Mon, Feb 28 2022, 4:06 PM
Massive Month-End Buying Collides With Safe-Haven Demand
There was already a ton of safe haven demand in the...
Mon, Feb 28 2022, 1:53 PM
If it hasn't already happened, we'll likely all be tired of hearing the phrase 'geopolitical risks' by the end of the week. As far as non-experts can...
Mon, Feb 28 2022, 11:08 AM
I could tell that my cat Myrtle was miffed, and this time it didn’t have anything to do with the CFPB. (Nor me heading to Salt Lake City today for the...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 4:43 PM
Bonds End Roughly Unchanged As Market Prices Out Some Risk
Bonds started weaker and gradually worked their w...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 12:39 PM
The National Association of Realtors released January's Pending Home Sales report this morning, which measures signed purchase contracts as opposed to...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 12:11 PM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 11.2 percent in January compared to a 13.1 perce...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 11:54 AM
Remember how you wished that the pandemic wouldn’t be in the headlines every day? You got it! Unfortunately, it has been replaced by the Russian invas...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 11:44 AM
Russia's military operations in and around Ukraine over the past 3 weeks have created significant volatility for the bond market. The fact that the ma...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 4:33 PM
Financial markets were intently focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine today. Such things tend to push interest rates lower and today was no excep...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 4:22 PM
What Did Bonds Give Up So Much Of Their Gains?
Russia fully invaded Ukraine overnight and bonds surged in re...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 1:46 PM
In today's release from the Census Bureau, New Home Sales fell 4.5% in January to an annual pace of 801k units. Economists were already expecting a d...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 12:48 PM
Russia fully invaded Ukraine overnight and bonds surged in response. Stocks fell. Oil prices surged. Then at 5:30am, oil prices and bonds reversed ...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 11:13 AM
Greetings from Little Rock, Arkansas (home of cheese dip, 1935)! George Thorogood’s music is alive and well here, and a happy 72nd birthday to he who ...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 4:25 PM
It was another bad day for the mortgage market. This has been the norm so far in 2022 as financial markets continue repositioning for less and less s...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 3:40 PM
No Love For Bonds Despite Decent Auction and Stock Sell-Off
Bonds started the day in moderately weaker terri...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 3:02 PM
Fannie Mae’s economists have again stepped up their expectations for the Fed’s response to escalating inflation. A 7.5 percent annual increase in the ...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 12:28 PM
As we look back on the past few trading days (and reconcile them with up-to-the-minute action) it increasingly looks like stocks and bonds priced in a...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 9:47 AM
Lending is full of statistics. And originators follow many of them, looking for an edge in finding clients. Last year 27.1 million Americans moved, 80...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 9:25 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly mortgage application data this morning. Here's the skinny: Refi Applications
-16% from last...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 4:51 PM
Heading into the extended weekend, there was a small possibility that today's mortgage rates would turn out to be slightly lower. Reasons for this ...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 4:43 PM
Treasuries Still Pricing In Some Uncertainty; MBS Underperform.
Bonds had a volatile trading day as markets ...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 4:42 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association released its monthly update on the share of mortgages in forbearance. Forbearances spiked as the pandemic began, but...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 11:17 AM
Home price appreciation peaked in July with the FHFA House Price Index up 19.3% year-over year and the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Index up 20....
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 9:59 AM
While the bond market is watching the world define a Ukrainian “invasion,” do you know why you should respect people who wear glasses? They paid good ...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 9:51 AM
Overnight trading was volatile at first, with yields falling all the way to 1.846 for 10yr Treasuries. In the first hour of domestic trading, they've...
Mon, Feb 21 2022, 7:42 AM
The mortgage talk here in Cleveland is how, “Tough times never last but tough people do.” Many estimates have residential production hitting $4.8 tril...
Fri, Feb 18 2022, 4:55 PM
With things still up in the air in terms of geopolitical risk, markets are seeking safer havens. Most recently, this is affecting stocks a bit more t...
