Wed, Oct 24 2012, 11:53 AM
	
	
	
		Things have been  mostly weaker  for MBS this morning, but only moderately so.  Fannie 3.0s ratcheted down to 104-16 after opening up just below the b...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 11:52 AM
	
	
	
		Sales of new single-family houses  were
up 5.7 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 389,000
units, but in announcing the inc...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 10:54 AM
	
	
	
		Occasionally I am asked about the  flow of taxes into and out of
various states . (Okay, I just made that up, but when you're in Kansas one
has to m...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 10:23 AM
	
	
	
		The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)
said this morning that  mortgage application  activity dropped sharply during the
week ended October 19.  The...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 9:12 AM
	
	
	
		Home prices  have increased 4.7 percent
over the past 12 months according to information released late Tuesday by the
Federal Housing Finance Agency...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 7:52 AM
	
	
	
		The first two days of the week have been largely silent and largely 
positive for MBS and Treasuries.  During that time, it seems to have 
been equi...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 4:46 PM
	
	
	
		The dreaded  triple "U" score  for bond markets today...  The data was  underwhelming  and the trading on the session was  uneventful  as
 MBS cut an...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 3:50 PM
	
	
	
		Mortgage rates were steady to slightly higher on Wednesday despite a big
 increase in the amount of economic data and events from the first two 
day...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 3:09 PM
	
	
	
		Bank of America  (BOA) was sued in
Federal Court today for  civil mortgage fraud  in a complaint seeking civil
penalties as well as treble damages a...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 2:17 PM
	
	
	
		Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in 
September suggests that economic activity has continued to expand at a 
moderat...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 24 2012, 1:43 PM
	
	
	
		The
 enormous numbers of foreclosures  over the last six years have, of course, had
immediate impacts on the families who lose their homes.  The  ef...
	
 
	
	
		Tue, Oct 23 2012, 11:35 AM
	
	
	
		MBS and Treasuries rallied overnight and have  continued to hold their ground  at those stronger levels in the AM hours.  There are several places one...
	
 
	
	
		Tue, Oct 23 2012, 7:14 AM
	
	
	
		Monday saw a fairly standard-issue " inside day " for bond the two 
securities we follow most closely: Production MBS (for mortgage rate 
implicatio...
	
 
	
	
		Tue, Oct 23 2012, 5:26 PM
	
	
	
		The Mortgage Bankers Association's ( MBA )
chief economist echoed much of what  Freddie Mac's economists said this afternoon 
as he  hiked MBAs esti...
	
 
	
	
		Tue, Oct 23 2012, 4:36 PM
	
	
	
		Freddie Mac is  revisiting its economic projections 
for the remainder of 2012 and 2013 due to the announcement by the Federal
Reserve of its Maturi...
	
 
	
	
		Tue, Oct 23 2012, 4:12 PM
	
	
	
		MBS kicked off the day in line with yesterday's highs and soon moved into  even better territory.   Overnight trading was light, but decidedly positiv...
	
 
	
	
		Tue, Oct 23 2012, 2:39 PM
	
	
	
		It's a testament to the persistence of the recent move higher that  mortgage 
rates   experienced their best  day in over a week  on Tuesday.  Reason...
	
 
	
	
		Tue, Oct 23 2012, 2:03 PM
	
	
	
		Wanna little scoop from this conference in Chicago? Try this one:  Wells
Fargo  has added operational capacity to its current
operations centers to ...
	
 
	
	
		Tue, Oct 23 2012, 1:52 PM
	
	
	
		The
recent crisis in housing with its attendant foreclosure issues has underscored
 how different the laws  relating to consumer protection, foreclo...
	
 
	
	
		Mon, Oct 22 2012, 11:27 AM
	
	
	
		Although the overnight session was generally devoid of major market 
moving events, bond markets moved weaker nonetheless.  We dug our heels 
in at ...
	
 
	
	
		Mon, Oct 22 2012, 10:29 AM
	
	
	
		The U.S. Census Bureau tells us that in many of the largest cities of the
most-populous metro areas,  downtown is becoming a place not only to work b...
	
 
	
	
		Mon, Oct 22 2012, 8:42 PM
	
	
	
		As it does each month, lender Processing Services (LPS) has
released preliminary data from its forthcoming  Mortgage Monitor  report.   The early dat...
	
 
	
	
		Mon, Oct 22 2012, 7:45 AM
	
	
	
		Friday marked the only decidedly positive day for bond markets last 
week with MBS gaining three eighths of a point and 10yr Treasuries down 
to 1.7...
	
 
	
	
		Mon, Oct 22 2012, 5:34 PM
	
	
	
		Mortgage 
rates   were steady to very slightly higher  in most cases on 
Monday, though some lenders were in slightly better territory than on 
Fri...
	
