Thu, Oct 3 2019, 10:51 AM
Homeowners often hope that a remodeling project will pay them back in monetary terms - perhaps energy savings or increased home value - but a new repo...
Thu, Oct 3 2019, 9:21 AM
In the day just passed, bonds extended a faster-paced rally that began on Tuesday following the ISM Manufacturing data. It wouldn't be fair to say ...
Thu, Oct 3 2019, 9:01 AM
We’re entering the forecasting season, where thousands of managers have to come up with figures for 2020 regarding volumes, margins, and profits for C...
Wed, Oct 2 2019, 5:23 PM
The bond market had another solid day today, although that wasn't necessarily destined to be the case from the start. Yields were slightly higher in ...
Wed, Oct 2 2019, 4:49 PM
Mortgage rates are historically quite low and they managed to continue lower today . This is in addition to a steady string of improvements that began...
Wed, Oct 2 2019, 9:28 AM
In the day just passed, the bond market improved by an amount that would be considered fairly strong compared to the previous session's closing levels...
Wed, Oct 2 2019, 8:49 AM
Ever heard of Divvy Homes , ZeroDown , or Flyhomes ? You should have, because your potential clients probably have. Startups are aiming to break down ...
Wed, Oct 2 2019, 8:04 AM
The volume of mortgage applications rebounded sharply last week as homeowners rushed to refinance in response to another drop in mortgage rates. The M...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 5:27 PM
Overall construction spending has been virtually static for much of the year. The Census Bureau reported on Tuesday that it had risen by 0.1 percent f...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 5:25 PM
Today was fairly straightforward by the time the 10am ISM Manufacturing data came out. It was significantly weaker than expected (worst since 2009) a...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 4:27 PM
Mortgage rates were already at their lowest levels in a few weeks by yesterday afternoon--a journey that largely consisted of baby steps. There have b...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 11:59 AM
Home prices remained stable in August, at least as reported by CoreLogic. The company's Home Price Index (HPI) increased 3.6 percent compared to the H...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 10:56 AM
Despite expecting an economic slowdown as reflected in the gross domestic product (GDP), Freddie Mac published a pretty upbeat September forecast as t...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 8:43 AM
The beginning of the 4th quarter. Halloween is approaching. If your pipelines aren’t full with rates down here, and haven’t seen decent profits in the...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 8:27 AM
In the day just passed, the bond market got off to a slow and stable start for the week. There was modest overnight weakness that carried over into t...
Tue, Oct 1 2019, 8:16 AM
The open floor plan continues to be the most popular type of living space among potential recent and potential homebuyers, especially younger ones, ac...
Mon, Sep 30 2019, 5:45 PM
Bonds were slightly weaker in the overnight session. European bonds set the tone early, potentially in response to Draghi comments on the need for ...
Mon, Sep 30 2019, 4:35 PM
Mortgage rate movement was fairly uneventful last week. The bond market (which is most directly responsible for driving day-to-day changes in mortgage...
Mon, Sep 30 2019, 2:56 PM
On Monday the government slightly loosened the leash on which it has held the two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) for more than 11 years . In ...
Mon, Sep 30 2019, 9:53 AM
In the week just passed, the bond market committed to a perfectly sideways consolidation pattern after having moved down from the highest yields in mo...
Mon, Sep 30 2019, 8:47 AM
The final day of Q3 already… Aside from F1 drivers, did you know that Ferrari employees are not allowed to buy Ferrari cars? The exotic car market cer...
Fri, Sep 27 2019, 8:46 PM
There's never a way to be 100% sure that a consolidation trend will continue to guide the highs and lows in the bond market for any certain amount of ...
Fri, Sep 27 2019, 10:23 AM
In the day just passed, bonds did their best to make it seem as if they were paying attention to various headlines and events without actually moving ...
Fri, Sep 27 2019, 9:26 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 12.9 percent in August , increasing from 6.3 perce...
Fri, Sep 27 2019, 8:47 AM
Let’s end the week with some non-mortgage ramblings. Last night in Dallas I had dinner at The Mercury, a fish restaurant. (Who was in charge of naming...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 5:00 PM
It's hard to say whether yesterday's heavy selling in the bond market was acting alone or whether it was in response to the heavy buying seen on Tuesd...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 3:59 PM
Mortgage rates held steady today--a welcome development after yesterday's move higher. In the bigger picture, rates have done an acceptable job of mov...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 11:31 AM
It's been plain to see in recent months that MBS have had a very tough time keeping pace with the drop in Treasury yields. That's been especially tru...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 10:16 AM
Pending home sales resumed their upward trajectory in August after declining 2.5 percent in July, making for positive results in three of the last fou...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 8:56 AM
Depending on the product, 20-25% of the nation’s loans come from California. “Appraisal firms and appraisal management companies utilizing independent...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 6:12 PM
First, let's talk about how big today's sell-off was. In terms of 10yr yields, it fully erased the past 2 days of gains and some of the improvement...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 5:23 PM
Mortgage rates bounced higher today, after making it to the best levels in more than a week yesterday afternoon. Markets responded to a strong home sa...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 10:37 AM
New home sales in August reclaimed part of July's sharp loss. The Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development said sales nationwide ...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 9:29 AM
In the day just passed, the bond market managed to improve at a fairly decent clip, but the gains were much easier to come by for Treasuries vs MBS. ...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 8:33 AM
One could argue that house flippers could make less if they buy the house for more than they expected, costs were more than anticipated, or the sales ...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 8:06 AM
Although changes in mortgage rates were gradual and mixed during the week ended September 20, mortgage volume moved sharply lower. Refinancing was esp...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 5:38 PM
Today was a victory for the bond market in general, but a relatively hollow one for MBS. Gains were modest for both Treasuries and MBS at first, ...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 3:11 PM
Mortgage rates managed to hold on to the improvements seen yesterday. This was far from a certainty yesterday afternoon as the underlying bond market ...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 10:18 AM
Both the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller indices and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index (HPI) were released on Tuesday. The Ca...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 9:35 AM
In the day just passed, bonds started out strong with help from exceptionally weak economic data in Europe. German manufacturing, in particular, cont...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 8:58 AM
What does the AFL-CIO have in common with Zillow? Both own mortgage companies. Think partnerships and “strategic alliances” are against the rules? Thi...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 6:19 PM
Today was largely the story of troublingly weak econ data prompting an rally to the best levels of the day for bond markets. The biggest move came i...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 5:58 PM
Foreclosure starts hit an 18-year low in August and were down 23 percent compared to the previous August. Black Knight, in its First Look at August lo...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 5:41 PM
Mortgage rates added to last week's friendly rebound with their best single-day drop in more than a month today. Weak economic data in Europe and tepi...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 11:46 AM
The good news from a new National Association of Realtors® (NAR) survey is that a large majority of respondents think it is a good time to buy a home....
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 10:11 AM
In the week just passed, the bond market underwent a nice correction after the previous week pushed yields higher at the fastest pace in years. To pu...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 9:04 AM
Call it a comfortable barge or a luxury water house, thanks to Rudy D. for sending along this story about a $5.5 million floating home in Florida . Go...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 6:15 PM
Last week brought the pain. It was the worst single week for the bond market (if we count MBS) since 2013. Although this week won't break any record...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 5:59 PM
What a difference a week makes! At the end of last week, things were pretty grim, with mortgage rates having just seen their worst single week since 2...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 11:22 AM
Total home equity, not surprisingly, increased again in the second quarter of the year. CoreLogic's quarterly Homeowner Equity Insights report, which ...
