Tue, Dec 29 2020, 10:12 AM
With the passing of Pierre Cardin this morning, does it mean that bottle of cologne (circa 1978) I have in the attic became a collector’s item? The ph...
Tue, Dec 29 2020, 10:00 AM
The headline for the October S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price report is yet another month of escalating gains. The National Home Price Index whic...
Tue, Dec 29 2020, 9:39 AM
With Trump signing the covid relief and government funding bill last week, the bond market had seemingly moved past its downside risks as they related...
Mon, Dec 28 2020, 4:00 PM
Uneventful Day Despite Covid Relief Bill
The big news at the end of last week was Trump's decision to veto t...
Mon, Dec 28 2020, 11:54 AM
As studies go, ATTOM Data Solutions Grocery Store Wars analysis is kind of silly. But at this point in this year, kind of silly is sort of welcome. Ke...
Mon, Dec 28 2020, 11:50 AM
The number of forbearance plans increased again during the six-day period (shortened because of the holiday) ended December 21 and again Black Knight ...
Mon, Dec 28 2020, 11:12 AM
Congress and the press have been talking about a second stimulus plan since the summer. The bill signed by President Trump last night keeps the U.S. G...
Mon, Dec 28 2020, 8:50 AM
The big news at the end of last week was Trump's decision to veto the defense bill (which, in turn, meant a veto of the broader stimulus/spending bill...
Thu, Dec 24 2020, 12:51 PM
Bonds Wearing Holiday Clothes Despite Trump Veto and Brexit
Along with the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christ...
Thu, Dec 24 2020, 11:18 AM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) to dev...
Thu, Dec 24 2020, 9:58 AM
Bonds will close early today (2pm ET) and will be fully closed tomorrow. Along with the Friday after Thanksgiving, this is typically the lightest tra...
Thu, Dec 24 2020, 8:51 AM
New Homes Sales tumbled over 11 percent in November. Does that mean no one wants new homes, they’re over-priced, or there aren’t any to buy? One has t...
Wed, Dec 23 2020, 4:07 PM
Brexit Behind Selling Spree, But Bonds Defend The Ceiling
While headlines regarding the potential veto of th...
Wed, Dec 23 2020, 12:11 PM
The rate of home price increases accelerated again in October from their already heightened pace. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said its H...
Wed, Dec 23 2020, 12:11 PM
New home sales essentially fell of a cliff in November. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said on Wednesday t...
Wed, Dec 23 2020, 10:17 AM
My cat Myrtle (Myrtlus Domesticus) doesn’t have much in the way of material possessions. Need to get rid of unwanted junk during the holidays? Put it ...
Wed, Dec 23 2020, 9:43 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 29.5 percent in November compared to a 25.7 percen...
Wed, Dec 23 2020, 8:36 AM
In its last report of 2020, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said refinancing represented nearly three-quarters of application activity during t...
Wed, Dec 23 2020, 8:30 AM
Today's econ calendar is quite a bit bigger than normal. It's also bigger than it would be if this was just any old week with a full 5 trading days. ...
Tue, Dec 22 2020, 6:54 PM
Mortgage rates hit another all-time low on Friday for most lenders. Other lenders had slightly lower rates yesterday morning. Since then however, almo...
Tue, Dec 22 2020, 3:38 PM
Volatility is Possible, But It Wasn't Possible Today
Bonds have decidedly engaged in a stereotypical year-en...
Tue, Dec 22 2020, 11:26 AM
Existing home sales finally took a breather in November, breaking a five month stretch of gains, often substantial ones. The National Association of R...
Tue, Dec 22 2020, 10:06 AM
I hope that everyone had a happy solstice yesterday, with a few folks writing to suggest that “It is the shortest day, of the longest year, of our liv...
Tue, Dec 22 2020, 10:02 AM
With the passage of the stimulus/spending bill last night, the bond market cleared its last major hurdle for the week/month/quarter/year. By the time...
Tue, Dec 22 2020, 8:40 AM
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has extended the timeframe for several of the relief programs it put into effect last spring thr...
Mon, Dec 21 2020, 4:23 PM
Bonds Still Sideways, But MBS Underperform
Bond yields and stock prices bottomed at the same time in the ove...
Mon, Dec 21 2020, 2:18 PM
The Urban Institute (UI) recently held a webinar with housing experts to look at distress in the housing market. In a report on the findings, research...
Mon, Dec 21 2020, 12:40 PM
While delinquencies are still elevated, especially those over 90 days, Black Knight's "first look" at November data notes a sixth consecutive monthly ...
Mon, Dec 21 2020, 9:27 AM
As we watch the second largest stimulus bill in history move toward passage, greetings from the Winter Solstice, the official start of winter and the ...
Fri, Dec 18 2020, 4:58 PM
2020 In The Books Apart From Token Stimulus Reaction
By the end of the trading day, congress was seemingly n...
Fri, Dec 18 2020, 10:47 AM
There was an increase in the number of loans in forbearance over the last week as the share within all lender portfolios, even the GSEs', moved higher...
Fri, Dec 18 2020, 10:44 AM
Freddie Mac is touting its readiness to transition from using the London Interbank Offered Rate or LIBOR to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR...
Fri, Dec 18 2020, 10:39 AM
I don’t know what’s longer, a “regular” minute, “microwave” minute, or a “treadmill” minute. Speaking of time, if someone sends you an email saying, “...
Fri, Dec 18 2020, 9:51 AM
Next week, the bond market will only be open for 3.5 days. In that time, the bond market will see a majority of its 'year-end' trades (asset allocati...
Thu, Dec 17 2020, 5:50 PM
2020 has safely secured its place in the record books as the year of all-time lows in mortgage rates --one of them anyway. Several other years have re...
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 ...
