Wed, Oct 28 2020, 11:59 AM
The percentage of potential home buyers who perceive housing in their market as affordable increased in the third quarter, at least as reported in a r...
Wed, Oct 28 2020, 11:52 AM
Surely not everyone was kung fu fighting, right? I hope that we don’t see any fighting after November 3. I love to ask people, who think we’re going t...
Wed, Oct 28 2020, 11:43 AM
Mortgage application volume rose slightly during the week ended October 23. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a ...
Wed, Oct 28 2020, 10:03 AM
October has been unpleasant for the bond market--Treasuries specifically. That's not to say it's been a walk in the park for MBS. They too have lost...
Tue, Oct 27 2020, 4:45 PM
Mortgage rates are mostly determined by the trading levels of mortgage-backed bonds on the open market. When those bonds improve, mortgage rates move ...
Tue, Oct 27 2020, 4:33 PM
Bonds Looking Better This Week, But Risks Remain
Today's release of FHFA's home price index showed a sharp a...
Tue, Oct 27 2020, 12:07 PM
The U.S. homeownership rate in the third quarter fell back slightly from the prior quarter. The second quarter saw the highest level for homeownership...
Tue, Oct 27 2020, 11:33 AM
We'll start off with more of an industry-specific curiosity (as opposed to diving right into markets/rates). Then again, the conforming loan limit is...
Tue, Oct 27 2020, 11:23 AM
The impact of low interest rates and pent up buyer demand played out in sharply increasing home prices in August. Both the Federal Housing Finance Age...
Tue, Oct 27 2020, 11:00 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 17.5 percent in September compared to a 27.7 perce...
Tue, Oct 27 2020, 10:55 AM
Etch A Sketch is buying Rubik's Cube? Who can keep up? What does a lender do when they’ve hit operational capacity, and don’t want to disappoint LOs w...
Mon, Oct 26 2020, 3:47 PM
Mortgage rates were lower today for the average lender, but just how low remains a matter of great debate. To be fair, there's no active debate raging...
Mon, Oct 26 2020, 3:36 PM
Rising Rate Trend Changing Course or Just Leveling Off?
After a modest day of gains on Friday, bonds covered...
Mon, Oct 26 2020, 11:04 AM
New home sales declined in September for the first time since April. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said s...
Mon, Oct 26 2020, 10:59 AM
The number of serious delinquencies dropped in September according to Black Knight. The 43,000 decline in the number of loans that were 90 or more day...
Mon, Oct 26 2020, 10:57 AM
The most reliable way to forecast the future is to try to understand the present. Vendor M&A is rampant (the latest being First American acquiring Ser...
Mon, Oct 26 2020, 10:36 AM
We knew that bonds would be forced to accept more volatility in October, if for no other reason than September's progressive and ultimately complete a...
Fri, Oct 23 2020, 6:26 PM
Another week, another glut of news articles claiming mortgage rates are at all-time lows. While no one is intentionally trying to deceive you, the new...
Fri, Oct 23 2020, 3:49 PM
Have MBS Finally Reached The Limits of Outperformance vs Treasuries?
Bonds are in the throws of an extended ...
Fri, Oct 23 2020, 10:46 AM
The contribution made to household wealth by homeownership is underlined in ATTOM Data Solutions' third-quarter U.S. Home Sales Report . The company s...
Fri, Oct 23 2020, 10:34 AM
The number of FHA and VA loans in forbearance rose slightly last week, however, the overall numbers of forborne loans fell nationally by 11,000. Black...
Fri, Oct 23 2020, 10:11 AM
In the bond market, as a whole, we've never seen yields any lower for any longer than they've been in 2020. The runners up aren't even close. Even...
Fri, Oct 23 2020, 9:49 AM
Let me state for the record that I am not a robot, although I often seem to be asked to check a box on certain websites by… robots. This article , how...
Thu, Oct 22 2020, 4:56 PM
Thursdays are special days for mortgage rate aficionados--or they can be anyway. That's when the weekly mortgage rate survey from Freddie Mac is relea...
Thu, Oct 22 2020, 3:53 PM
Staggering MBS Outperformance Easing Negative Momentum Pain
Bonds are in the throws of an extended negative ...
