Fri, Dec 13 2013, 3:46 PM
Mortgage rates were unchanged today on average, and thus remain near recent highs with 4.625% the most prevalently quoted rate for ideal, confor...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 12:36 PM
The Jobless Claims is one of the cornerstones of the economic data
environment. It prints every week, same time, dame day. It's
relatively easy ...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 11:06 AM
The Mortgage Bankers
Association (MBA) said today that applications for the purchase of newly
constructed homes declined in November by about 18 p...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 11:00 AM
While mortgage delinquency rates are
expected to continue their decline to more normal levels next year, multiple
factors will slow that drop from...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 10:26 AM
The
bitcoin movement just became a little more complicated: JPMorgan Chase is going
after the bitcoin biz by patenting a similar system. But these...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 9:51 AM
Foreclosure
starts reached a 95 month low in November.
RealtyTrac, in its November U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, said that a
total of 52,826 pr...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 4:46 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher again today ,
bringing them just shy of the highest rates of the past several months
seen last Wednesday. The most...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 4:39 PM
Bond markets moved back and forth within fairly narrow ranges
today, although most of that sideways movement took place at weaker
levels. This wa...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 4:10 PM
Both very small mortgages and
some "streamlined" refinancings will exempted from certain of the
appraisal requirements for higher-priced mortgag...
Thu, Dec 12 2013, 2:54 AM
In general, Treasury auctions haven't elicited as much reaction on
the part of MBS as they did back in 2008-2010 when markets were still
feeling o...
Wed, Dec 11 2013, 12:53 PM
Treasuries were only moderately weaker overnight despite the
potential for a "QE off" move after yesterday's budget deal
announcement ("QE off" c...
Wed, Dec 11 2013, 11:06 AM
After first delaying action on his
nomination for months and then rejecting it in October the Senate finally
confirmed Mel Watt as the new director...
Wed, Dec 11 2013, 10:58 AM
Five US regulators writing the Volcker
rule have ended three years of debate and approved a ban on proprietary
trading by some banks. The Commodit...
Wed, Dec 11 2013, 9:26 AM
The slight rise in mortgage application
volume during the week ended December 6 was the first increase in six weeks . The
Mortgage Bankers Associat...
Wed, Dec 11 2013, 7:40 AM
The big news for mortgage markets out last night is the confirmation
of Mel Watt to take over for Demarco as FHFA Director (technically, Watt
will...
Wed, Dec 11 2013, 6:25 PM
Mortgage rates moved sharply higher today,
erasing more than half of the improvement seen in the relief rally of
the past 3 days. That rally ...
Wed, Dec 11 2013, 5:32 PM
After bond markets showed a surprising amount of strength following NFP,
we'd discussed to possibility of a more developed bounce back lasting
any...
Wed, Dec 11 2013, 3:08 PM
The
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued its final rule
defining a "Qualified Mortgage" (QM) as required by the Dodd-Frank...
Tue, Dec 10 2013, 12:11 PM
Times are strange in early December. First off, we have bond
markets generally stronger despite Friday's better-than-expected NFP.
While we've b...
Tue, Dec 10 2013, 11:43 AM
Wanda
DeLeo, Deputy Director of the Conservatorship Division of the Federal Housing
Finance Agency (FHFA) told a Senate Banking Committee hearing th...
Tue, Dec 10 2013, 10:35 AM
Mortgage credit was slightly less available in
November than it was in October the Mortgage Bankers Association said
today. MBA's new Mortgage Cr...
Tue, Dec 10 2013, 10:03 AM
Back in the '00s I remember watching
a Discovery Channel show on people summiting Mt. Everest. One of the amateur
climbers matter-of-factly said tha...
Tue, Dec 10 2013, 7:17 AM
After yesterday's lackluster, if positive, session, today holds the
promise of slightly more participation. Not only are Tuesdays generally
a bet...
Tue, Dec 10 2013, 4:29 PM
Mortgage rates moved
slightly lower again today, bringing them back in line with the lowest
levels of the month. Recent improvements are somewh...
