Mon, Apr 22 2019, 8:14 AM
Contrary to expectations, all three of the residential construction measures from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Devel...
Thu, Apr 18 2019, 2:31 PM
Global economic data is big business for the bond market these days. With no end in sight to the domestic economic expansion (note: 1.6% vs 0.9% f'ca...
Thu, Apr 18 2019, 2:06 PM
Mortgage rates have generally been moving higher since March 28th after they bottomed out at the lowest levels in well over a year. At the time, inves...
Thu, Apr 18 2019, 11:01 AM
Continuing declines in interest rates had some impact along the margins of loan originations in March. Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report for Marc...
Thu, Apr 18 2019, 10:10 AM
Despite the presence of a big economic report like Retail Sales (which came out much higher than expected) or the unique event risk presented by the B...
Thu, Apr 18 2019, 9:15 AM
Experienced originators know that lending is a numbers game. Every 100 cold calls result in 20 conversations, which result in 5 potential leads, which...
Thu, Apr 18 2019, 8:20 AM
Despite their fourth quarter loss reported last month, independent mortgage banks and bank mortgage subsidiaries still managed, albeit barely, to stay...
Wed, Apr 17 2019, 5:06 PM
As feared, bonds were gearing up for the raft of big-ticket economic data in China overnight. On balance, that data was quite a bit better than expec...
Wed, Apr 17 2019, 3:54 PM
Mortgage rates continued higher for the 5th day in a row today. This brings the average lender to the highest levels in exactly one month. At issue: a...
Wed, Apr 17 2019, 10:48 AM
Two New York Federal Reserve Bank economists are asking whether the tax reform act that went into effect at the beginning of 2018 is playing a role in...
Wed, Apr 17 2019, 9:06 AM
Over the years, there have been more times than I can count where the financial media has mistakenly assigned some significance to news or events in C...
Wed, Apr 17 2019, 8:31 AM
Economic doldrums? Probably not – but there is always someone out there claiming dire straits are right around the corner. A CNBC survey of Wall Stree...
Wed, Apr 17 2019, 8:17 AM
It would appear that Refis' time in the sun is listing back towards purchases, as mortgage rates increased for the second straight week and applicatio...
Tue, Apr 16 2019, 5:11 PM
Rates were flat to start the overnight session and didn't bat an eyelash at initial strength in equities markets during Asia-only trading hours. Thin...
Tue, Apr 16 2019, 4:22 PM
Mortgage rates rose again today, albeit at a slightly slower clip compared to yesterday. Still, that's little consolidation considering this is the 4t...
Tue, Apr 16 2019, 10:41 AM
Builder confidence levels as reported by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) remained in the low 60s in April, a space it has now occupie...
Tue, Apr 16 2019, 10:32 AM
Reading the news this morning, I came across multiple articles with such bogus claims that I feel compelled to rant about it here. All of the offen...
Tue, Apr 16 2019, 8:22 AM
Things aren’t always what they seem. Does the mainstream press, or politicians, think about how about how much money it takes to attract top talent to...
Mon, Apr 15 2019, 6:15 PM
What would you expect to care more about Chinese economic data: the US bond market or the Chinese stock market? Option 2? Good, I agree.
Now, if y...
Mon, Apr 15 2019, 5:25 PM
Mortgage rates continued higher to start the week, following a relatively sharp increase on Friday. Interestingly enough, the underlying bond market w...
Mon, Apr 15 2019, 3:48 PM
In an opinion piece published by MarketWatch , the president of the nation's third largest non-bank lender says institutions such as his could find th...
Mon, Apr 15 2019, 10:56 AM
Homeowners are and should be proud of their homes, but that often leads them to think it has a higher value than does an appraiser and the difference ...
Mon, Apr 15 2019, 10:12 AM
Ah China... the US financial market's scapegoat of choice for many a swing that has nothing to do with China (with a few big, notable exceptions). ...
Mon, Apr 15 2019, 8:41 AM
M&A grab current headlines (Freedom buying JG Wentworth’s mortgage biz being the latest) but it’s hard to put the past behind us, as an industry, when...
Fri, Apr 12 2019, 5:19 PM
Mortgage rates rose fairly quickly on Friday, depending on the lender and the scenario. Bonds (which dictate mortgage rates and interest rates in gene...
