Thu, Jan 19 2017, 9:25 AM
How has housing changed in the last 100 years? It’s easy to see when a “vertical flight” is put together, and Trulia posted current listings that were...
Thu, Jan 19 2017, 8:34 AM
When it comes to defining the recent range, there are several candidates for the upper and lower boundaries. When 10yr yields were under 2.40%, that ...
Thu, Jan 19 2017, 5:22 PM
Pain continued for bond markets today as 10yr yields broke above the upper range boundaries that had been intact since the beginning of the year. Ad...
Thu, Jan 19 2017, 3:57 PM
Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate survey came out this morning showing the lowest rates in 3 weeks (don't get excited). This happens due to the surve...
Wed, Jan 18 2017, 10:39 AM
The Housing Market Index (HMI) backed down a bit from its post-election surge in January, dropping 2 points to a composite reading of 67. The National...
Wed, Jan 18 2017, 9:07 AM
The mortgage world is full of acronyms. Some refer to Finance of America as “FOAM,” for example. There are new ones every year, making it hard for old...
Wed, Jan 18 2017, 8:29 AM
Although yields were able to close at the lowest levels in more than a month yesterday, bonds continued to trade in the same intraday range (roughly...
Wed, Jan 18 2017, 8:19 AM
Mortgage applications rose on a seasonally adjusted annual basis during the week ended January 13. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Co...
Wed, Jan 18 2017, 5:20 PM
After flirting with a break of the lower end of 2017's sideways range yesterday, bond traders clearly decided " now's not the time. " There's preciou...
Wed, Jan 18 2017, 4:42 PM
Mortgage rates moved sharply higher today , more than erasing yesterday's improvement. In fact, in one fell swoop, rates essentially moved from the bo...
Tue, Jan 17 2017, 12:51 PM
Debt finances additional consumption. That could be the summary of a speech given on Tuesday to the National Retail Federation's annual convention by ...
Tue, Jan 17 2017, 9:17 AM
Well, we have 24 business days until our next Federal holiday (President’s Day on February 20). Sigh. Much worse is this very, very sad, troubling sta...
Tue, Jan 17 2017, 8:46 AM
January continues playing host to the same level of stock/bond correlation that we typically see at the end and beginning of any given year. Beyond c...
Tue, Jan 17 2017, 5:48 PM
In some regards, bonds had their best day of the year today. The outright gains weren't quite as big as Jan 5th or 9th, but closing yields were the...
Tue, Jan 17 2017, 4:53 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower today , generally recovering the losses seen last Friday. This brings many lenders back in line with the lowest levels sinc...
Fri, Jan 13 2017, 11:33 AM
The surprise reduction in FHA annual premiums announced last week by the current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) may not survive long...
Fri, Jan 13 2017, 9:05 AM
The average person in the residential lending sector would be hard pressed to say what Julian Castro, the current Secretary of HUD, does , or what rol...
Fri, Jan 13 2017, 8:26 AM
Bond markets are beginning the day slightly stronger ahead of the week's only significant economic data. The 8:30am time slot brings Retail Sales (...
Fri, Jan 13 2017, 4:54 PM
Granted, we might wake up next Tuesday (markets are closed Monday) to find that bonds are quickly breaking out of the recent range. But as for this...
Fri, Jan 13 2017, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher today , even after many lenders offered mid-day improvements in the afternoon. Bond markets (which underlie rate movement)...
Thu, Jan 12 2017, 9:40 AM
It ain't over 'til it's over, and that seems to be increasingly true of contacted home sales. Trulia reported on Wednesday that, "Deals to sell homes ...
Thu, Jan 12 2017, 9:32 AM
New home sales are projected to fall in December relative to November, not an unexpected pattern as the year-end holidays approach. The Mortgage Banke...
Thu, Jan 12 2017, 9:29 AM
Ever wondered how much Ben Carson is worth, where he puts his money, and how much money he earns? Here you go . His hearing is today for the HUD spot....
Thu, Jan 12 2017, 8:28 AM
As the new year continues, a common new year's theme is in full effect: the stock/bond correlation. Stocks and bonds frequently move together over ...
