Tue, Sep 26 2017, 9:05 AM
For some of you, this may seem very basic. For others, hopefully it will serve as an eye-opener or even just a useful refresher. I got the inspirati...
Mon, Sep 25 2017, 5:16 PM
It's tempting to say that bond markets are definitively pushing back against the sharp correction that brought rates higher over the past 2 weeks. In...
Mon, Sep 25 2017, 4:37 PM
Mortgage rates held their ground yet again , and are finally starting to look resilient after a relatively sharp move higher over the past 2 weeks. Th...
Mon, Sep 25 2017, 12:38 PM
Since the fourth quarter of 2016, lenders have increasingly reported to Fannie Mae that they have been loosening their home mortgage credit standards....
Mon, Sep 25 2017, 10:37 AM
Home sales might be a bit disappointing, but the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) says consumer attitudes about the economy are not the reason ...
Mon, Sep 25 2017, 9:29 AM
After accelerating on a year-over-year basis through every previous month in 2017, the rate of home price appreciation appears to have stabilized in J...
Mon, Sep 25 2017, 9:23 AM
Think you have problems? What if you owned a mall and your main tenant is Toys “R” Us? As in the Toys “R” Us that declared bankruptcy. You aint alone:...
Mon, Sep 25 2017, 9:03 AM
The current week begins with bonds holding ground for a 3rd day after a fairly sharp selling spree in the preceding 2 weeks. The big question is whet...
Fri, Sep 22 2017, 4:52 PM
Who knows how today's trading would have unfolded absent the overnight headlines that North Korea was planning to test an ICBM with a Hydrogen warhead...
Fri, Sep 22 2017, 4:27 PM
Mortgage rates held their ground yesterday. That was a refreshing development given the abrupt move higher over the past 2 weeks and a relatively thre...
Fri, Sep 22 2017, 12:26 PM
Refinancing accounted for 35 percent of all mortgages originated in August, unchanged from July, but down from 47 percent at the beginning of the year...
Fri, Sep 22 2017, 11:14 AM
Sometimes government gets it right. The Urban Institute (UI) clearly thinks that the Home Affordable Refinance Program, at least in its second iterati...
Fri, Sep 22 2017, 9:37 AM
Welcome to the autumn equinox. How about this? There have been no public CFPB enforcement actions or consent orders dealing with QM, ATR, or TRID. Zer...
Fri, Sep 22 2017, 9:18 AM
Rising home prices continue to fuel fast growth in household equity. CoreLogic said on Thursday that owners of mortgaged properties in the U.S. (rough...
Fri, Sep 22 2017, 8:59 AM
With a dearth of economic data on the calendar, bond traders were set to take cues from other traders, technical levels, and perhaps a big-ticket head...
Thu, Sep 21 2017, 4:40 PM
In a sick way, it would have been easier to see additional weakness in bond markets today. At least that would have jived with past precedent of "c...
Thu, Sep 21 2017, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates have been higher almost exclusively for the past 2 weeks. Yesterday was no exception as the Federal Reserve released a rate hike foreca...
Thu, Sep 21 2017, 12:36 PM
Hard to believe it's already that time again, but Freddie Mac's Economic and Housing Research Group are out with their forecast for 2018. The headline...
Thu, Sep 21 2017, 9:48 AM
Home prices increased by 0.2 percent from June to July according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index (HPI). The previou...
Thu, Sep 21 2017, 9:43 AM
Remember when the Grinch's heart grew 3 sizes? No, I mean, do you really remember watching that movie for the first time and the feeling you had wh...
Thu, Sep 21 2017, 9:25 AM
I am currently in South Carolina, and as it turns out, no other U.S. region is more populous than the South Atlantic United States (Washington, D.C., ...
Wed, Sep 20 2017, 5:28 PM
Today's Fed announcement wasn't appreciably different than most economists, traders, and armchair analysts expected. They confirmed the inception o...
Wed, Sep 20 2017, 5:12 PM
Mortgage rates rose today following the announcement and--more importantly--the Fed's updated economic projections . The Fed holds 8 meetings a year. ...
Wed, Sep 20 2017, 2:04 PM
(Additions underlined, deletions struck through)
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June July indicates that the...
Wed, Sep 20 2017, 10:53 AM
August was yet another disappointing month for existing home sales. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) says those sales were down for the fou...
