Mon, Nov 14 2016, 9:27 AM
"Taper tantrum" refers to the market's reaction to the revelation that the Fed would begin reducing the pace of its asset purchases in mid-2013. For ...
Mon, Nov 14 2016, 7:53 PM
With Thursday marking a slightly less robust day of selling compared to Wednesday, it was all too tempting to hope that the bond market was just get...
Mon, Nov 14 2016, 5:18 PM
It's been a long time since anyone could say that top tier conventional conforming 30yr fixed mortgage rates were at 4% . Indeed, even last Monday, th...
Thu, Nov 10 2016, 10:43 AM
The BLS reports 5 of the 10 fastest growing jobs pay less than $25k per year . I wonder what percentage of real estate agents earn that? Realtors have...
Thu, Nov 10 2016, 10:30 AM
We talk about " momentum " a lot when it comes to bond market movement. I like reducing financial market concepts and reducing them to easy-to-unders...
Thu, Nov 10 2016, 6:26 PM
Mortgage Rates continued a relentless move higher today, as financial markets continue rapidly adjusting the price of new realities (more on that in a...
Thu, Nov 10 2016, 6:19 PM
In the Day Ahead, we discussed the concept of ' momentum ' in bond markets. I likened the current momentum situation to an unexpected running of the ...
Thu, Nov 10 2016, 2:37 PM
The affordability tug-of-war between home prices and interest rates continued in the third quarter, but the National Association of Home Builders (NAH...
Wed, Nov 9 2016, 10:56 AM
Friday is a day to honor veterans. Different people do that in different ways, and one way is for a restaurant chain to offer a free meal to those who...
Wed, Nov 9 2016, 10:22 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says that its seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage application volume, decreased 1...
Wed, Nov 9 2016, 5:37 PM
These are the sorts of things I think about sometimes when I'm coming up with a title for the recap. If you have enough of a stake in bond market mov...
Wed, Nov 9 2016, 4:38 PM
Mortgage Rates skyrocketed today, relative to their average range of movement. It was the single biggest move higher since the days of the taper tantr...
Wed, Nov 9 2016, 2:30 AM
This will be a brutally simple piece of analysis. If you'd like to see the same conclusions expressed in vastly more words, read almost anything I'...
Tue, Nov 8 2016, 10:02 AM
The foreclosure inventory was down nearly one-third in September when compared to a year earlier although the pace of completed foreclosures remained ...
Tue, Nov 8 2016, 9:53 AM
“It ain’t rocket surgery.” Trulia has a good piece out on the advantages of buying versus renting . Buying a home is 37% cheaper than renting national...
Tue, Nov 8 2016, 9:22 AM
This week's absence of relevant economic data seems to be by design. Markets may have chosen to focus on the election even if there had been importan...
Tue, Nov 8 2016, 5:14 PM
Market participants are HUNGRY for information on election day! While that comes as no surprise (indeed, traders always want to know what's going o...
Tue, Nov 8 2016, 3:46 PM
Mortgage Rates rose today as early presidential polls showed Clinton leading in several battleground states. At least when it comes to the most immedi...
Mon, Nov 7 2016, 11:55 AM
A change in conforming loan limits could have a big impact on mortgage originations and on homebuying in general according to Black Knight Financial S...
Mon, Nov 7 2016, 11:45 AM
How much does the roof over your head, today help ensure you will still have one in retirement? That is the question the Urban Institute (UI) is tryin...
Mon, Nov 7 2016, 10:46 AM
A loan officer walked up to me at a recent sales event and complained, “I’m spending more time promoting myself than I am being myself.” I replied, “I...
Mon, Nov 7 2016, 10:02 AM
In terms of scheduled economic data and events, this week is almost completely barren. In addition, Friday is Veteran's Day , and no matter what any...
Mon, Nov 7 2016, 5:28 PM
Today was perhaps the simplest trading session for bond markets in recent memory. There was one relevant piece of information and one meaningful mo...
Mon, Nov 7 2016, 4:55 PM
Mortgage Rates were unchanged today despite a fair amount of weakness in the bond market. Rates typically rise when bonds weaken. The absence of volat...
Mon, Nov 7 2016, 1:23 PM
Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) suffered its third decline in as many months in October. The Index, based on responses to six key q...