Tue, Dec 10 2013, 4:21 PM
Both Treasuries and MBS continued the trend of post-NFP
improvements today, paradoxical though they may be. The only apparent
threat to the posti...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 12:14 PM
Lender Processing Services (LPS) Mortgage Monitor for October reports that
48 percent of outstanding second lien home equity lines of credit (HEL...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 11:51 AM
Bond markets have been utterly silent so far today with stable, narrow trading ranges, no significant events, and limited volume.
Treasuries held a...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 11:10 AM
Completed
foreclosures dropped dramatically in October CoreLogic said today, falling to
48,000 for the month compared to 64,000 in September and 6...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 9:43 AM
The Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) announced late Friday that the maximum loan eligible for a Federal
Housing Administration (FHA...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 9:30 AM
My
Dad called me yesterday, wondering if they delivered e-mail on Sundays.
After all, the post office is delivering on Sundays for Amazon, right? ...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 7:56 PM
As part of the Strategic Plan for the conservatorships, FHFA
announced another installment of increased Guarantee fees ("G-Fee") for
Fannie Mae an...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 7:12 AM
Last week was certainly interesting due to Friday's post-NFP movement
in MBS. After the stronger headline came out (203k payrolls vs 180k
forecas...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 4:58 PM
The Departments of Housing and Urban Development and
Treasury issued their joint Housing Scorecard on Monday. The Scorecard summarizes information...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 4:55 PM
Monday got off to an uneventful start as overnight markets were
exceptionally calm. MBS opened flat and added a few ticks in the
morning hours. ...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 4:38 PM
Mortgage rates took Friday's improvements one step further today, moving slightly lower. The most prevalently quoted rates remain between 4.5 and ...
Mon, Dec 9 2013, 1:40 PM
Responses
to the most recent National Housing Survey conducted by Fannie Mae show
Americans continue to be cautious in their appraisals of the housi...
Fri, Dec 6 2013, 12:38 PM
We've been discussing the past few days in the context of the Gorilla Analogy . If you did catch this morning's commentary, it's even more timely ( ...
Fri, Dec 6 2013, 10:40 AM
In a speech this week to the Consumer Federation of America Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s Director Richard Cordray said that it is a m...
Fri, Dec 6 2013, 5:03 PM
If we examine today's activity in a vacuum, Mortgage rates fought and won a heroic battle in the sense they were able to hold steady to slightly s...
Fri, Dec 6 2013, 4:37 PM
"So long MBS and thanks for putting up with all the abuse!" That
might be a caption for today's Employment report. In a way, it's like a
consola...
Fri, Dec 6 2013, 3:40 PM
Too Big to Fail Banks and the
financial consolidation that created them are hot topics. A famous chart from Mother Jones shows that the big four b...
Fri, Dec 6 2013, 1:08 AM
If you missed it by any chance, yesterday's Gorilla analysis
is worth a read. Yesterday's activity is well-explained in the context
of that an...
Thu, Dec 5 2013, 12:33 PM
Production MBS are only 3 ticks down on the day at the moment, which
belies the volatility seen so far. Some of that is evident in the
pricing sn...
Thu, Dec 5 2013, 10:37 AM
"A group of government regulators out
hiking in the Artic has managed to revive a caveman who was frozen for
thousands of years. Communications so f...
Thu, Dec 5 2013, 5:10 PM
When this morning's economic data came out, stronger-than-expected
Jobless Claims and GDP combined to cause brisk selling at first. By the
end of...
Thu, Dec 5 2013, 4:01 PM
Mortgage rates were almost perfectly flat today,
despite moderate weakness in bond markets. This is largely a factor of
yesterday's weakness an...
Thu, Dec 5 2013, 2:13 PM
Smaller metropolitan areas appear to be
leading the country in a return to normal levels of economic and housing
activity the National Association ...
Thu, Dec 5 2013, 1:42 PM
David H. Stevens, president
& CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), said today that independently
owned and operated mortgage bankers are t...
Thu, Dec 5 2013, 1:18 AM
NFP (nonfarm payrolls, the chief component of Friday's Employment
Situation Report) is the most important piece of economic data on any
given mont...
Wed, Dec 4 2013, 12:49 PM
Several of the banks involved in the February 2012 $25 billion settlement with
state and federal government agencies " still have additional work to ...