 
	
	
		Mon, Oct 22 2012, 3:38 PM
	
	
	
		RealtyTrac, the Irvine California
company that tracks foreclosure filings, just issued a pre-election "exclusive
report on the health of local housi...
	
 
	
	
		Mon, Oct 22 2012, 1:35 PM
	
	
	
		The Mortgage Bankers Association ( MBA )
called on policymakers in Washington today to  create a new position to
coordinate housing policy ; what MB...
	
 
	
	
		Fri, Oct 19 2012, 12:02 PM
	
	
	
		It's not uncommon to expect and/or hope for a positive day for bond 
markets after a progressively longer string of negative days.  And 
although it...
	
 
	
	
		Fri, Oct 19 2012, 11:27 AM
	
	
	
		Existing home sales  declined slightly in September,
but the national median home price rose as inventories tightened.  The National Association of R...
	
 
	
	
		Fri, Oct 19 2012, 10:49 AM
	
	
	
		Lenders have made some improvement in
the eyes of California real estate agents in their  handling of short sales , but
the process  remains problem...
	
 
	
	
		Fri, Oct 19 2012, 10:14 AM
	
	
	
		Occasionally I am asked about a graphic presentation on foreclosures in
the United States, and how they've impacted different areas.  Here you go . 
...
	
 
	
	
		Fri, Oct 19 2012, 6:16 PM
	
	
	
		After 4 days of nastiness--the last of which being a head-fake rally 
that subsequently ended at weaker levels--bond markets finally ended in 
the g...
	
 
	
	
		Fri, Oct 19 2012, 3:08 PM
	
	
	
		After moving higher every day this week  mortgage rates   finally held their ground 
 today.  Despite moderately lower Treasury yields and healthy 
...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 12:37 PM
	
	
	
		Little to say here apart from the fact that bond markets can't catch a 
break.  MBS and Treasuries BOTH tried to make it through their 
respective t...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 10:29 AM
	
	
	
		The Harvard Joint Center for Housing
Studies is  predicting strong gains in remodeling  and home improvement activity
over the rest of 2012 and the ...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 10:26 PM
	
	
	
		Rather than discreet,  explosive tape-bombs , the two day EU 
summit that began yesterday offered up a steady stream of fairly generic
 encouragemen...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 9:38 AM
	
	
	
		Pay no attention to those stories about "Shadow Inventory"!
Apparently that has all been soaked up. Or, at least, builders and the NAR
would like to...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 7:32 AM
	
	
	
		With the first part of this week catastrophically failing to demonstrate
 any meaningful connection between economic data and market movements, 
we'...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 4:41 PM
	
	
	
		Bond markets offered up a  decent head fake  this morning as we were stronger out of the gate for once!  But that  changed abruptly 
 heading into th...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 3:34 PM
	
	
	
		The Mortgage Bankers Association ( MBA )
has  sent a letter  to the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency and the Federal Depos...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 3:17 PM
	
	
	
		Six
years ago the Center for Housing Policy (CHP) and the Center for Neighborhood
Technology (CNT) published a study,   A
Heavy Load:  The Combined...
	
 
	
	
		Thu, Oct 18 2012, 2:29 PM
	
	
	
		Mortgage rates  have been higher  every day this week ,
 with Thursday's losses matching the pace of the past few sessions.  The
 overall difference...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 12:41 PM
	
	
	
		Permits 
for new single family houses jumped 11.6 percent in September.  The seasonally adjusted annual rate rose from
a revised August estimate of ...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 12:28 PM
	
	
	
		Today is a very simple (and very negative) day for bond markets.  The bottom 
line is that between Euro headlines and a freakishly strong Housing 
S...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 12:03 PM
	
	
	
		The
 Mortgage Bankers Association  has sent a letter and supporting materials to the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau providing its opinion on t...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 10:27 AM
	
	
	
		In
2011 the two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs)  pursued deficiencies
following foreclosures  in the amount of $2.1 billion  but collected o...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 10:03 AM
	
	
	
		"Rob, in the old days, I'd go to conferences and secondary marketing
people would compare their status by comparing guarantee and guarantor fees.
Th...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 8:48 AM
	
	
	
		The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA)
Weekly  Mortgage Applications  Survey showed a slight increase in applications
for home purchases during th...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 7:27 AM
	
	
	
		Carrying on with the question posed at the beginning of the week regarding  "confirming apathy"  or " discovering organic motivation,"  if
 we're to ...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 4:39 PM
	
	
	
		Although there's no way to know whether or not history will repeat 
itself this time, we've seen this pattern of behavior before where 
markets make...
	
 
	
	
		Wed, Oct 17 2012, 2:37 PM
	
	
	
		While
the time to close a loan increased again in September, lenders are closing a
significantly higher portion of loans than they have in earlier m...