Fri, Nov 4 2016, 10:40 AM
A trusted real estate agent could be a loan officer's best friend. A survey, commissioned by Freddie Mac in advance of the National Association of Rea...
Fri, Nov 4 2016, 10:22 AM
Are there any updates to tax information and/or documentation requirements? Yes, a handful. Stearns requires that all loans where tax returns are bein...
Fri, Nov 4 2016, 9:52 AM
Europe.
Above all else, the evolution of the European recovery-- especially as it relates to the various fiscal and monetary policy responses in t...
Fri, Nov 4 2016, 5:00 PM
I've seen today's jobs report referred to as both stronger and weaker in several ways. At worst, it was "mixed," and generally erred on the stronge...
Fri, Nov 4 2016, 4:28 PM
Mortgage Rates were slightly lower today--a counterintuitive move considering the big jobs report was slightly stronger that expected. To be clear, th...
Thu, Nov 3 2016, 12:38 PM
The two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) reported improved financial results in the third quarter of 2016. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both said...
Thu, Nov 3 2016, 12:13 PM
Several positive factors contributed to a rise in the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's) Mortgage Credit Availability Index in October. MBA's Vice...
Thu, Nov 3 2016, 10:03 AM
With residential applications at a 5-month industry low, it’s time for a pun. "How much does it cost to buy sixty female pigs and forty male deer? One...
Thu, Nov 3 2016, 9:53 AM
There can be no doubt that bond markets are responding to recent political headlines. But there's even less of a doubt that stock markets are far mor...
Thu, Nov 3 2016, 4:57 PM
Thank the overnight trading session for an anticlimactic day. It set a healthy range of highs and lows that daytime trading never managed to break....
Thu, Nov 3 2016, 4:03 PM
Mortgage Rates were slightly higher today, keeping them in line with the weakest levels in just over 5 months. "Weakness" is relative, however. Apart ...
Wed, Nov 2 2016, 10:14 AM
It's a global mortgage market, and this news tidbit caught my eye - reminding us that "a rising tide floats all boats." Virgin Money's Q3 IMS shows co...
Wed, Nov 2 2016, 9:26 AM
Let's not get too excited, but bonds have begun an attempt to bounce at the higher side of their multi-month trend channel (the "uptrend" leading to...
Wed, Nov 2 2016, 8:22 AM
Mortgage applications dropped to their lowest levels since last spring during the week ended October 28. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said i...
Wed, Nov 2 2016, 5:25 PM
Taken in and of itself, today's Fed statement was "net-hawkish." That means, relative to the last announcement, the verbiage took small but noticea...
Wed, Nov 2 2016, 4:37 PM
Mortgage Rates eased just a bit more today, marking the 4th day of relative stability after a sharp rise last Thursday. Although there was a Fed annou...
Wed, Nov 2 2016, 4:36 PM
Construction spending continued to be lukewarm in September, lagging behind both September 2015 and August 2016. Multi-family construction was among t...
Wed, Nov 2 2016, 2:01 PM
(additions underlined, deletions struck-through)
For immediate release
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in July...
Tue, Nov 1 2016, 10:16 AM
The first of the September home price indices came out on Tuesday, and the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) showed price gains, while not slowing, are...
Tue, Nov 1 2016, 10:03 AM
Who is 29-year old Pete Kostelnick? No, he’s not the cute new AE covering your region. Pete just set a world record for fastest run across America: 3,...
Tue, Nov 1 2016, 9:54 AM
The Summer months sure were great for bond markets, weren't they? Massive rally in June, all-time low yields in July, and reasonable stability just o...
Tue, Nov 1 2016, 5:40 PM
The political theater is ramping up quickly, with unexpected afternoon twitter headlines stealing the show from longstanding market movers like ISM ...
Tue, Nov 1 2016, 4:44 PM
Mortgage Rates continue to operate near 5-month highs , after putting in a mixed performance today. The morning was especially bad as stronger global ...
Mon, Oct 31 2016, 10:29 AM
The fourth and last of the August home price estimates is in and none of them show any slowing of appreciation. Among peers, Black Knight Financial Se...
Mon, Oct 31 2016, 10:25 AM
Here we are at Halloween already. Who will win the inter-department costume contest, shipping or accounting? And what could be more horrifying for a b...
