Thu, Mar 28 2019, 11:06 AM
Pending home sales fell again in February. The National Association of Realtors® said its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) declined by 1.0 percent comp...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 9:40 AM
It's no secret that bonds have rallied impressively in March. The bigger and faster a rally is, the more we may worry about the risk of a bounce. To...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 9:02 AM
Be careful with your advertising! HUD announced today that it is charging Facebook with violating the Fair Housing Act by encouraging, enabling, and c...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 8:37 AM
Does the entire housing market need fixing? Senator Mike Crapo thinks so, and he has a gargantuan reform proposal on the table to prove it (covered he...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 5:36 PM
The notion of contrarian indicators is pretty interesting when it comes to the bond market, at least when it comes to investor sentiment. I take pa...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 4:29 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower for the 6th straight day , bringing them very close to the best levels since late 2017. Perhaps more impressive (or telling...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 12:08 PM
The balance sheet turned red again for mortgage lenders who reported financial data for the fourth quarter to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBS). ...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 11:06 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 3.0 percent in February, growing from 1.2 percent ...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 9:57 AM
"Science" may not be exactly the right term, but let's look at the recent bond market gains under an objective microscope. In so doing, we will see t...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 9:42 AM
Despite finding programs to fit their borrowers being the emphasis for lenders, pricing and margins are a constant discussion topic. For lenders the d...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 8:06 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) credited a strong start to the spring buying season for a big gain in mortgage applications during the week end...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 5:51 PM
All things being equal, today was a fine day for the bond market. Sure, 10yr yields ended the day 2bps higher than yesterday's latest levels, but in ...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 4:26 PM
Mortgage rates took the day to do just a little bit more of what they've been doing in fairly grand fashion for the past week: MOVE LOWER! When the go...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 2:43 PM
FHA is reversing an earlier decision to remove the rule requiring manual underwriting for mortgages with credit scores below 620 and a ratio of debt t...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 11:12 AM
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller indices and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) Housing Price Index paints two different pictures of the hous...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 10:10 AM
Residential construction numbers continued to see-saw in February. Housing starts were particularly disappointing after their stellar performance in J...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 10:09 AM
Quite a few talking heads and analysts referred to last Wednesday's post-Fed rally as 'overdone.' They pointed to Thursday's moderate weakness as evi...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 8:59 AM
“Rob, are you hearing that the sudden increase in lock volume is from borrowers who had a lock with one lender moving to another lender?” Not yet, and...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 6:13 PM
There were no significant economic reports today and no obvious market-moving news headlines. Nevertheless, bonds went on yet another snowball rally ...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 5:20 PM
Mortgage rates continued deeper into long-term lows today as the underlying bond market experiences its most impressive rally of the year. In a rally,...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 9:39 AM
From a calendar standpoint, the most notable thing about the week ahead is that it's the final week of the month/quarter. This usually means we'll ...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 8:56 AM
Sometimes you’re stuck in the middle . (Thanks to Myrtle for that one.) Right now, it seems, rates are done being stuck in the middle and have edged b...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 5:30 PM
At the end of last week, the average top-tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate quote was 4.375%. As of today, the exact same scenario would be at 4.125%--a qu...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 12:41 PM
Like virtually all the experts, including those at the Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac's economists have reduced their expectations for economic growth ....
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 11:03 AM
Existing home sales took off like a rocket in February, with strong results in three of the four major regions. The National Association of Realtors® ...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 10:59 AM
Sometimes a plan comes together and sometimes an educated guess pans out. While it's never safe to plan on any future reality (other than "uncertai...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 8:47 AM
Congrats to former President Jimmy Carter. As of today he is no longer just the oldest living U.S. president, but now is the longest-living in the nat...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 6:23 PM
Apparently it took the 9:30am NYSE opening bell ringer for stocks to truly realize what just happened. The Fed announcement on Wednesday was their wa...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 5:13 PM
Granted, we're not back to the sub-4% mortgage rates that dominated much of the past 8 years, but breaking into the high 3% range is a valid considera...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:47 AM
Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report for February is headlined by both a decrease in closing times and, more significantly, further declines in mort...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:33 AM
Want a growth industry? How about aging? PulteGroup's Del Webb 55+ brand will build 10 new Del Webb communities , planned to open over the next 18 mon...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:27 AM
In case you missed yesterday, it was a doozy. Here are a few links that would help you get caught up:
Here's Why Bonds Loved The Fed (And It's ...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:03 AM
Mortgage performance, usually at its best in February and March, because it is assumed that tax refunds allow people to catch up on financial obligati...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 8:11 AM
Consumer attitudes about buying a home seem to be slowly swinging back to positive . The National Association of Realtors ® , in its Housing Opportuni...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 6:00 PM
You may see news stories about the Fed shifting its rate hike outlook (conveyed in a dot plot often referred to as "the dots") to "zero hikes in 2019,...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 5:30 PM
Mortgage rates broke a week-long streak of silence today following a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. Even before today's Fed announcemen...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 2:09 PM
Below are the differences in the first paragraph of the current Fed statement as compared to the previous version from January 30th, 2019. There were...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 11:52 AM
Forecasts of slowing economic growth have been the norm for some time, but it is easy to sense greater confidence lately among those making them. Fann...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 9:22 AM
Why do us capital markets folks seem to speak a different language? To better understand what secondary marketing folks deal with every day, here’s a ...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 8:45 AM
Today's only key event will be the Fed Announcement , which is actually 3 events in 1. At 2pm, we'll get the policy announcement itself as well as t...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 8:30 AM
One problem solved? Perhaps, but there are always others waiting in line. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) asks its new home builder m...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 8:18 AM
Mortgage rates continued to slide during the week ended March 15 and the volume of mortgage application activity picked up in response. The Mortgage B...
Tue, Mar 19 2019, 4:17 PM
Bonds began the day in weaker territory following overnight headlines suggesting European leaders would be going up to bat for a compromise Brexit d...
Tue, Mar 19 2019, 3:48 PM
Mortgage rates were flat for the 4th day in a row today in a sign that investors have largely taken their seats for tomorrow's big show. The Fed will ...
Tue, Mar 19 2019, 11:59 AM
Although lacking in popularity, it appears that automated appraisals have obtained their intended results. Urban Institute (UI) researchers Laurie Goo...
Tue, Mar 19 2019, 9:36 AM
Rates staged an impressive rally in November and December before bottoming out on the first trading day of 2019. The bounce was fairly abrupt at th...
Tue, Mar 19 2019, 8:51 AM
At roughly $8,500 per loan and continuing to defy gravity, scholars disagree on whether vendors lower the cost of originating a residential loan. But ...
Mon, Mar 18 2019, 5:02 PM
For the bond market St Paddy's day was a 2 week celebration of "green" (as in the color of price gains or falling yields on trading terminals) beginni...
Mon, Mar 18 2019, 4:30 PM
Mortgage rates didn't budge today--a logical result with no signs of life in underlying bond markets. In the current case, this is just fine with us c...
Mon, Mar 18 2019, 10:47 AM
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) held steady in March , after partially recovering from substan...
