mo...
Fri, Dec 4 2020, 1:55 PM
A noted housing researcher has analyzed the current frenzy of home buying and the rapidly escalating prices since the country emerged from its short-l...
Fri, Dec 4 2020, 10:45 AM
The cause and effect relationship between NFP (the "non-farm payrolls" component of the big jobs report) and the bond market is a tale as old as time....
Fri, Dec 4 2020, 10:27 AM
Mortgage forbearances for homeowners affected financially by the pandemic declined slightly over the past week. Black Knight said that there were 200,...
Fri, Dec 4 2020, 10:23 AM
Have you ever wondered why so many lottery winners go broke? If they had any financial sense, they wouldn’t have bought a lottery ticket in the first ...
