Wed, Mar 23 2016, 6:40 PM
Much like yesterday, bond markets experienced a somewhat abrupt intraday swing that lacked overt motivation. This time, however, rates were heading...
Wed, Mar 23 2016, 5:27 PM
Mortgage rates moved slightly lower today, recovering some of their losses from the first two days of the week. The average lender continues to ...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 10:29 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic Summary for March reports an improvement in financial market conditions and reduced concerns about an imminent risk of reces...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 10:20 AM
After a revision to previously reported December numbers the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index (HPI) has now risen by one-h...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 10:05 AM
A major conversation topic is how lenders must adhere to a new certification when making a Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgage. The FHA u...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 8:47 AM
Last week introduced the possibility that March's bearish trend was reversing
yesterday's weakness failed to confirm that reversal
It's still po...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 6:33 PM
Treasuries gain overnight on flight-to-safety surrounding Brussels terror attacks
rates struggled to break overnight lows in morning trading
Af...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 5:37 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher again today, casting a bigger shadow on last week's improvements. Rates haven't yet returned to the higher levels se...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 11:29 AM
Research by RealtyTrac finds the percentage of homes that were bought and sold within 12 months (i.e. flipped) soared to 5.5% of all homes, reaching a...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 11:18 AM
"Fizzle" was the description the National Association of Realtors® (NAR's) used for existing home sales in February. Those sales, which had increased...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 8:37 AM
SIFMA recommended early close for markets ( 2pm ET) on Thu and full close on Friday
Friday is NOT a bank holiday
Bond markets in equivocal ter...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 5:39 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher to begin the new week as stocks and oil prices moved up from Friday afternoon's lows. Today's increases cast a shad...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 3:38 PM
The average single family builder achieved revenue of just over $16 million in 2014 and posted an average net pre-tax profit of $1 million . The Nat...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 10:15 AM
Tomorrow's commentary has some notes about W.J. Bradley and also a stinging rebuttal to Richard Cordray's continued reliance on enforcement actions, b...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 9:23 AM
No econ data on tap apart from Consumer Sentiment
Oil surging, how much does it matter?
Bonds trying to confirm technical bounce, but not quite ...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 4:30 PM
5 straight days of lower closing yields in Treasuries
Almost 5 straight days of higher closes for MBS
In both cases, 90%+ of the gains followed ...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 3:56 PM
Mortgage rates didn't move much today, but of the lenders with noticeable differences versus yesterday, most were just slightly lower. That mean...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:35 PM
The new Truth-in-Lending disclosure (TRID) rule is being blamed for a sharp decline in the per loan profitability of mortgage lenders. The Mortgage...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 10:40 AM
The FHA has released new loan-level and annual lender-level certifications which it said it expects will provide better clarity to lenders about FHA...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 10:35 AM
It's not exactly a startling concept but one that has been underlined by recent events; there is a strong correlation between the performance of the...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 10:25 AM
Ellie Mae's Origination
Insight Report published on Wednesday by Ellie Mae shows there was a sharp
decline in the time it took to close a loan i...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 10:22 AM
A North Carolina builder knows how to give Millennials want they want. Garman Homes, based out of Cary, NC has created Fresh Paint, a brand catered t...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 8:40 AM
The day begins with bond markets holding yesterday's post-Fed rally, and adding to the gains overnight. In fact, we've seen enough of an improvement ...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 4:42 PM
Stocks and oil closed at 2016 highs
Corporate bond supply also added pressure on Treasuries/MBS
But bonds held their ground with MBS outperformi...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 3:51 PM
Almost any major media outlet that covers financial news will have a story out today regarding this week's mortgage rates being higher than last week'...
Wed, Mar 16 2016, 10:04 AM
Does anyone really know for sure what happens in China? With that many billion people there are a lot of moving parts. For example, the PBOC is easin...
Wed, Mar 16 2016, 9:49 AM
Housing starts recovered from a disappointing January report in February but permits declined for the third consecutive month according to data rele...
