Wed, May 31 2017, 10:15 AM
Pending home sales had been expected to rise slightly in April after declining 0.8 percent in March. Instead, the National Association of Realtors'® (...
Wed, May 31 2017, 9:13 AM
It has been interesting talking to residential lending folks around the nation about their mix of business and how it has changed - if at all. It turn...
Wed, May 31 2017, 9:06 AM
The volume of applications for mortgages tumbled during the week ended May 26. Purchase applications were down for the third straight week and refinan...
Wed, May 31 2017, 9:05 AM
In one of yesterday's updates (THIS ONE, to be specific), we discussed the role that month-end bond buying was likely playing behind the scenes. Long...
Tue, May 30 2017, 4:46 PM
Unfortunately, we won't really know until after this week is over, but if today is any indication, bond markets look like they're willing to consider ...
Tue, May 30 2017, 2:50 PM
Mortgage rates remained relatively unchanged again today. This continues the sideways trend leading into Memorial Day weekend. As the current week pro...
Tue, May 30 2017, 1:59 PM
CoreLogic's analysts continue to report on the validity of appraisals. A blog entry from last December found that thirty percent of appraisals the com...
Tue, May 30 2017, 10:36 AM
Black Knight Financial Services (BK), released its Home Price Index (HPI) on Tuesday. It was in general agreement with the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller'...
Tue, May 30 2017, 10:06 AM
Home prices across the nine U.S. census divisions hit a 33-month high in March . The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index rose 5....
Tue, May 30 2017, 8:52 AM
Congrats to Indiana’s Ruoff Home Mortgage and president & CEO Mark Music. Why? The lender helped sponsor the winning Indy 500 car this weekend! Capita...
Tue, May 30 2017, 8:50 AM
Although there are only four trading days in the week ahead, they bring a far more venerable lineup of economic data compared to last week. This coin...
Fri, May 26 2017, 3:09 PM
Today was a non-starter, despite the presence of economic data that certainly had the street cred to move markets (if markets were inclined to move)...
Fri, May 26 2017, 2:31 PM
Mortgage rates didn't move much today. Lenders that made detectable adjustments generally did so in a moderately positive direction. While this isn't ...
Fri, May 26 2017, 8:54 AM
Ready to rush off and join the blockchain rush? Not so fast. The implementation of blockchain technology in the financial-services industry is meeting...
Fri, May 26 2017, 8:28 AM
Up until yesterday, the past week and a half of trading ran the risk of taking the shape of an uptrend leading back from the lows that followed last w...
Thu, May 25 2017, 4:54 PM
After seeing today's trading--especially when we consider it in the context of recent technical levels and yesterday's bounce around 2.25% in 10yr yie...
Thu, May 25 2017, 4:08 PM
Mortgage rates fell today despite relatively uneventful movement in underlying bond markets (which drive day to day changes in rates). The net improve...
Thu, May 25 2017, 11:09 AM
Rather than taking a step back this year, home sales now seem ready to best their 2016 numbers. Freddie Mac's economists admit that, up until this mon...
Thu, May 25 2017, 11:06 AM
It often gets lost in the shuffle, but the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is not just the regulator and conservator of the government sponsored...
Thu, May 25 2017, 9:50 AM
Montana may have its issues with politicians vying for the WWE title belt, but the state does seem to steer clear of cyberattacks. At least, it does i...
Thu, May 25 2017, 9:14 AM
Tuesday of this week was a bit alarming for bond markets as it introduced the possibility that yields were opting for upward momentum after bottoming ...
Wed, May 24 2017, 4:45 PM
Bonds began the day in inconsequentially stronger territory and soon moved to the worst levels in a week leading up to the 5yr Treasury auction. Th...
Wed, May 24 2017, 3:35 PM
Mortgage rates moved moderately higher this morning, beginning the day at the highest levels in roughly 2 weeks. Afternoon events helped underlying bo...
Wed, May 24 2017, 10:04 AM
Existing homes declined in April, falling back by 2.3 percent in April when compared to March 2017 levels. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR)...
Wed, May 24 2017, 9:56 AM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is reporting another significantly high set of results for its Housing Price Index (HPI). The current values...
