Mon, Jul 22 2013, 10:57 AM
Existing home sales dipped slightly in
June and May sales were revised down from previously reported levels
the National Association of Realtors®
(...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 9:25 AM
We'll see a lot of housing news this week. Recently May 2013's, and
before that April's, national and regional prices showed continued
improvement...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 6:59 AM
The past few weeks have made it look increasingly possible that bond
markets have already set the boundaries of trading ranges with the FOMC
event...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 5:25 PM
The Treasury Department called attention to trends in "redefaults" among loans modified under the Home Affordable Modification Program
(HAMP) in a ...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 5:06 PM
The "uneventful" nature of today's session looked to be in the cards as early as last week
when markets failed to muster any meaningful response to ...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 4:14 PM
Mortgage rates were lower again
to begin the week as weaker-than-expected economic data helped rates
improve slightly in the morning. The ove...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 3:23 PM
Representative
John Campbell (R-CA) has reintroduced the Defending American
Taxpayers From Abusive Government Takings Act he originally
sponsored...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 1:51 PM
After a less-than-favorable reception at a hearing last Thursday, The House Financial
Services Committee (FSC) continues to campaign for the Prote...
Mon, Jul 22 2013, 1:35 PM
Fannie Mae said today in its July Economic and Strategic Report
that the view expressed in these reports since the first of this year
has not ch...
Fri, Jul 19 2013, 12:51 PM
The insignificance of this week of trading is being driven home
ferociously. Actually, it could be considered significant in the same
way that a ...
Fri, Jul 19 2013, 11:49 AM
The
House Financial Services Committee held a hearing Thursday on what is
called "discussion legislation" titled
A
Legislative Proposal to Pro...
Fri, Jul 19 2013, 10:16 AM
When my wife says, "I need to talk to you," every bad thing I've ever
done flashes before my eyes. All humor aside, at some stage of the
game, poi...
Fri, Jul 19 2013, 7:37 AM
There are few days that look less important than today in today in terms
of big-picture changes to bond market landscape. Even if Treasuries
were...
Fri, Jul 19 2013, 5:36 PM
Buying a home for your college student or disabled adult child can
be challenging. The same holds for acquiring a home for your elderly
parent(s)...
Fri, Jul 19 2013, 5:14 PM
These days happen. On June 20th, there were over 2.3 million 10yr
Treasury Futures contracts traded. The big nasty NFP sell-off day on
July 5th ...
Fri, Jul 19 2013, 4:15 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly lower
this morning, but many lenders offered improved rate sheets as the day
progressed, bringing average just ba...
Thu, Jul 18 2013, 12:45 PM
Reuters is reporting that the Senate
Banking Committee has approved the nomination of Mel Watt to replace
Edward J. DeMarco as director of the Fed...
Thu, Jul 18 2013, 12:04 PM
BB&T announced better than expected
financial results on Thursday, with second quarter earnings coming in
at 0.77 per share, .03 higher than estimat...
Thu, Jul 18 2013, 10:13 AM
I really like July, since the Tour de France is so much more fun to
watch than CNBC in the early morning. Besides, I freely admit that I
make up 9...
Thu, Jul 18 2013, 7:32 AM
Today's session is useful in a way that yesterday's couldn't be.
Yesterday was the first time the world was acquainted with this Summer's
version...
Thu, Jul 18 2013, 6:19 PM
Fed speeches from Bernanke himself are always to be respected. The
twice-a-year congressional testimonies offer some of the clearest
examples of ...
Thu, Jul 18 2013, 5:14 PM
Mortgage rates rose modestly for
the first time in 6 business days today. For most lenders, the
movement was far from abrupt, and although it...
Thu, Jul 18 2013, 2:59 PM
The
Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA) has expressed some skepticism about FHFA's plans to
gradually ...