Fri, Apr 12 2019, 11:04 AM
The domestic bond market woke up this morning to find itself pushed up against the same ceiling that had offered a friendly bounce late last week. Be...
Fri, Apr 12 2019, 9:04 AM
Loan officers everywhere tell me about “The Bank of Mom and Dad” helping buy homes , either through gifts or co-signing, helping overcome that down pa...
Thu, Apr 11 2019, 6:33 PM
As expected, the result of the emergency EU summit overnight was a hefty brexit extension, giving the UK until 10/31 to approve a compromise deal to l...
Thu, Apr 11 2019, 5:41 PM
Mortgage rates were arguably flat today for the average lender although a few were slightly higher or lower depending on their offerings from yesterda...
Thu, Apr 11 2019, 11:14 AM
Multifamily properties led the list of investments in what was a record year of of commercial and multifamily lending in 2018. Commercial and multifam...
Thu, Apr 11 2019, 10:32 AM
Global financial markets caught a glimpse of a world with 10yr yields above 3% in late 2018, and they didn't like it. A combination of stock selling ...
Thu, Apr 11 2019, 9:11 AM
Kim Kardashian has vowed to take and pass the bar exam in 2022 without attending law school. You go girl! Few who go that route pass the test. Then ag...
Wed, Apr 10 2019, 5:04 PM
European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi is getting very good at telling the world that the EU economy is in dire straits, but not to worry ...
Wed, Apr 10 2019, 4:33 PM
Mortgage rates dropped today. It wasn't a huge move, but they didn't have to go very far to get to the best levels of the month. To be fair, many pros...
Wed, Apr 10 2019, 10:02 AM
Wednesday is off to a good start with friendly inflation data leading things off at 8:30am and an even friendlier press conference from European Centr...
Wed, Apr 10 2019, 8:56 AM
“My 8-year-old daughter can already read at a 5th grade level and ignore me at a 12th grade level.” Talking about young ‘uns, who needs great grades w...
Wed, Apr 10 2019, 8:29 AM
Applications for financing new home purchases were up significantly in March. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that Builder Application ...
Wed, Apr 10 2019, 8:18 AM
The rally in mortgage application volume that sent several of the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's) metrics to recent highs at the end of March f...
Tue, Apr 9 2019, 5:29 PM
Treasuries were stronger today while MBS were mostly weaker. These days can happen, and they're all the more likely when a few key variables are pres...
Tue, Apr 9 2019, 4:45 PM
Mortgage rates were flat-to-slightly-higher yet again today. Whereas that depended on the lender yesterday, today's weakness was more universal. That'...
Tue, Apr 9 2019, 10:53 AM
CoreLogic says mortgage delinquencies in January were the lowest for that month in 20 years . Meanwhile, in a separate report, they note that non-mort...
Tue, Apr 9 2019, 9:20 AM
There are no significant economic reports or scheduled events on the calendar today, unless you count the 3yr Treasury auction at 1pm (and you probabl...
Tue, Apr 9 2019, 8:17 AM
Free ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops today? Count me in! Going back a few days, in Saturday’s commentary I mentioned a company offering blockch...
Mon, Apr 8 2019, 7:37 PM
A few couple of warm days, the appearance of a few tulips, and wham, homebuyer sentiment goes through the roof. At least the results from the March Na...
Mon, Apr 8 2019, 6:33 PM
Back on Thursday afternoon, bonds/rates looked like they were just wrapping up the process of rising into position between the old range and the new r...
Mon, Apr 8 2019, 6:05 PM
Mortgage rates were flat-to-slightly-higher today, depending on the lender and the time of day. Why would the time of day matter? Mortgage rates are b...
Mon, Apr 8 2019, 9:46 AM
At first glance, this week's economic calendar is fairly light, with Wednesday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) being the only upper-tier report in terms ...
Mon, Apr 8 2019, 8:24 AM
The move down in rates has sparked optimism about volume (and perhaps margins) out there. But mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and the details thereof,...
Fri, Apr 5 2019, 5:39 PM
The tale of two ranges continued in grand fashion overnight as 10yr yields made it all the way to the top of the lower, better range seen since the Ma...
Fri, Apr 5 2019, 4:08 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower today following a mixed report on the US labor market. The once-a-month Employment Situation (the official name for the "jo...
