Tue, Jan 28 2020, 5:18 PM
Stocks moved higher today and bond yields did the same. Given that coronavirus has been the key consideration for both sides of the market, the movem...
Tue, Jan 28 2020, 4:28 PM
Mortgage rates were steady to slightly higher today, leaving the average lender just a hair above the lowest rates in months, and still very close to ...
Tue, Jan 28 2020, 11:39 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 15.2 percent in December, a substantial change fro...
Tue, Jan 28 2020, 10:42 AM
The recent re-acceleration of home price gains continued in November. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index which covers all n...
Tue, Jan 28 2020, 8:50 AM
Loan officers and lenders know that the population in the United States continues to shift, and this creates some continued great opportunities to inc...
Tue, Jan 28 2020, 8:44 AM
Bonds finally broke out of one of their prevailing ranges yesterday as Wuhan virus fears reached a new level. Some may roll their eyes at this sort o...
Mon, Jan 27 2020, 5:05 PM
Mortgage rates continued lower to start the week as Wuhan Virus continues to be diagnosed at an exponential rate. As we discussed last week, interest ...
Mon, Jan 27 2020, 10:58 AM
A lot of expectations and optimism were probably dashed by the December report on new home sales from the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and ...
Mon, Jan 27 2020, 9:45 AM
Last week was really the first truly interesting week of 2020 (and arguably of the past several months) as far as the prevailing range in the bond mar...
Mon, Jan 27 2020, 8:23 AM
Remember when there actually was an “average,” and you weren’t afraid to say that someone was average? Now everyone is “above average.” (Did my sarcas...
Fri, Jan 24 2020, 6:06 PM
We had to wait all the way until January 24th of 2020, but bonds finally offered their first real shred of willingness to challenge the established ra...
Fri, Jan 24 2020, 5:25 PM
Mortgage rates moved meaningfully lower over the past 2 days as panic over the coronavirus outbreak continues affecting financial markets. If this epi...
Fri, Jan 24 2020, 10:49 AM
As the week comes to a close, we find bonds continuing to trickle toward the lower end of the range that has prevailed for nearly 3 months. In terms ...
Fri, Jan 24 2020, 9:44 AM
Paying bills on time is about to become more important for American consumers, and this as their debt levels are reaching new highs. Fair Isaac Corpor...
Fri, Jan 24 2020, 8:37 AM
Yes, the change in FICO scores garnered some attention, but much of the focus is on Wells Fargo which just can’t stay out of the spotlight… for all th...
Thu, Jan 23 2020, 1:14 PM
The average interest rate on closed loans inched up in December and the share of those loans that were for refinancing moved lower. Ellie Mae's Origin...
Thu, Jan 23 2020, 10:25 AM
Even though many of the measures are already at record lows, mortgage delinquencies continue to tick downward according to Black Knight's "first look"...
Thu, Jan 23 2020, 10:20 AM
Did you know that you can vote by smart phone in Seattle ? Did you know that less than 20 percent of the world's population has ever taken a single fl...
Thu, Jan 23 2020, 9:13 AM
The bond market--widely expected to have been launching yields up and over 2% in 2020--is instead in the process of testing it's best levels since ear...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 4:22 PM
Mortgage rates remained in line with 3-month lows today for the average lender. Several lenders offered marginally better terms compared to yesterday,...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 11:00 AM
Existing home sales rose convincingly in December, gaining 3.6 percent compared to sales the prior month. Sales of all existing home types , single-fa...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 9:56 AM
The annual rate of home price increases continued at a stable rate in November according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), however there a...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 9:51 AM
You know things are bad when I resort to invoking Kierkegaard in bond market commentary, but that's what it's come to. Our quest to observe something...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 9:08 AM
What does $4.6 billion dollars buy you these days? A couple casinos: a Blackstone-sponsored JV is paying that for MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay in Las Ve...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 8:18 AM
In its first economic forecast of 2020, Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group is doubling down on its late 2019 predictions. The ec...
