Mon, Jul 11 2016, 5:08 PM
Mortgage credit availability appeared to decrease
again in June. It was the fourth
consecutive month the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's) Mor...
Mon, Jul 11 2016, 5:06 PM
In its "first look" at May mortgage data published last month Black Knight Financial Services noted that the prepayment rate for mortgages, historical...
Fri, Jul 8 2016, 11:51 AM
The nation’s thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the five Dallas police officers who were killed and six others wounded after snipers fired...
Fri, Jul 8 2016, 8:20 AM
Perhaps as long ago as April 2014, when the first major talk of the European Central Bank's impending QE plan began circulating, domestic economic dat...
Fri, Jul 8 2016, 5:36 PM
I wouldn't go so far as to say "the impossible happened today," but at the very least, we could call it "the improbable." A lot was at stake headin...
Fri, Jul 8 2016, 4:44 PM
Mortgage rates held surprisingly steady despite a strong employment headline. The big jobs report came out today, and it showed payroll creation at...
Thu, Jul 7 2016, 10:20 AM
Doug T. writes, “There's a strange new trend in the office: people are putting names on food in the company fridge to keep them cold. Today I had a sa...
Thu, Jul 7 2016, 9:00 AM
After an epic run to all-time Treasury lows (and nearly all-time mortgage rate lows) bond markets are flashing warning signs about a bounce. This sor...
Thu, Jul 7 2016, 4:51 PM
Bonds slightly weaker overnight; no major drama
AM employment data (ADP and Jobless Claims) prompted more selling
Stock prices and bond yields b...
Thu, Jul 7 2016, 4:35 PM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released an update on the progress made toward the Single Security that is expected to replace those cur...
Thu, Jul 7 2016, 2:46 PM
Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI), an outgrowth of its National Housing Survey, pulled back a bit in June, largely due to weakened o...
Thu, Jul 7 2016, 2:02 PM
Mortgage rates finally ended an impressive winning streak today, rising for the first time in 9 days. Rates began that streak with a massive move l...
Wed, Jul 6 2016, 11:06 AM
Huh? Uber has a new update that allows users to file a lawsuit against the company directly in the app? What will they think of next? In a more seri...
Wed, Jul 6 2016, 8:42 AM
Bond markets enter domestic session at new all-time low yields
Yet again, there are no stand-out, individual motivations
All about he big pictu...
Wed, Jul 6 2016, 7:56 AM
The rate drop that kicked in immediately after the June 23 Brexit vote in the United Kingdom was reflected, dramatically so, in the volume of mortga...
Wed, Jul 6 2016, 5:25 PM
Treasury yields hit new intraday all-time lows overnight
Traders were lined up to sell at the open (profit-taking)
Weakness continued after stro...
Wed, Jul 6 2016, 4:23 PM
Mortgage rates fell again today, extending an already-uncanny winning streak to its 8th straight day. The most recent improvements bring the averag...
Wed, Jul 6 2016, 2:18 PM
If you were to review a pile of mortgage applications randomly pulled from all of those submitted what age group do you think would look the best, t...
Wed, Jul 6 2016, 1:53 PM
The performance of loans serviced by the seven national banks reporting to the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) improved during the first...
Tue, Jul 5 2016, 10:23 AM
CoreLogic is reporting that the rate of home price increases, as measured by its Home Price Index (HPI) slowed considerably in May from its rate in ...
Tue, Jul 5 2016, 10:13 AM
Last week we noticed that Ginnie Mae volumes had passed Freddie Mac , so the absence of big banks doing that business was certainly taken up by non...
Tue, Jul 5 2016, 9:36 AM
Global yields begin week at new all-time lows
Underlying reasons haven't changed
What ends this?
If you only look at the US as a represent...
Tue, Jul 5 2016, 4:00 PM
10yr yields traded well into the 1.3's, surpassing previous low of 1.381
No specific motivation at home or abroad, though there are several support...
Tue, Jul 5 2016, 3:05 PM
Mortgage rates dropped noticeably today, bringing quite a few lenders down to 3.25% in terms of conventional 30yr fixed quotes on top tier scenarios...
Fri, Jul 1 2016, 11:28 AM
Investors who purchase distressed loans through the FHA's Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP) are going to have to toe a stricter line w...
Fri, Jul 1 2016, 11:24 AM
The Fourth of July is Monday...the date of the Declaration of Independence (quibble all you want about late signers); the next commentary will be Tues...
