Thu, Sep 1 2016, 2:59 PM
Mortgage Rates were slightly higher today, bringing them near their worst levels in several weeks. The caveats are twofold. First of all, the worst le...
Wed, Aug 31 2016, 10:47 AM
Despite some predictions that pending home sales would fall in July, they actually rose modestly to reach their second highest level in over a decade....
Wed, Aug 31 2016, 10:23 AM
What does $24 million buy you in Oregon ? Just find 24 people to pony up a million each. Some economists love to look at the FHFA's housing statistics...
Wed, Aug 31 2016, 9:35 AM
Who remembers asymptotes from high school? Those are the curved lines that gradually approach a certain level--getting closer and closer, but never r...
Wed, Aug 31 2016, 8:16 AM
The volume of applications increased slightly during the week ended August 26 as mortgage rates made minor changes and moved in both directions. The M...
Wed, Aug 31 2016, 5:43 PM
Bonds responded generally favorably to the available economic data, which included on-target ADP jobs numbers (177 vs 175k forecast) and weaker Chicag...
Wed, Aug 31 2016, 5:13 PM
Mortgage Rates were unchanged today, ending a month without much movement in general. In fact, the most prevalently quoted conventional 30yr fixed rat...
Tue, Aug 30 2016, 12:46 PM
Mortgage originators surveyed by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) saw production profits more than double in the second quarter compared to what...
Tue, Aug 30 2016, 12:40 PM
The share of total home sales made up by distressed properties is now one-quarter the level it was in January 2009. CoreLogic reports that in May the ...
Tue, Aug 30 2016, 10:38 AM
Results are in for the final two of the four major home price indices for June. Both the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices and Black Knight Financial...
Tue, Aug 30 2016, 9:57 AM
I asked my cat Myrtle for her comments on the proposed TRID changes. (Blank stare.“Myrtle, make up your mind – in or out!”) I did, however, receive th...
Tue, Aug 30 2016, 9:12 AM
With bond markets having clearly consolidated heading into last week's Jackson Hole speeches and with Jackson hole ultimately NOT resulting in a a c...
Tue, Aug 30 2016, 4:24 PM
Today was very different than the past two days. Friday was one of the biggest days of selling seen during the July/August time frame and yesterday...
Tue, Aug 30 2016, 3:06 PM
Mortgage Rates did one of two things today, depending on the lender in question. Some lenders simply held in line with yesterday's latest levels (in o...
Mon, Aug 29 2016, 9:54 AM
It is hard to argue with nationwide demographic trends , especially when it comes to Hispanic borrowers & first time home buyers in some parts of the ...
Mon, Aug 29 2016, 9:33 AM
Friday was a volatile day for markets as investors were anxiously awaiting comments from Fed Chair Yellen that might speak to the likelihood of a Fed ...
Mon, Aug 29 2016, 4:54 PM
It's one thing to HOPE that any particular selling spree in bond markets is merely the product of a few temporary events that can be easily explained ...
Mon, Aug 29 2016, 3:59 PM
Mortgage Rates were briefly at their highest levels in several weeks on Friday afternoon. This followed comments from the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium...
Mon, Aug 29 2016, 2:59 PM
A large contingent of new homes started in 2015 were purchased using non-conventional financing according to a new analysis by the National Associatio...
Fri, Aug 26 2016, 10:54 AM
Mortgage Rates were unchanged to slightly lower this morning following the much-anticipated Jackson Hole speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Markets w...
Fri, Aug 26 2016, 9:08 AM
Among the charts and tests summarizing most of the housing finance news that emerged during July, the latest issue of the Urban Institute's (UI's) Hou...
Fri, Aug 26 2016, 9:05 AM
“Rob, have you seen any place where I can see individual lender stats for VA loans?” Sure. Here it is . Knock yourself out. For you CFPB watchers, it ...
Fri, Aug 26 2016, 4:31 AM
All too many lookers on--myself included--have made far too much of today's Jackson Hole speech from Fed Chair Yellen (11am ET, we're led to believe)....
Fri, Aug 26 2016, 3:01 PM
All eyes were on Yellen's 10am speech from Jackson Hole, then all eyes were closed as traders fell asleep from boredom. Yellen said nothing we didn...