Wed, Jan 22 2020, 8:04 AM
The volume of mortgage applications submitted during the week ended January 17 slowed after a strong performance - a 30.2 percent increase - the prior...
Tue, Jan 21 2020, 5:08 PM
Mortgage rates dropped to begin the holiday-shortened week as markets expressed a bit of panic over the coronavirus outbreak in China. This is similar...
Tue, Jan 21 2020, 12:10 PM
The share of adults who told the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) they were considering a home purchase in the next year has now fallen ye...
Tue, Jan 21 2020, 10:22 AM
In addition to being a 4-day trading week due to yesterday's holiday, there's also a general lack of big-ticket economic data on tap. In fact, there ...
Tue, Jan 21 2020, 9:03 AM
Everyone is aging, right? “I finally did it! I bought a new pair of shoes with memory foam insoles. No more forgetting why I walked into the kitchen!”...
Fri, Jan 17 2020, 7:16 PM
We've seen a whole lot more movement in the bond market for a whole lot less motivation than we had this week. Back to back econ data shockers (Phill...
Fri, Jan 17 2020, 6:48 PM
Mortgage rates moved slightly higher over the past two days as strong economic data and corporate earnings coaxed investors into riskier assets like s...
Fri, Jan 17 2020, 10:47 AM
Sometimes the market moves in clear response to a headline event or the scheduled release of an economic report. We have clear examples of this recen...
Fri, Jan 17 2020, 10:30 AM
While permits fell from the previous month, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said December was another excep...
Fri, Jan 17 2020, 9:22 AM
I’ve gotta hand it to those writers who put out listings for real estate agents. Maybe if I had a bunch of money I could live in a “secluded retreat” ...
Thu, Jan 16 2020, 10:33 AM
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) settled back a bit after its 5-point surge in December took it...
Thu, Jan 16 2020, 9:07 AM
Bonds continue to be well-contained by the prevailing consolidation range--a series of higher lows and static highs that's been in place in its curren...
Thu, Jan 16 2020, 8:55 AM
For folks who like numbers and trends, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s national and state population estimates released in December, 42 states a...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 3:42 PM
Today marked a rare mid-week "total dud" in terms of bond market momentum developments. This was made all the more striking by the fact that bonds ce...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 2:37 PM
Mortgage rates improved modestly today, adding to yesterday's slightly less compelling improvement. Taken together, they keep an air of calm and stead...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 10:36 AM
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has uncovered another downside to the increasing lack of housing affordability in the U.S. A new study fou...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 10:08 AM
U.S. military veterans and active duty personnel who buy or refinance a home in 2020 will have more buying power if they use a VA loan. They will also...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 9:17 AM
Bonds have been able to put in a few days with moderate movement both higher and lower in yield, but have generally been holding inside a range that i...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 9:07 AM
We find ourselves at Wednesday already. How about some numbers for Hump Day? Years ago Arnold Schwarzenegger famously said, “Having more money doesn't...
Wed, Jan 15 2020, 8:12 AM
Mortgage application activity exploded out of the starting gate during the first full week of 2020 . The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) said its...
Tue, Jan 14 2020, 3:38 PM
Builders are struggling to construct homes that are affordable to a greater number of buyers, especially those on the entry level, and they are findin...
Tue, Jan 14 2020, 9:51 AM
More often than not during the past few months, a quick glance at the MBS Live dashboard reveals that MBS are making better gains than Treasuries. Is...
Tue, Jan 14 2020, 9:00 AM
There are some clever people out there creating abbreviations and acronyms. Megxit? Yes: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exiting from certain royal dut...
Mon, Jan 13 2020, 5:32 PM
Mortgage rates didn't do much today, and that's good enough news considering the average lender is closer to the lower end of the rate range since ear...
Mon, Jan 13 2020, 1:36 PM
CoreLogic is continuing its analysis of the potential impact of the January 2021 expiration of the so-called "GSE Patch." Under the Consumer Financial...