Mon, Nov 2 2020, 12:37 PM
Overall construction spending was flat in September, held down by a drop in public sector projects. The U.S. Census Bureau said total expenditures dur...
Mon, Nov 2 2020, 9:44 AM
Some would say that the year is either flying by, others would suggest it is slowly bumping along the bottom. Either way, here we are in November, and...
Mon, Nov 2 2020, 9:12 AM
There were already roughly 400k 10yr Treasury futures contracts traded by 8am today. A typical overnight session runs in the 100-300k range. Volume ...
Fri, Oct 30 2020, 7:20 PM
The 2016 election won't soon be forgotten in the mortgage or bond markets. Many of the predictions were dead wrong when it came to how interest rates ...
Fri, Oct 30 2020, 4:09 PM
Traders Running For Sidelines Ahead of Next Week's Election
Big losses in both stocks and bonds today as tra...
Fri, Oct 30 2020, 11:54 AM
Both GSEs reported financial results for the third quarter of 2020 that were significantly higher than both their Q2 2020 and their 2019 numbers . Fan...
Fri, Oct 30 2020, 10:52 AM
The topic of month-end trading comes up frequently over the years. Reason being: we often see market momentum on the last few days of any given month...
Fri, Oct 30 2020, 10:12 AM
The number of loans in COVID-19 related forbearance plans rose during the past week, driven by both an increase in new plans and significantly fewer b...
Fri, Oct 30 2020, 10:06 AM
Hidden in the Q3 report on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Thursday, which showed a rebound of 33.1 percent from the 31.4 percent loss in Q2 was news ...
Fri, Oct 30 2020, 9:47 AM
Happy X/XXX/XX if you are a Roman. Rome certainly had its share of slaves, and the existence of slavery in one’s family has certainly caused consterna...
Thu, Oct 29 2020, 4:50 PM
Technicals And Fundamentals Join Forces to Deliver Warning For Rates
Whether we're talking about the week as...
Thu, Oct 29 2020, 2:54 PM
It was a bit of a bittersweet day for mortgage rates . On the one hand, it was the Fed's first day buying a new category of mortgage-backed bonds--one...
Thu, Oct 29 2020, 11:17 AM
Let's do the simply-worded conclusion right up front. For fans of low rates, the Fed's inclusion of 1.5 MBS (30yr) is a good thing, but not some ne...
Thu, Oct 29 2020, 10:21 AM
Pending home sales faltered a bit in Septembe r, like new home sales announced earlier this week, the decline ended a four-month winning streak. The N...
Thu, Oct 29 2020, 9:43 AM
This weekend we receive an extra hour of 2020. If there was ever a reason to end the time change, this certainly is it! Markets don’t like uncertainty...
Wed, Oct 28 2020, 5:10 PM
When interest rates plummeted in response to the early realities of the pandemic back in March/April, mortgage rates did a terrible job of keeping pac...
Wed, Oct 28 2020, 5:09 PM
Bonds Struggle to Hold Gains Despite Stock Rout
As of the 3pm CME close, 10yr yields were higher on the day....
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...
