Thu, Jun 22 2017, 4:43 PM
Yesterday's recap went into some detail about the market phenomenon that can result in intense periods of sideways momentum (and trader apathy) duri...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 3:50 PM
Mortgage rates have been so little-changed in recent days that yesterday's coverage wouldn't need to be changed in order to apply perfectly today. Ind...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 9:38 AM
April data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) indicates that, once again, there was no moderation in the pace of home price increases . FH...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 9:18 AM
Prepayments, apparently spurred by the recent retreat in interest rates, soared in May. Black Knight Financial Services, in its "first look" at the mo...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 9:17 AM
Originations are increasingly tilted toward home purchase mortgages per the latest Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae. The May data show the sh...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 8:58 AM
This week’s Sindeo's closure reminds lenders of the basic premise: if you didn't make money in 2016, what makes 2017 any different? Your competitors w...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 8:53 AM
With the trading activity seen in the wake of last Wednesday's high-volume/high-movement day, it's clear that bond markets have been in a holding patt...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 4:50 PM
With the taper tantrum in 2013 and Brexit in 2016, two of our most recent examples of summertime bond trading have been pulled very far from historica...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 3:11 PM
Mortgage rates have been locked in an exceptionally narrow range for most of the month of June, but especially over the past 5 days. Given that mortga...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 10:22 AM
Existing home sales weren't expected to strengthen in May, in fact analysts were looking for a slight decline. Sales however did manage to recover fro...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 9:30 AM
Welcome to the first day of summer. Hey, I don’t where you’re going to be exactly two months from now, but on August 21, besides marking the anniversa...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 9:21 AM
The volume of applications for refinancing expanded for the third consecutive time during the week ended June 16. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MB...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 9:17 AM
Here we are again with oil falling into new lows for the year and suddenly, it's the inspiration for everything according to most mainstream financial...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 4:54 PM
Today had no significant news or events on the calendar, thus leaving traders to watch other traders for cues. To some extent, several Fed speakers g...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates were steady to slightly lower today, with underlying bond markets essentially erasing the damage seen yesterday. This was neither here ...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 10:20 AM
New home purchase mortgages became a little riskier in the first quarter of 2017 per CoreLogic. The company said its Housing Credit Index (HCI), which...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 9:43 AM
Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David H. Stevens, has released a statement objecting to one of the three recommendations made this week...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 9:42 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Team hedged a few bets in its June economic summary. It laid out some wild cards while predicting that th...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 9:28 AM
“People who don’t give up attract other people’s attention.” As do people whose humor is stuck in 4th grade – like mine usually is. For example . Reve...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 9:08 AM
The week continues to offer little by way of scheduled economic data/events to stir the pot, thus leaving us to observe the underlying biases among tr...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 5:06 PM
Right out of the gate this morning, NY Fed President William Dudley set a rather negative tone for bond markets with several comments that essentially...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 4:17 PM
Mortgage rates were mostly flat again today, despite bond market weakness (lower bond prices generally mean higher rates). Between MBS (the mortgage-b...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 10:58 AM
In some areas, they are called "scrape-offs," but the usual term is tear-down ; demolishing an existing home to build a new one in its place. Tear-dow...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 9:40 AM
The past 3 trading sessions marked 3 of the 5 lowest closes for 10yr yields in 2017. Friday's strength did a nice job of pushing back against a poten...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 8:59 AM
Winston Churchill said that, “If the present tries to sit in judgement on the past, it will lose the future.” No argument there in mortgage banking. U...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 5:04 PM
Today was destined to be a sideways grind at slightly weaker levels for bond markets. This would have extended the theme that had been in place sin...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 4:37 PM
Mortgage rates were flat today, after weaker-than-expected construction data prompted a positive bounce for bond markets. In general, bonds (which dic...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 10:09 AM
Both permits for construction of privately-owned housing units and beginning construction in May were well below expectations, the second consecutive ...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 9:17 AM
What are we going to be talking about this summer? One topic is the economy, and the thought that rising short-term rates are a signal that the econom...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 9:09 AM
Bond markets may not give a stellar performance today, offering resounding confirmation of an ongoing rally. Conversely, they're not likely to rise e...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 8:54 AM
The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University has released its latest report on the State of the Nation's Housing . The report, is...
Thu, Jun 15 2017, 4:26 PM
To be fair to the Fed, they didn't really cause most of today's weakness. Bond markets already showed their hand with respect to yesterday's Fed ev...
Thu, Jun 15 2017, 3:05 PM
Mortgage rates rose moderately today, as bond markets generally bounced back from the best levels in 8 months yesterday. Despite the bounce, rates are...
Thu, Jun 15 2017, 2:58 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is expecting May to provide an uptick in new home sales. Results of MBA's Builder Application Survey indicate t...
Thu, Jun 15 2017, 12:22 PM
The competition for housing is heating up along with the summer temperatures and continuing to set new records. The average house sold in May went und...
Thu, Jun 15 2017, 10:30 AM
Builder confidence in the new home market appeared to take a tumble in June, per the latest survey conducted by the National Association of Home Build...
Thu, Jun 15 2017, 9:34 AM
In legal news, in Denver, the state's high court has ruled that HOAs can’t necessarily sue in construction defects disputes . A couple thousand miles ...
Thu, Jun 15 2017, 9:34 AM
Yesterday's rally was a potential game changer for the "great push back" of 2017 . That's not the official term for the past several months of gener...
Wed, Jun 14 2017, 5:34 PM
In a weird way, today's Fed announcement came out right at 8:30am when Core CPI dropped to 1.7%, falling well short of the 1.9% median forecast (year-...
Wed, Jun 14 2017, 5:10 PM
Mortgage rates fell convincingly today, though not all lenders adjusted rates sheets in proportion to the gains seen in bond markets (which underlie r...
Wed, Jun 14 2017, 2:03 PM
(Additions underlined, deletions struck through)
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March May indicates that the...
Wed, Jun 14 2017, 11:46 AM
The Treasury Department has released the first in what it describes as a series of reports to the President looking at the country's financial regulat...
Wed, Jun 14 2017, 8:59 AM
Depository banks are in the business to lend, and are now concerned about commercial lending. What do Cleveland, Memphis, and Chicago have in common? ...
Wed, Jun 14 2017, 8:32 AM
If you follow bond market movement for long enough, one thing becomes clear above all others: the Fed is the most reliable explanation for shifts in m...
Wed, Jun 14 2017, 8:28 AM
Another week of declining interest rates boosted refinance activity and sent overall mortgage activity higher during the week ended July 9. The Mortga...
Tue, Jun 13 2017, 4:55 PM
The past 3 trading sessions have largely represented a consolidation in prices and yields, just off the best levels of the year. There has certainl...
Tue, Jun 13 2017, 3:20 PM
Mortgage rates moved modestly higher today, for most lenders. This had more to do with yesterday's market movement than today's. Bond markets were wea...
Tue, Jun 13 2017, 3:00 PM
CoreLogic reports that mortgage delinquencies in March were at a 10 year low. The company's Loan Performance Insights Report shows that 4.4 percent of...
Tue, Jun 13 2017, 9:02 AM
How do you like these two headlines today, good news/bad news for lenders? “Fed set to shrink huge bond portfolio, pushing up interest rates.” And, “T...
Tue, Jun 13 2017, 8:47 AM
While we do have some economic data to get through today (Producer Prices, which are already out stronger than expected, and the afternoon's 30yr bond...