Fri, Feb 18 2022, 4:15 PM
Would Rates Be Going Higher Without Ukraine Situation?
Rates were rising abruptly as of last Thursday when t...
Fri, Feb 18 2022, 12:43 PM
3-day weekends are generally popular among the "weekday 9-5" crowd, but they can also bring elevated uncertainty to financial markets when the news cy...
Fri, Feb 18 2022, 11:21 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is projecting a decline in new home sales for January. Based on data collected from its Builder Application Sur...
Fri, Feb 18 2022, 11:18 AM
Greetings from wintry Chicago where mortgage rates, as they are across the nation, are back to May 2019 levels. Did you know that the name "Chicago" c...
Fri, Feb 18 2022, 11:09 AM
While last year was an excellent one for existing home sales, they did peter out at the end, falling 4.6 percent in December. The January numbers, rel...
Thu, Feb 17 2022, 4:38 PM
Bonds Continue Watching Geopolitical Sideshow
Bonds are in a bit of a lull in the bigger picture. Yields ha...
Thu, Feb 17 2022, 4:35 PM
It's Thursday and thus time once again for the weekly installment of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. For the 2nd time this year, Fred...
Thu, Feb 17 2022, 12:19 PM
I received this from a loan officer in Michigan. “Forget the Serenity Prayer! Grant me coffee to change the things I can, and wine to accept those tha...
Thu, Feb 17 2022, 9:52 AM
Residential construction numbers for January were mixed . Permits were up slightly from December but starts fell back from December’s near 12-point ...
Wed, Feb 16 2022, 4:11 PM
No Whammies in Fed Minutes, Geopolitics, or Bond Volatility
Today ended up being one of the least volatile t...
Wed, Feb 16 2022, 3:24 PM
There have been a few hours of a few days over the past week where mortgage rates have been just a bit higher than they are this afternoon. But for...
Wed, Feb 16 2022, 1:08 PM
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) reported substantial increases in their financial results for 2021 when compared to 2020 and a greatly im...
Wed, Feb 16 2022, 12:39 PM
Bonds finally had a relatively flat trading session overnight with no Russia/Ukraine headlines sparking any obvious reactions. Stronger Retail Sales ...
Wed, Feb 16 2022, 10:47 AM
There was another bit of erosion in builder confidence in February. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing...
Wed, Feb 16 2022, 8:48 AM
Things change and time passes. A little more than three months ago we “fell back” and now we have less than a month until most states in the U.S. chan...
Wed, Feb 16 2022, 8:41 AM
The volume of mortgage applications declined for the second week as interest rates for some products crossed the 4.0 percent line. The Mortgage Banker...
Tue, Feb 15 2022, 5:08 PM
Ukraine Headlines Are Noise in The Bigger (Badder) Picture
The overnight trading session was marked by sever...
Tue, Feb 15 2022, 2:54 PM
Even as the economy is improving, access to mortgage credit fell in January as investors cut back their demand for some products. The Mortgage Bankers...
Tue, Feb 15 2022, 10:02 AM
Another tool will soon be available to lenders working with Freddie Mac that is expected to speed up loan processing and reduce the paperwork involv...
Tue, Feb 15 2022, 10:01 AM
The downside of a bond rally based on geopolitical risk is that gains can evaporate quickly in the event of de-escalation. That's the theme of today'...
Tue, Feb 15 2022, 9:26 AM
Sure, Fannie had $5.2 billion of net income in the fourth quarter of 2021, but money can’t buy you love. Love is more of a chemical reaction than a st...
Mon, Feb 14 2022, 4:07 PM
Last Friday was an interesting day for mortgage rates and the broader bond market. Rates began the day roughly in line with Thursday's latest levels,...
Mon, Feb 14 2022, 3:53 PM
Comic Misdirection Between Headlines and Markets
Geopolitical issues remain at the forefront as far as finan...