Thu, Jan 12 2017, 6:27 PM
In glancing at various trader/analyst/strategist emails, I see perhaps a greater diversity of opinions about today than of any other recent trading da...
Thu, Jan 12 2017, 5:33 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed today , depending on the lender. Discrepancies between lenders have been higher than normal over the last 24 hours for sever...
Wed, Jan 11 2017, 9:24 AM
While rumors swirl about the topic for the phone call with Stearns Lending’s correspondent-wide staff today (let’s hope its good news), Richard Cordra...
Wed, Jan 11 2017, 8:45 AM
To a significantly greater degree than yesterday's 3yr Treasury auction, today's 10yr auction will have the power to confirm a trend we were beginni...
Wed, Jan 11 2017, 8:22 AM
Mortgage applications continue to decompress from the two-week holiday moratorium as well as from the usual holiday business interruptions, so it is h...
Wed, Jan 11 2017, 5:09 PM
Today was one of the more complex trading days we've had recently. Three things were certainly in play and 2 of them were interdependent.
1. Stock...
Wed, Jan 11 2017, 3:57 PM
Mortgage rates fell today , in many cases to levels not seen in well over a month . The average lender was just a hair better than last Thursday, mean...
Tue, Jan 10 2017, 9:49 AM
It is a bi-annual bonanza of data for anyone in need of facts about housing in America and how people use it. The 2015 edition of the American Housing...
Tue, Jan 10 2017, 9:36 AM
Foreclosures are, at long last, approaching what CoreLogic says was the level in the pre-crisis environment . The company's November National Foreclos...
Tue, Jan 10 2017, 9:17 AM
What does $1.38 million, uh, I mean $138 thousand, buy you in South Dakota ? (Of course the heating bill is $3,000 a month...) Buying it may be a litt...
Tue, Jan 10 2017, 8:47 AM
One day down and 2 more to go without meaningful economic data. That didn't stop bonds from having a good day yesterday, but the gains were largely d...
Tue, Jan 10 2017, 5:27 PM
Today was about as tame as they come for bond markets, post-election. 10yr yields traded a high of 2.394 and a low of 2.361. That's a very narrow d...
Tue, Jan 10 2017, 4:32 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher today, but remain in much better shape overall when compared to the last month of 2016. In many ways, the new year...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 11:24 AM
The annual premium paid by borrowers on mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is going down by a quarter of a percent. Housing ...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 11:00 AM
In its current edition of the Mortgage Monitor , covering data from November 2016, Black Knight Financial Services looks at the changing landscape of ...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 9:34 AM
Ah, here we are starting off a work week with 5 whole days in it. Remember that next Monday is a holiday for some, not all, with the usual questions a...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 8:38 AM
NOTE: This paragraph will be at the top of the Day Ahead for a few weeks. Once you've read it, feel free to skip it. The Day Ahead has long been my ...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 6:29 PM
It was almost a wholly uneventful day for bond markets. If not for the fact that trading levels improved day-over-day, there wouldn't be much to talk...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 6:28 PM
Mortgage rates recovered much of Friday's losses today, moving back near the lowest levels in more than a month. To be fair, that's a claim they could...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 3:08 PM
Consumer perceptions about rising interest rates and stagnant income levels were the main contributors to a half-point decrease in Fannie Mae's Home P...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 2:52 PM
If you’re hoping to purchase a home soon, there are plenty of things to concentrate on. Your loan officer or realtor will probably give you a list of ...
Fri, Jan 6 2017, 9:43 AM
This month for me includes Texas (a few times), Maryland, Northern California, and Colorado (a few times). It can be cold out there! So far the mood s...
Fri, Jan 6 2017, 8:18 AM
NOTE: This paragraph will be at the top of the Day Ahead for a few weeks. Once you've read it, feel free to skip it. The Day Ahead has long been my ...
Fri, Jan 6 2017, 5:14 PM
NFP is the biggest piece of economic data on any given month--so big, in fact, that financial markets treat it as a focal point for trading activity ...
Fri, Jan 6 2017, 4:15 PM
Mortgage rates moved moderately higher today after the Employment Situation Report (aka "the jobs report" or simply "NFP," after its trademark compone...
Thu, Jan 5 2017, 9:54 AM
Access to credit continued to inch up last month according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI). Th...
