Fri, Feb 23 2018, 8:53 AM
In 2010 and 2011, the early phases of the European financial crisis caused movement in US bond markets that puzzled a majority of domestic investors. ...
Thu, Feb 22 2018, 5:25 PM
MBS gained a quarter of a point today and 10yr yields fell more than 3bps despite stock market gains (albeit from yesterday's weak closing levels) a...
Thu, Feb 22 2018, 4:48 PM
Mortgage rates fell modestly today as underlying bond markets experienced a rare absence of volatility. Rather than view this as some sort of turning ...
Thu, Feb 22 2018, 9:47 AM
There's nothing significant on the econ calendar today, and bonds are starting out by retreating (in a good way) back into the center of the ongoing u...
Thu, Feb 22 2018, 9:12 AM
Jobs & housing drive the economy, and yesterday we learned that Existing Home Sales fell 3.2% in January, according to NAR . Lawrence Yun, NAR's Chief...
Wed, Feb 21 2018, 6:29 PM
The Fed released the minutes from its late January meeting today. Markets thought about them for 20 minutes and then tanked. What's up with that?!
...
Wed, Feb 21 2018, 5:35 PM
Mortgage rates continued higher today following the release of the Minutes from the Federal Reserve's (aka "The Fed") most recent policy meeting. The ...
Wed, Feb 21 2018, 11:16 AM
Sales of existing homes fell again in January, the second consecutive month-over-month decline. Sales of pre-owned single-family homes, townhomes, con...
Wed, Feb 21 2018, 9:39 AM
Today's key events arrive in the afternoon in the form of a 5yr Treasury auction at 1pm and the release of the FOMC Minutes at 2pm. Not to be confus...
Wed, Feb 21 2018, 9:12 AM
Why couldn’t the sesame seed leave the gambling casino? Because he was on a roll. In an admittedly weak segue, rolls are made in kitchens, and LOs may...
Wed, Feb 21 2018, 8:24 AM
Mortgage application volumes suffered their worst losses of 2018 last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said both purchase mortgages and ap...
Tue, Feb 20 2018, 6:10 PM
Today was a total dud in terms of volume and volatility. That's not all that uncommon on the Tuesday following a 3-day weekend, especially if there a...
Tue, Feb 20 2018, 4:54 PM
Mortgage rates moved back up today after ending last week on a positive note. Improvements in rates have been uncommon so far in 2018. In fact, we hav...
Tue, Feb 20 2018, 9:57 AM
Last Friday's Day Ahead was all about positions. Read it HERE, if you haven't done so or need a refresher. It advocated caution with respect to floa...
Tue, Feb 20 2018, 9:12 AM
Welcome to Day 1 of the longest period in the United States without a federal holiday: President's Day to Memorial Day. Some will think, “That’s a dra...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 4:14 PM
Tiny pockets of gains have come and gone in the vast sea of red that's dominated 2018 so far. Each pocket has attempted to lure optimists into a "b...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 3:49 PM
Financial markets in the US will be closed for President's Day on Monday. Thus, mortgage lenders will not be open, nor will they be accepting locks. G...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 12:36 PM
Some people are never happy . For most of the ten years following the start of the Great Recession the experts have focused (can we say harped?) on th...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 10:16 AM
While they're extremely important to institutional investors and analysts, the role of trading positions in the bond market is one of the most easily...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 9:59 AM
Residential construction got off to a strong start in January, with sizable increases in both permits and housing starts and only a slight downturn in...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 9:11 AM
Mortgage rates are greatly influenced by supply and demand. And if both the U.S. government and individuals need to borrow money, the government usual...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 4:14 PM
At face value, today was great! Bonds overlooked all of the morning's economic data (no surprise) and made modest gains that were subsequently held...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 3:41 PM
Mortgage rates were roughly unchanged today. Some lenders even offered improved rates in the afternoon as underlying bond markets managed to hold mode...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 2:04 PM
While the prospect of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needing taxpayer money conjures up images of a failing mortgage market requiring a government bailout...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 10:37 AM
New home builders are looking ahead, and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says this optimism was reflected in its Housing Market Index...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 10:33 AM
Although it has been declared by many in Congress as "dead on arrival" the Trump Administration's proposed 2019 budget appears more predicated on anot...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 10:10 AM
I've mentioned the comparisons between 2013 and the current selling trend several times recently. Most of those have been in response to journalists ...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 9:08 AM
If you claim that many areas of the nation have few houses for sale, no one will disagree. (“Rob, when are those big funds that own tens of thousands ...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 6:28 PM
Old people who've been endlessly frustrated by the fact that no one seemed to be concerned about inflation for the past 6 or 7 years are finally havin...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 5:37 PM
Mortgage rates surged higher today, moving easily to new 4-year highs. Today's average conventional 30yr fixed rate is roughly one eighth of a percent...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 12:19 PM
Is homeownership still the American Dream? Should it be? An article published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives argues while the former has long...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 9:33 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is forecasting a sizable jump in new home sales in January. Based on responses to its Builder Application Surve...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 9:19 AM
Two men are sitting in a bar when Mark Zuckerberg walks in. One of the men says to his friend, “This is awesome! On average, everyone in this bar is w...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 9:10 AM
Purchase mortgage applications, after starting out strong at the beginning of the year, stalled for the third straight time last week, bringing overal...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 8:32 AM
CPI has been a big deal since last May. That's when more than a year of higher, more stable Core CPI first began slipping under 2.0%. Bond markets r...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 4:29 PM
Today was "nice" in the highly charged sense of the word where it's meant to convey a certain acceptability and a certain absence of excellence . ...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 3:55 PM
Mortgage rates began the day fairly well in line with the past 2 days. While it's nice to see some stability in this environment, it's not so nice tha...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 11:42 AM
While home price increases softened slightly in the fourth quarter of last year, the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said, an uptick in existi...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 10:26 AM
A certain reality of the recent rate spike needs to be revisited based on conversations I've had with a few clients. Thankfully, it's pretty simple: ...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 9:53 AM
Last fall's hurricanes again dominate the CoreLogic November Loan Performance Insights Report, although the nature of the storms' influence has change...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 9:13 AM
Every lender has seen rates move higher, and nearly every lender has seen the inventory of homes for sale decline. With rates moving higher, which sho...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 4:52 PM
Caveat 1: bond yields hit the highest intraday levels in more than 4 years before the open.
Caveat 2: bond yields hit the highest intraday levels...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 4:33 PM
In 2011, when Congress and the Obama Administration wanted to give taxpayers a temporary 2.0 percentage point reduction in payroll (FICA and Medicare)...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 3:49 PM
Mortgage rates were generally in line with Friday's latest levels today. Unfortunately, those happened to be the highest in more than 4 years . Rates ...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 9:41 AM
2018 has seen the most unpleasant start to a new year since 2009 as far as bond markets are concerned. The big sell-off in 2009 is easier to reconci...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 9:18 AM
Last year Congress failed to pass a sweeping bill repealing much of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act. It appear...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 9:11 AM
People are usually surprised to learn there are more boating licenses issued in Wyoming then in Hawai’i. Arizona and flooding? CoreLogic research find...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 9:18 PM
Mortgage rates experienced some ups and downs this week (mostly ups), but ultimately weren't able to capitalize on a few attempts to move lower. Monda...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 9:14 PM
I'm Matt, but I'll be frank with you for a moment. I don't like the way this chart looks.
If your mind's eye is anything like mine, A) you ne...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 11:29 AM
A small group of VA approved issuers have been warned that the speed at which their loans are being prepaid makes it appear they are participating in ...
