Wed, Jan 5 2022, 10:26 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) closed, as they usually do, for the two-week holiday period. Its weekly report on mortgage application volume c...
Tue, Jan 4 2022, 4:49 PM
Mortgage rates had been drifting modestly higher in general in the past 2 weeks, but the pace is accelerating in the new year. For some lenders, this...
Tue, Jan 4 2022, 4:30 PM
Bonds Still Selling, But at a Slower Pace
In terms of volume, participation, and holiday closures, today was...
Tue, Jan 4 2022, 10:50 AM
It is increasingly clear that the science, or perhaps it is an art, of home price forecasting could use some work. One year ago, in its report on Nove...
Tue, Jan 4 2022, 10:41 AM
Years on a trading desk and hedging locked pipelines teaches one that different things move bonds at different times. Right now, rates are still being...
Tue, Jan 4 2022, 9:43 AM
Tokyo and London are back in the office today after yesterday's holiday closures. EU yields moved modestly lower from their highest levels in roughly...
Mon, Jan 3 2022, 4:13 PM
The year is not off to a great start for mortgage rates . At the end of last week, we were already looking at the highest levels in months. The s...
Mon, Jan 3 2022, 3:59 PM
Unhappy New Year For Bonds So Far
The first trading day of the new year ended up being one of the worst in m...
Mon, Jan 3 2022, 11:29 AM
Construction spending increased slightly in November compared to October and increased its lead year-over-year from the 7.5 percent improvement repo...
Mon, Jan 3 2022, 10:59 AM
Tabrasa’s Patrick H. wishes everyone a Merry New Year! Yes, 2022 is here, with its thousands of cancelled flights due to weather and omicron. Older lo...
Mon, Jan 3 2022, 9:54 AM
Both Tokyo and London were closed overnight, which didn't do anything to help the light liquidity environment of the winter holidays. Domestic accoun...
Fri, Dec 31 2021, 11:26 AM
A “handsel” is a gift given to wish good luck for the year ahead. The word dates back to the 1300s, and derives from “hand” and “selen,” an Old Englis...
Fri, Dec 31 2021, 10:30 AM
It's a sign of the times that the only conversations on MBS Live's MBS Community pertain to this morning's Encompass outage. Actually, it's a sign of ...
Thu, Dec 30 2021, 3:22 PM
Bonds Snap Back Into Holiday Mode
Wednesday's abrupt sell-off increasingly looks like the market's way of ge...
Thu, Dec 30 2021, 3:15 PM
Mortgage rates began the week in decent shape, but moved higher somewhat abruptly yesterday. Context is important though. The smallest increment of ...
Thu, Dec 30 2021, 11:12 AM
Do we have an 8-year memory in an industry with 10-year business cycles? Bridging the gap between affordability, qualifying with a low income, and ris...
Thu, Dec 30 2021, 10:19 AM
From the early days of the pandemic, one of the most important realities to consider was that of the eventual recovery, both from the most abject phas...
Wed, Dec 29 2021, 5:10 PM
What's Up With The Big Sell-Off in Bonds?
The omicron narrative is one reason being tossed around for today'...
Wed, Dec 29 2021, 11:25 AM
Would you tie up your money for five years and earn 1.26 percent the whole time? That’s pretty much where the $57 billion 5-year Treasury note auction...
Wed, Dec 29 2021, 10:50 AM
When pending home sales jumped 7.5 percent in October rather than the fractional increase expected, Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National A...
Wed, Dec 29 2021, 8:57 AM
Treasuries trade almost 24 hours a day (assuming London and Tokyo are not out on holiday), but if the domestic bond market has an unofficial opening b...
Tue, Dec 28 2021, 4:30 PM
Mortgage rates hit their highest level in 2 weeks heading into Christmas weekend. The average lender raised costs by a very small amount again on Mond...
Tue, Dec 28 2021, 4:28 PM
Every Bit As Quiet As It Was Supposed To Be
There's really no way to predict the future when it comes to rat...
Tue, Dec 28 2021, 11:38 AM
Home price gains slowed slightly in October with both S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reporting lower annual ...
Tue, Dec 28 2021, 11:21 AM
Like Monday, bonds traded flat to slightly stronger in Asia, were closed in London, popped a bit higher in early domestic trading, and are now droppin...