Fri, Jul 1 2016, 9:58 AM
10yr yield hit 1.382 overnight
All-time low was 1.381 in July 2012
Welcome to the New Normal
We had a great discussion in the live chat on...
Fri, Jul 1 2016, 3:50 PM
Strong overnight pop in Treasuries, ECB headlines cited
Record low 30yr bond yield and near-record low in 10yr yield
Bonds lost ground after Eur...
Fri, Jul 1 2016, 1:39 PM
Mortgage rates fell moderately today, adding a 6th day to a winning streak that began with last week's Brexit news and bringing rates right to the b...
Thu, Jun 30 2016, 10:34 AM
The last day of June, and 2016 half over? How did that happen? (Regarding time flying Linda B. writes, “Thank the Good Lord, I am Benjamin Button.”) J...
Thu, Jun 30 2016, 9:09 AM
Bonds remain generally strong despite yesterday's losses
There continues to be a good line in the sand that can warn against a bigger shift
Furt...
Thu, Jun 30 2016, 6:41 PM
Bonds bounced back as month-end buying hit its stride
Second wind came from Bank of England comments on likely stimulus
Yields bounced higher...
Thu, Jun 30 2016, 2:26 PM
Mortgage rates trickled slightly lower today, technically taking them to another in a string of 3-year lows over the past 2 weeks. The most recent,...
Wed, Jun 29 2016, 12:06 PM
Pending home sales hit the skids in May, following three
straight months of increases. The
National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said that its ...
Wed, Jun 29 2016, 9:58 AM
Huh? People burned while walking across fire at a Tony Robbins event in Texas? Imagine that! Speaking of incendiary activities, an amendment passe...
Wed, Jun 29 2016, 9:32 AM
Woops! I gave away the formula for 99% of any market analysis over the past week, but I have ...
Wed, Jun 29 2016, 8:00 AM
Mortgage application activity was down across the board during the week ended June 24. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that its Market...
Wed, Jun 29 2016, 4:45 PM
Bonds continued holding ultra-narrow post-Brexit range until 3pm
At that point, Treasuries spiked aggressively and MBS eventually followed
Initi...
Wed, Jun 29 2016, 4:09 PM
Mortgage rates were roughly unchanged today, on average, with some lenders showing slight improvements while others moved just a bit higher. Even o...
Wed, Jun 29 2016, 2:16 PM
Baby Boomers, even as they age, continue to have an outsized impact on the housing market. Freddie Mac recently conducted a large survey of those o...
Wed, Jun 29 2016, 2:04 PM
Freddie Mac says that the housing market as a whole in the U.S. is on the outer range of its historic benchmark level of housing activity. The spri...
Tue, Jun 28 2016, 10:35 AM
Both S&P/Case-Shiller and Black Knight Financial Services report that home prices continued to rise in April. Their numbers, while covering different...
Tue, Jun 28 2016, 10:21 AM
How could it have been 30 years since everyone was watching “Top Gun” in the theaters? Yes, time flies, and before you know it, well, you’re old. Wher...
Tue, Jun 28 2016, 9:09 AM
Bond rallies don't last forever
2 ways for rates to move higher: temporary, nominal corrections, and full-scale reversals
Here's one easy way to...
Tue, Jun 28 2016, 5:12 PM
Bond markets grudgingly gave up some gains, but only relative to previous close
Relative to yesterday's average trading levels, today was flat
N...
Tue, Jun 28 2016, 4:47 PM
Freddie Mac says that the trend toward increasing levels of cash out refinancing paused during the first quarter of 2016. The share of refinancing ...
Tue, Jun 28 2016, 3:28 PM
Mortgage rates fell modestly today despite some weakness in underlying bond markets. Typically, when bond yields (which move inversely with bond pr...
Mon, Jun 27 2016, 10:12 AM
Everyone is talking about the future of the European Union. Tad Dahlke sends, “Brexit to be followed by Grexit, Departugal, Italeave, Fruckoff, Czech...
Mon, Jun 27 2016, 9:45 AM
Oftentimes, a massive surge to long-term lows is met with a quick snap back to the safety of the previous range. So far, the current massive surge is...
Mon, Jun 27 2016, 4:53 PM
Brexit fallout continues. That's really all we got
Fortunately, that's a huge positive for bond markets
10yr yields dropped more than 10bps
...
