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...
Mon, Mar 18 2019, 9:18 AM
This week's economic calendar is exceptionally light, with no true top-tier reports. Even the 2nd-tier data is limited with Philly Fed on Thursday an...
Mon, Mar 18 2019, 8:30 AM
I hope that I never get to the point of writing things down on my “to do” list even after I’ve done them, just so I can cross them off the list. Or en...
Fri, Mar 15 2019, 7:39 PM
Uncertainty has reigned supreme for much of 2019 as traders weigh shifting economic data, potential data inconsistencies (due the shutdown), trade pol...
Fri, Mar 15 2019, 3:49 PM
Mortgage rates remained at recent lows today, as underlying bond markets strengthened. For US Treasuries, this brought rates to new multi-month lows. ...
Fri, Mar 15 2019, 2:04 PM
Nearly 80 percent of America's housing stock is at least 20 years old and twice that share of homes were built 50 or more years ago. With new construc...
Fri, Mar 15 2019, 9:22 AM
People who write articles every day love holidays and other dates that offer some reprieve from the need to be creative when it comes to writing headl...
Fri, Mar 15 2019, 8:55 AM
I didn’t know that America has a “most hated” type of home loan until Bloomberg “informed” me that reverse mortgages are… hated. Hated? Couldn’t the a...
Fri, Mar 15 2019, 8:12 AM
Even though the January Census Bureau report on new home sales published on Thursday wasn't all that encouraging for the spring market, the Mortgage B...
Thu, Mar 14 2019, 5:14 PM
In the bigger picture, we'll look back at today's intraday trading range and it will be completely meaningless--among the narrower days of 1st quarter...
Thu, Mar 14 2019, 4:41 PM
Mortgage rates held steady today, despite moderate weakness in underlying bond markets. This occurred for two reasons. First, yesterday saw bond marke...
Thu, Mar 14 2019, 10:57 AM
It seems like only yesterday that we were looking at the December new home sale numbers - well actually it was 6 days ago. Now we have the January sal...
Thu, Mar 14 2019, 9:56 AM
Top line, bottom line: Brexit is a big deal. Without the Brexit referendum in mid-2016, US bond yields never would have revisited all-time lows. It'...
Thu, Mar 14 2019, 9:00 AM
Happy pi day, 3.14… Did you hear about the three statisticians that went out hunting? They spotted a rabbit. The first shot too high. The second shot ...
Thu, Mar 14 2019, 8:11 AM
Folks who follow real estate might be getting a little nervous. Since that category includes almost everyone who owns a home, wants to own a home, or ...
Wed, Mar 13 2019, 5:05 PM
For the most part, today was marked by the same sort of resilience seen on several recent occasions where bond yields have either held steady or fall...
Wed, Mar 13 2019, 4:42 PM
Mortgage rates were officially lower today, despite some weakness in the bond market. In general, bond market weakness coincides with rates moving hig...
Wed, Mar 13 2019, 12:25 PM
While still far from buoyant, mortgage lenders were a little more upbeat about their expected profit margins and the demand outlook for both purchase ...
Wed, Mar 13 2019, 12:13 PM
Construction spending in ticked up in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.280 trillion according to data released by the Census Bureau ...