Thu, Aug 25 2016, 9:08 AM
How’d you like to work for a company that was in the press nearly every day – rarely in a good way? How’d you like to work for a company whose future ...
Thu, Aug 25 2016, 8:34 AM
Most likely, today will just be another day in the range-bound grind for bond markets leading up to tomorrow's Jackson Hole speech from Yellen. Altho...
Thu, Aug 25 2016, 4:14 PM
As we discussed this morning, sometimes markets will take a "lead-off" ahead of a big potential market mover if there's an underlying predisposition t...
Thu, Aug 25 2016, 3:22 PM
Mortgage Rates were unchanged , yet again, keeping alive an uncanny streak of lifelessness. That COULD change tomorrow after Fed Chair Yellen's speech...
Thu, Aug 25 2016, 1:57 PM
While implementation is a ways down the road, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) will offer new streamlined refinance options aimed at borrowe...
Thu, Aug 25 2016, 1:06 PM
While the both the investor share of home sales and the share represented by distressed properties are setting post-crash lows, the share of cash sale...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 11:15 AM
" Frustratingly low inventory levels in many parts of the country" take the blame from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) for a drop in July ...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 10:41 AM
It is hard to find a mortgage banker that isn’t hell-bent on expanding – sometimes just for the sake of expanding. But many companies soon find out ho...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 9:57 AM
While it won't be available for more than a year, the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have unveiled a new Uniform...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 9:55 AM
Prices of homes financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac increased by 0.2 percent from May to June the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said today. ...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 9:27 AM
Welcome to another episode of Extreme Boredom: Bond Market Edition.
In today's episode, bonds are pressing even further into record territory, only...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 8:44 AM
Mortgage applications continued their modest downward track during the week ended August 19. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composit...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 5:06 PM
Whether or not Yellen actually says something that moves markets on Friday is unimportant. Maybe she will. Probably she won't. Either way , we jus...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 4:21 PM
Mortgage Rates , like most other interest rates, have seen record-setting levels of inactivity over the past 90 days. The Brexit vote in late June pus...
Tue, Aug 23 2016, 11:21 AM
Rather than the month-over-month decline expected, July new home sales soared above 600,000 units for the first time since late 2007. The U.S. Census ...
Tue, Aug 23 2016, 9:58 AM
The whole residential lending industry is abuzz about the article on housing in the Economist . "A decade on, the presumption is that the mortgage-deb...
Tue, Aug 23 2016, 9:32 AM
To say that bonds have been range-bound recently would be an understatement. I'm running out of ways to say it, and perhaps you're running out of the...
Tue, Aug 23 2016, 4:02 PM
We might have expected a bigger movement in the wake of the colossal improvement in New Home Sales (654k vs 582k previously, 580k forecast), but bon...
Tue, Aug 23 2016, 2:07 PM
Mortgage Rates were sharply sideways today, with almost every lender offering the exact same terms as yesterday. This is part of an ongoing phenomenon...
Mon, Aug 22 2016, 9:29 AM
Plenty of celebrities lose all their money, and then some, in various schemes. But here’s one Brady Bunch member that did pretty well in California re...
Mon, Aug 22 2016, 9:19 AM
By the end of this week--and quite possibly for the next several weeks--you'll be tired of hearing about Jackson Hole . I know I'm already tired of ...
Mon, Aug 22 2016, 6:00 PM
I apologize for tricking you with the title. The "shocking" part was unabashed sarcasm . It's not that anyone here is clairvoyant. Certainly, we n...
Mon, Aug 22 2016, 4:14 PM
Mortgage Rates were almost imperceptibly lower today, although underlying bond markets improved more noticeably. Why would rates not be more improved ...
Mon, Aug 22 2016, 2:16 PM
Mortgage delinquencies rose slightly in July; a change Black Knight Financial Services sees as seasonal. The number of mortgages that were 30 or more ...
Mon, Aug 22 2016, 1:51 PM
While the numbers remain small, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) notes there is a slowly increasing trend of single-family homes being...
Fri, Aug 19 2016, 11:22 AM
Fannie Mae said it is maintaining its forecast for 2016's GDP at the same 1.8 percent it forecasted in July despite the fact second quarter growth cam...
