Thu, Dec 8 2016, 5:42 PM
Mortgage rates were only somewhat higher today, on average, and some lenders were actually right in line with yesterday's offerings. All this despite ...
Wed, Dec 7 2016, 12:24 PM
Profit margins increased for mortgage lenders in the third quarter of 2015. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said independent mortgage banks and...
Wed, Dec 7 2016, 9:27 AM
Today is the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawai’i where 2,403 Americans died and 1,178 were wound...
Wed, Dec 7 2016, 8:57 AM
Mortgage application activity was essentially flat on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended December 2 while swinging broadly on a non-sea...
Wed, Dec 7 2016, 8:54 AM
From time to time, we see various financial markets take a "lead-off." Just like in baseball, the lead-offs occur because the base-runner knows whe...
Wed, Dec 7 2016, 5:41 PM
"Big" is a relative term these days, to be sure. In fact, 4.8bps in 10yr yields and 10/32nds in Fannie 3.5 MBS prices isn't too terribly big, but...
Wed, Dec 7 2016, 5:03 PM
Mortgage rates moved moderately lower today, as financial markets positioned themselves for an important announcement from the European Central Bank (...
Tue, Dec 6 2016, 10:30 AM
Home price growth accelerated further in October according to CoreLogic. The company's Home Price Index (HPI) increased 6.7 percent from the prior Oct...
Tue, Dec 6 2016, 9:27 AM
Many years ago, it was a joke in Britain to say that, “the War Office was always preparing for the last war.” To their credit, regulators now often tr...
Tue, Dec 6 2016, 8:47 AM
I generally don't l ike the terms "oversold" (consistent weakness) and "overbought" (consistent strength). I think they lead to false confidence...
Tue, Dec 6 2016, 5:37 PM
Today's bond market trading range was the narrowest since the US presidential election, by far. 10yr yields held inside a paltry 2.9bp range (2.374 t...
Tue, Dec 6 2016, 4:44 PM
Mortgage rates barely budged today, with most lenders offering the exact same quotes as yesterday. While we have seen a few days with similar day-over...
Mon, Dec 5 2016, 12:05 PM
As everyone knows, interest rates shot up immediately in the wake of the November 8 presidential elections, triggered by a sell-off in Treasury bonds....
Mon, Dec 5 2016, 10:06 AM
Access to mortgage credit continued its recent upward trend in November. The Mortgage Bankers Association said on Monday that its Mortgage Credit Avai...
Mon, Dec 5 2016, 9:59 AM
Another piece of the President-elect Donald J. Trump's administration fell into place on Monday with the announcement that former Republican president...
Mon, Dec 5 2016, 9:50 AM
It is probably not the case that this date is celebrated by mortgage bankers from coast to coast, and forget the jokes about it being the “Mortgage Dr...
Mon, Dec 5 2016, 8:52 AM
This week, we'll finally get to see how much of an impact remains to be had for the European Central Bank (ECB) announcement. The ECB conducts their ...
Mon, Dec 5 2016, 5:29 PM
After today, we're left with a clearer picture of the prevailing short-term range in bond markets. The volatile reaction to the weekend's Italian ref...
Mon, Dec 5 2016, 3:34 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher today relative to last Friday's levels, leaving them near the 2-year highs seen last Thursday. Volatility continue...
Fri, Dec 2 2016, 9:27 AM
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has now joined the Federal Housing Finance Agency in raising the dollar limits for loans that qualify for FHA...
Fri, Dec 2 2016, 9:24 AM
Plenty of people are on the roads in December, traveling for the holidays. Ever curious about the basic differences between a road, a street, a boulev...
Fri, Dec 2 2016, 8:12 AM
Have you heard the one about the falling knife? And how no one wants to catch it? That's one of the market's favorite analogies for the fear experie...
Fri, Dec 2 2016, 5:17 PM
Let's change up the old fairy tale. Bond markets have been cried wolf on a few recent occasions. In my version of the fairy tale, "crying wolf" is e...
Fri, Dec 2 2016, 4:19 PM
Mortgage rates erased yesterday's losses after today's jobs report, though not necessarily because of it. The Employment Situation (affectionately ref...