Thu, Jul 18 2013, 2:11 PM
The second day of Bernanke Q&A with Congressional committees is done
and with shockingly little fanfare. Then again, it's not that
shocking cons...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 12:46 PM
In this morning's Housing Starts data, we saw what we were expecting to
see in yesterday's NAHB data. In this sense, the morning's headline " All E...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 10:31 AM
Building permits and housing starts
both declined in June according to data released this morning by the
U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Ho...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 9:40 AM
Huh? I head to Southern California today, but the big news comes from Illinois. Cole Taylor Mortgage looking for a buyer ? It probably won't be the...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 9:21 AM
After
months of delay the Senate voted Tuesday evening to confirm Richard
Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 9:16 AM
Purchase
applications shored up application volume during the week ended July
12 after four straight weeks of decline. Refinancing activity
continu...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 5:50 PM
Even though it was only by a small margin, both production MBS and
Treasuries finish the day with a majority of the morning's gains
intact. This ...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 4:54 PM
Mortgage rates improved moderately today,
making it back to levels not seen since July 3rd. That makes today
something of a symbolic victory ...
Wed, Jul 17 2013, 3:04 AM
The case could scarcely be made any more clearly that all eyes are on Bernanke today, but the caveat of "potential energy "
is very much in order. ...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 12:56 PM
This morning's Day Ahead
characterized the current trading environment in bond markets as an
"excessively moderate consolidation." So far today...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 12:38 PM
Is the 116 basis
points (bps) rise in rates from 3.35 percent to 4.51 percent within
the May 3 to July 12 th
enough to stall the housing recovery...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 12:31 PM
The Housing Market Index (HMI) shot up
six points in July, reflecting the highest level of builder
confidence in the market for new homes since Ja...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 12:12 PM
"The death of cash is greatly
exaggerated ." CoreLogic concurs with that quote from Mark Twain in
an article analyzing the impact cash sales has h...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 11:29 AM
Everyone has complaints about something. Mortgage lenders are the target of plenty of complaints. As one reader noted, "This is a classic self-fulfill...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 7:17 AM
With Bernanke's congressional testimony still a day away, Tuesday's session offers an opportunity to either make something
of yesterday's ostensib...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 5:06 PM
Mortgage rates held almost perfectly steady
today. Any lenders that offered noticeably different rates were
generally in slightly lower terri...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 5:03 PM
The last two days may as well have not even happened. With the small
exception of Retail Sales, the current week has been all about Bernanke
Test...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 2:06 PM
A perennial frontrunner of housing market trends, California's data
speaks to recent assertions that rising rates will affect sales more
than valu...
Tue, Jul 16 2013, 1:38 PM
Freddie Mac calls "Taper Talk" is
the main topic of conversation in the financial world, that is,
speculation about the timing and speed that the Fe...
Mon, Jul 15 2013, 12:30 PM
Bond markets looked indecisive overnight, holding flat in the European
session, before moving into weaker territory as domestic participants
began...
Mon, Jul 15 2013, 10:05 AM
Sure lots of depository and non-depository lenders made big bucks last year. But what about this year? Probably not .
Last
week I was remiss in ...
Mon, Jul 15 2013, 9:22 AM
It would be a Hansel and
Gretelian task to follow the back and forth between the American Enterprise
Institute (AEI) and the Department of Housing a...
Mon, Jul 15 2013, 5:14 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower
to start the week, adding on to last week's solid recovery from 2yr
highs a week before. As expected, rates took t...
Mon, Jul 15 2013, 5:10 AM
The extent to which bond markets will be able to continue building on
last week's consolidation will be predicated on this week's data and
events....
Mon, Jul 15 2013, 5:10 PM
Apart from the heavy volume that followed Retail Sales this morning, the
day was quiet for Treasuries and especially for MBS. It's not
impossible...
Sun, Jul 14 2013, 10:11 PM
Here's another weekly installment of
Do's and Don't's for prospective borrowers embarking on, or
already engaged in the home mortgage process. ...
Fri, Jul 12 2013, 10:56 AM
The bill, which is still in draft form,
is sponsored by Republican members of the House Financial Services
Committee led by its chairman Jeb Hensarl...