Wed, Sep 20 2017, 10:27 AM
UCD Information As announced in September 2016,the Uniform Closing Dataset (UCD) mandate remains September 25, 2017Lenders who can deliver the UCD are...
Wed, Sep 20 2017, 8:52 AM
Overall mortgage application activity diminished significantly during the week ended September 15, but refinancing continued to hold its own, represen...
Wed, Sep 20 2017, 8:33 AM
Much like an actor can get lost in a role and take things a bit too far, bond markets played the part of "a market undergoing a correction" a little ...
Tue, Sep 19 2017, 5:33 PM
While MBS managed to remain 1 tick in positive territory today, Treasury yields were higher on the day and the overall mood in bond markets managed ...
Tue, Sep 19 2017, 4:36 PM
Mortgage rates remained unchanged today, on average. This keeps them in line with their highest levels in more than a month, though admittedly, there ...
Tue, Sep 19 2017, 1:42 PM
Jumbo refinances led the way as mortgage fraud risk posted another gain in the second quarter of 2017. CoreLogic reports that overall risk, as measure...
Tue, Sep 19 2017, 10:03 AM
Residential construction outcomes in August were mixed, with permitting enjoying a strong comeback after more than a 4 percent downturn in July, but h...
Tue, Sep 19 2017, 9:15 AM
Ginnie, FHA and VA News Lender updates regarding Texas and Florida are quieting down slightly, so let's play some catch up on government programs. Gin...
Tue, Sep 19 2017, 8:54 AM
Ahoy ye salty dogs sailing the high seas of the mortgage world. Another year has come and gone without any grand preparations for Talk Like a Pirate ...
Mon, Sep 18 2017, 4:49 PM
Bonds got off to a weaker start on this Fed week, and there weren't any convenient scapegoats in sight. That said, there were a few caveats. Most ...
Mon, Sep 18 2017, 3:55 PM
Mortgage rates resumed their recent uptrend today, after taking a quick break to end the week last Friday. The result is another push up to the highes...
Mon, Sep 18 2017, 12:21 PM
A new study is providing more evidence that student debt is disrupting the lifecycle of the housing market. The survey, conducted jointly by the Natio...
Mon, Sep 18 2017, 10:36 AM
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which ravaged Texas and Florida respectively, are taking at least some of the blame for diminishing builder confidence in ...
Mon, Sep 18 2017, 9:29 AM
In the literal wake of a second major hurricane in as many weeks, Black Knight Financial Services is again warning of some potentially disastrous outc...
Mon, Sep 18 2017, 9:23 AM
Saturday's commentary contained a letter from a reader saying, "Dodd Frank may have added more systematic risk than anyone had previously considered, ...
Mon, Sep 18 2017, 9:04 AM
Wednesday's Fed Announcement is one of the best-telegraphed in Fed history. Multiple speakers--including Yellen herself--have all but promised that t...
Fri, Sep 15 2017, 5:09 PM
Between the overnight session and domestic trading hours, the following voices tried to get inside the head of bond markets:
A North Korean miss...
Fri, Sep 15 2017, 4:41 PM
Mortgage rates were steady to slightly lower on average today, confirming the end of a somewhat abrupt correction from last week's 2017 lows. In other...
Fri, Sep 15 2017, 11:11 AM
The Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPB) does not provide guidance to the financial institutions it regulates. Instead it has evolved into a re...
Fri, Sep 15 2017, 9:25 AM
Florida is sometimes called, “God’s waiting room.” The area, tragically, has seen its share of destruction & death this month, but the airports are ba...
Fri, Sep 15 2017, 9:13 AM
Granted, the headline of today's commentary will be lost on those who aren't reasonably well-versed in Monty Python, but it was worth the risk to ente...
Thu, Sep 14 2017, 5:10 PM
We've been steadfast in characterizing this week's sell-off as a "correction" to the strong rally that preceded it. One might have argued that the ri...
Thu, Sep 14 2017, 2:51 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher today, despite resilience in underlying bond markets. If you were to ask bonds, they'd vote for rates remaining flat--well...
Thu, Sep 14 2017, 9:21 AM
Disaster-related news continues to be front-and-center for obvious reasons. HUD announced it will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Fl...
Thu, Sep 14 2017, 8:28 AM
Yesterday morning's chart is just as germane for today, perhaps more so. It shows how bonds have reacted to CPI data over the past few months. Altho...