Thu, Oct 22 2020, 11:41 AM
Existing home sales rose again in September and are now blowing the doors off last year's numbers. The National Association of Realtors® says sales of...
Thu, Oct 22 2020, 11:13 AM
The refinancing share of originations increased again in September, rising 2 points to 58 percent of all loans. Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report...
Thu, Oct 22 2020, 10:16 AM
There are several ways to look at "the range" when it comes to post-covid trading levels in the bond market. There are several ways to look at "the b...
Thu, Oct 22 2020, 9:16 AM
Purchase mortgage originations are expected to hit a new record high of $1.54 trillion next year. That forecast, which would be an increase of 8.5 per...
Wed, Oct 21 2020, 4:32 PM
Rates are appreciably higher than they were last week or indeed any time in past 4 weeks. That's surprising news to those laboring under misapprehensi...
Wed, Oct 21 2020, 4:25 PM
Bonds Find Footing Early, But Aren't Able to Go Green
It's safe to say the bond market found its footing tod...
Wed, Oct 21 2020, 11:04 AM
The most recent Fannie Mae's Lender Sentiment Survey focuses on the complexities of lending to the condominium market. The company stresses that this ...
Wed, Oct 21 2020, 10:53 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says there was little change in mortgage application activity during the week ended October 16. MBA's Market Co...
Wed, Oct 21 2020, 9:40 AM
There have been reasons to fear a momentum shift in bonds for several weeks now. Here's how we discussed it at the beginning of October:
"It's neve...
Wed, Oct 21 2020, 9:13 AM
Want some guidance? “If you get a loan at a bank, you’ll be paying it back for 30 years. If you rob a bank, you’ll be out in 10 years. Follow me for m...
Tue, Oct 20 2020, 4:41 PM
It began last week. It was subtle--so subtle as to pass largely unnoticed. But the gentle drift toward slightly higher rates has taken bigger steps so...
Tue, Oct 20 2020, 4:32 PM
Bearish Bond Trend Continues
Looking back at MBS or Treasuries over the past few weeks reveals a clear termi...
Tue, Oct 20 2020, 12:04 PM
Mark Calabria, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) used the annual convention and expo of the Mortgage Bankers Association to announ...
Tue, Oct 20 2020, 11:10 AM
Residential construction resumed its upward trend after a brief pause in August. The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Developmen...
Tue, Oct 20 2020, 9:25 AM
It was fun and easy to get caught up in (or spoiled by) the recent ultra-narrow range in the bond market. The boundaries of that range were .62 and ....
Mon, Oct 19 2020, 3:43 PM
For some unknown reason, there were additional articles over the weekend touting " all-time low mortgage rates." Underpinning these alleged rates is p...
Mon, Oct 19 2020, 3:42 PM
Bond Market Modestly But Disappointingly Weak Despite Stock Sell-Off
Bonds started out weaker and looked lik...
Mon, Oct 19 2020, 1:31 PM
While applications for new home purchase mortgages jumped in September, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) expects only modest changes in the Sept...
Mon, Oct 19 2020, 11:24 AM
Pressure is mounting for the bond market. After a period of intensely calm, narrow trading throughout September, 10yr yields quickly moved to challen...
Mon, Oct 19 2020, 10:33 AM
For only the second time in its 35-year history, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) topped 80 thi...
Mon, Oct 19 2020, 10:31 AM
There were approximately 7.5 million second homes in the U.S. in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available. This is 5.5 percent of the na...
Mon, Oct 19 2020, 8:45 AM
Fifteen days until the election! How many days would it take you, or the company that employs you, to save up $11 million? In my discussions with CEOs...
Fri, Oct 16 2020, 5:03 PM
Yesterday, we discussed why rates are not actually at all-time lows. But rates are whatever they are. They're relation to previous lows doesn't really...
Fri, Oct 16 2020, 4:04 PM
MBS Defy Odds as Bond Bulls Fail For 3rd Straight Day
After failing back to back attempts to retake the rece...
Fri, Oct 16 2020, 11:42 AM
Admittedly, this is less of a "day ahead" at this point and more of a "day in progress." Nonetheless, we can discuss the lay of the land as we gear u...