Wed, Mar 16 2016, 9:46 AM
Rising interest rates took their toll on mortgage application activity last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that application volu...
Wed, Mar 16 2016, 8:31 AM
The Fed began its 2-day policy setting meeting yesterday and, by now, is likely already well on its way to finalizing the text of today's announceme...
Wed, Mar 16 2016, 5:19 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower today, but the amount was not only smaller than underlying market movement suggested, it also varied widely from lend...
Wed, Mar 16 2016, 5:07 PM
Bond markets rallied rather impressively today following the FOMC Announcement. Actually, it was really the Fed's economic projections (aka, the "d...
Wed, Mar 16 2016, 2:01 PM
(additions underlined, deletions struck-through)
For immediate release
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in Dece...
Tue, Mar 15 2016, 11:52 AM
After dropping three points in February to 58, the Housing Market Index, a measure of builder confidence in the single-family home market, remained u...
Tue, Mar 15 2016, 9:59 AM
Tiny homes are all the rage and a leading lumber company is capitalizing on this new trend, 84 Lumber has introduced its Tiny Living collection , m...
Tue, Mar 15 2016, 8:28 AM
In the early overnight session, the policy announcement from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) was a bit of a downer for global risk markets. It wasn't that it...
Tue, Mar 15 2016, 5:37 PM
Bonds start strong after Bank of Japan Announcement'
Further improvements after weak Retail Sales revision
The gains served as a cue for traders...
Tue, Mar 15 2016, 5:06 PM
Mortgage rates were essentially unchange d today, despite implied weakness in underlying bond markets. In other words, rates should have move...
Mon, Mar 14 2016, 9:43 AM
Americans have regained most of the wealth lost when the real estate bubble burst. Homeowners' equity has more or less doubled since the lows of 20...
Mon, Mar 14 2016, 9:03 AM
Seeing as how March would end up being the worst month for bond markets since the taper tantrum if the current pace of selling continues, and wherea...
Mon, Mar 14 2016, 5:15 PM
Calm Monday, for the most part
Bonds probably took cues from oil prices
Bonds bounced when oil bounced (around noon)
Net effect was modest ga...
Mon, Mar 14 2016, 4:20 PM
Mortgage rates moved slightly lower today, for the second time in March. Unfortunately, the improvement did little to erase the recent weakness, ...
Mon, Mar 14 2016, 2:19 PM
A lot has been written over the past few weeks about the Millennial generation and what it is and is not doing in the housing market. CoreLogic recen...
Fri, Mar 11 2016, 9:48 AM
Regarding the darned time change Sunday, from Georgia Jim Bedsole writes, “Which is why I continue to advocate that, if we are going to be forced to ‘...
Fri, Mar 11 2016, 8:48 AM
Bond markets have been partying pretty hard so far in 2016, though the party has been dying down since mid February . That process began with st...
Fri, Mar 11 2016, 5:59 PM
Pointless, confused trading day for multiple markets
Bonds struggled sideways at first, then broke into weaker territory for no apparent reason
...
Fri, Mar 11 2016, 5:14 PM
Mortgage rates moved slightly higher again today, pushing farther into the highest territory since late January. Today's move wasn't that big, in a...
Fri, Mar 11 2016, 4:45 PM
The number of second homes in the U.S. has increased by more than a half million in the five years following the recession. Using 2014 data, the Nati...
Thu, Mar 10 2016, 11:56 AM
If the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is correct there was a huge jump in new home sales in February. MBA's Builder Application Survey (BAS) whic...
Thu, Mar 10 2016, 11:54 AM
The share of homeowners with positive equity in their homes crossed the 90 percent mark in 2015 according to CoreLogic. Over the course of the year ...
Thu, Mar 10 2016, 10:51 AM
Settlement is the name of the game for lenders, investors...and the rating agencies. Moody's Investors Service Inc. a greed to pay $130 million ...