Thu, Dec 1 2016, 11:43 AM
Construction spending rose only slightly in October, with residential construction coming in stronger than most other sectors. The Census Bureau said ...
Thu, Dec 1 2016, 10:00 AM
Numbers can be deceiving. U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro announced that public housing developments in the U.S. will...
Thu, Dec 1 2016, 8:32 AM
Bond markets begin the day still reeling from yesterday's OPEC-driven rout. We noted in yesterday's closing commentary that yields bounced on an omin...
Thu, Dec 1 2016, 5:44 PM
Bonds began the day in the throes of yesterday's ongoing momentum. There was a bit of a pause during Asian market hours, but European trading quickly...
Thu, Dec 1 2016, 4:02 PM
Mortgage rates spiked abruptly today, bringing them to the highest levels in well over 2 years . The average lender is now quoting conventional 30yr f...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 10:37 AM
Pending home Sales eked out a 0.1 percent gain in October. The National Association of Realtors® said its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) barely manag...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 10:07 AM
Underwriters’ hands are tied in using income from something the Federal Government considers illegal. For example, Washington State had nearly $212 mi...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 9:48 AM
Yesterday we discussed the positive impact of month-end bond buying. The only problem with month-end buying that occurs on the day before month-e...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 8:29 AM
Thanksgiving wreaked the usual holiday-related damage on the Mortgage Bankers Association's report of mortgage activity during the week ended November...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 5:18 PM
Today brought the long-awaited and hotly-anticipated conclusion of a deal among OPEC countries to limit oil production. Constricted supply has one in...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 4:07 PM
Mortgage rates rose moderately today, bringing them roughly back in line with Monday's levels. For the record, that leaves us in slightly better shape...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:35 PM
Interest rates are, quite naturally, the focus of Freddie Mac's November Outlook. The company's Economic & Housing Research Group looked at the potent...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 1:25 PM
President-elect Donald J. Trump may have just handed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae a "get out of jail free" card. Trump has picked Steven Mnuchin to be S...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 10:54 AM
While it will remain unchanged in 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Reserve Board, and Office of the Comptroller of the C...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 10:16 AM
It took ten years and change, but national prices as measured by the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Index have finally surpassed the previous pre...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 10:11 AM
From Louisiana comes, “I doubt that HUD will be a high priority for Trump – perhaps it will be like Ronald Reagan’s view. Remember the story that Pres...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 9:49 AM
The term ' pivot point ' can mean slightly different things depending on your frame of reference and market-watching goals. For our purposes, the lit...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 5:33 PM
How many ways could bond market weakness have been justified today? Shall I count the ways?
GDP +3.2 vs +3.0 forecast and +2.9 previously
...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 3:53 PM
Mortgage rate s continued lower today. While the pace of improvement was slightly slower, it was enough to get the average lender rate sheet back to l...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 1:50 PM
Freddie Mac has certified six companies as meeting its requirements for creating, signing, and storing eNotes , i.e. electronic promissory notes. The ...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 1:42 PM
The national foreclosure inventory rate, according to Black Knight Financial Services, fell below 1 percent in October for the first time since July 2...
Mon, Nov 28 2016, 11:09 AM
Black Knight Financial Services says that its Home Price Index (HPI) inched up only 0.1 percent from August to September. Monthly appreciation has dec...
Mon, Nov 28 2016, 9:54 AM
Happy birthday to Tina Turner who turned 77 on Saturday. (I doubt if her personal information is at risk after HUD was hacked .) I bet Tina, who is a ...
Mon, Nov 28 2016, 4:51 PM
Remember when 10yr yields spiked from roughly 2.31% to roughly 2.41% in the blink of an eye last Wednesday? That was the day before Thanksgiving, w...
Mon, Nov 28 2016, 3:54 PM
Bond markets were stronger right out of the gate in the overnight session with 10yr yields opening at 2.337 and gaining another bp since then. The re...
Mon, Nov 28 2016, 3:40 PM
WARNING: this article's headline makes the overall mortgage rate situation sound much better than it actually is . While it is indeed a fact that toda...