Wed, May 24 2017, 9:16 AM
Today's main event from a "street cred" standpoint will be the 2pm release of the Minutes from the last Fed meeting . This is a detailed account of ...
Wed, May 24 2017, 8:43 AM
Trends in New Home Sales "Pending" Home Sales, "Existing" Home Sales, and "New" Home Sales - take your pick. They all show something slightly differen...
Wed, May 24 2017, 8:29 AM
While Black Knight Financial Services maintains it was a function of seasonality, mortgage delinquencies increased in April by the largest percentage ...
Wed, May 24 2017, 8:24 AM
Refinancing shored up the Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index during the week ended May 19. While purchase mortgages slowed , the Co...
Tue, May 23 2017, 4:21 PM
Much like the week before last, we're seeing an abundance of new "supply" hitting the bond market. This comes both in the form of the scheduled Tre...
Tue, May 23 2017, 3:54 PM
Mortgage rates began the day in decent shape with the average lender roughly unchanged versus yesterday. As the day progressed, bond markets (which di...
Tue, May 23 2017, 3:53 PM
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its proposed 2018 budget on Tuesday, saying it will continue to provide rental ass...
Tue, May 23 2017, 1:33 PM
Ask anyone house hunting this spring, and they'll tell you there are far too few homes for sale. But, really, it's the price tags of the homes for sal...
Tue, May 23 2017, 10:08 AM
Sales of newly constructed homes lost momentum in April, reversing three straight months of gains. The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and...
Tue, May 23 2017, 10:01 AM
I do my best to group updates to create a narrative that is more "user friendly" than to just throw news out there. But some updates don't fit into co...
Tue, May 23 2017, 9:45 AM
Although yields have risen modestly over the past 3 trading session, they've done so from the best levels in more than 7 months. If we take a few ste...
Mon, May 22 2017, 9:32 AM
Last week was characterized by one big day of volume and volatility surrounding the apparently scandalous and sensational political headlines. By now...
Mon, May 22 2017, 8:53 AM
I recently heard a CEO say, “I am fine competing on product, price, and service. But we shouldn’t have to compete on subjective interpretations of rul...
Mon, May 22 2017, 5:08 PM
Today was super slow for bond markets with 10yr yields holding under the same ceiling that was in place on Friday (2.25+). At the same time, the lo...
Mon, May 22 2017, 4:39 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher for the 3rd straight day, continuing a modest bounce back from the year's lowest rates last Wednesday. In a nutshe...
Fri, May 19 2017, 9:33 AM
For me this week included time in Salt Lake City, Columbus, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Raleigh. (The mood is good as individuals continue to share ...
Fri, May 19 2017, 9:11 AM
If bonds hadn't undergone their highest volume move of the year on Wednesday and Thursday, we would have expected this week to be relatively dead in...
Fri, May 19 2017, 8:46 AM
The status of the GSE's (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), as well as the topic of housing finance reform continue to be "hot," according to Melvin L. Watt...
Fri, May 19 2017, 3:00 PM
Mortgage rates continued higher for the 2nd straight day after hitting the lowest levels in more than 7 months earlier this week. Wednesday's big move...
Thu, May 18 2017, 11:45 AM
Conventional wisdom, the lending version, holds that refinance loans are inherently less risky than purchase loans, but a recent analysis from the Urb...
Thu, May 18 2017, 11:06 AM
The average period necessary to close a mortgage shortened again in April, dwindling by another day from the March timeline to 42 days . This was the ...
Thu, May 18 2017, 10:57 AM
This may, or may not be a cause for celebration. The New York Federal Reserve Bank, using credit data from Equifax, reports that Americans are now bac...
Thu, May 18 2017, 9:57 AM
Imagine being able to keep the money you earn!? Per Mr. Mel Watt, Fannie & Freddie might have to keep their profits to avoid rescue . Mr. Watt, who ha...
Thu, May 18 2017, 9:13 AM
I can't emphasize this enough: when bond markets have a day like they had yesterday, it's often followed shortly thereafter by a correction. In the c...
Thu, May 18 2017, 7:03 PM
It could have been a lot worse! That's a great theme for today's bond market action. Yesterday was the kind of rally where traders buy bonds first a...