Tue, Dec 28 2021, 11:13 AM
With the overall inflation rate becoming a focus of concern, the attention paid to lumber prices over the spring and summer faded to background noise....
Tue, Dec 28 2021, 11:11 AM
Whether or not you think that climate change is real, you can’t deny that there is a climate, and that climate-related disasters occur… to the tune of...
Mon, Dec 27 2021, 3:23 PM
Bonds Sticking to Uneventful Script
There was little to observe and even less to report on today's bon marke...
Mon, Dec 27 2021, 12:58 PM
While bonds aren't closed for business this week, it wouldn't much matter if they were--at least not for the average mortgage rate watcher. That's no...
Mon, Dec 27 2021, 11:09 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 12.0 percent in November compared to a 15.7 percen...
Mon, Dec 27 2021, 11:07 AM
I hope that you’re not reading this while stuck due to the thousands of cancelled flights or road closures in Northern California! Kudos to Carol K. w...
Thu, Dec 23 2021, 1:05 PM
November was another one of those months for new home sales when the topline numbers look terrific. And then you take a second look. The U.S. Census B...
Thu, Dec 23 2021, 11:42 AM
While serious delinquencies remain a concern, homeowners are recovering quickly from pandemic induced mortgage delinquencies. Black Knight's "first lo...
Thu, Dec 23 2021, 11:36 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is ending their business year, they will be closed until January 3, with their annual housing and economic fore...
Thu, Dec 23 2021, 11:33 AM
When I was a kid, we’d trade baseball cards between each other… at least the ones that weren’t in the spokes of our bikes. The creativity, technique, ...
Wed, Dec 22 2021, 7:48 PM
Mortgage rates continued higher for the third straight day on Wednesday. This brings the average lender to the highest levels in exactly 2 weeks. But ...
Wed, Dec 22 2021, 4:02 PM
Sideways, Boring, and Slightly Stronger
10yr futures contract volume was roughly 600k by 3pm. That's on par...
Wed, Dec 22 2021, 11:23 AM
Yes, you should know that today is a date palindrome. Of course people in Ohio, and Florida, know that Key West is farther west than Cleveland . Utah ...
Wed, Dec 22 2021, 11:19 AM
Existing home sales came in a little lower than expected in November, but it was still the third consecutive gain. The National Association of Realtor...
Wed, Dec 22 2021, 11:15 AM
The volume of mortgage applications dipped slightly during the week ended December 17, the second consecutive decline. The Mortgage Bankers Associatio...
Wed, Dec 22 2021, 11:05 AM
If you've grown tired of hearing about holiday related illiquidity in the bond market or you otherwise are fully up to speed on its implications, you'...
Tue, Dec 21 2021, 4:41 PM
Incidental Weakness
This morning's commentary covers everything that needs to be said in today's closing com...
Tue, Dec 21 2021, 11:57 AM
The first monthly report on the status of the COVID-19 related forbearance programs was released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Monday. ...
Tue, Dec 21 2021, 11:13 AM
If you are a VA lender, or service servicemembers’ loans, you don’t want to be singled out by the Department of Justice or the CFPB. And the two of th...
Tue, Dec 21 2021, 10:20 AM
One of the best things to keep in mind not just for financial markets but for life in general is that explanations are rarely black and white when it ...
Mon, Dec 20 2021, 5:28 PM
For most lenders, mortgage rates edged slightly higher at the start of the holiday-shortened week. The exception would be among those lenders who made...
Mon, Dec 20 2021, 4:54 PM
Small Scale Volatility Leaves Bonds Slightly Weaker
The day began on a modestly positive note and ended with...
Mon, Dec 20 2021, 1:35 PM
Fannie Mae jumped up its forecast for real GDP on a Q4/Q4 basis this week, revising it from 4.8 percent in last month's report to 5.5 percent. The com...
Mon, Dec 20 2021, 11:11 AM
Despite a bit of 2-way trading, bonds are starting the day in slightly stronger territory. Pandemic concerns remain the most obvious source of inspir...
Mon, Dec 20 2021, 10:52 AM
W.C. Fields said, “Money will not buy happiness, but it will let you be unhappy in nice places.” Unfortunately, many people have much less of it, and ...
