Tue, Oct 26 2021, 10:48 AM
Sales of newly constructed homes surged unexpectedly in September, reaching the highest rate since March . However, a downward revision in the August ...
Tue, Oct 26 2021, 10:46 AM
Lenders and servicers don’t like weather extremes. Hurricane season is nearly over. While the East Coast is bracing for a storm, however, it’s feast o...
Tue, Oct 26 2021, 9:28 AM
At the start of the trading session, Treasuries have the distinction of trading through the overnight hours with the lowest volume and volatility in m...
Mon, Oct 25 2021, 4:17 PM
Nice Recovery, But Big-Picture Damage Remains
Monday could have been worse. Bonds started out in weaker ter...
Mon, Oct 25 2021, 3:45 PM
Mortgage rates began the day right in line with Friday afternoon's latest levels. Lenders likely would have been able to offer lower rates if the bond...
Mon, Oct 25 2021, 10:50 AM
Given my emails and hallway chatter in San Diego last week, what’s on people’s minds? The state of the housing market is one, and Ivy Zelman, CEO of Z...
Mon, Oct 25 2021, 10:48 AM
10yr yields hit a long-term ceiling of 1.776 on March 30th, 2021 as bonds quickly priced in vaccine efficacy and fiscal policy. Several sideways mont...
Fri, Oct 22 2021, 4:45 PM
Solid Afternoon Bounce, But Context Matters
There's surely some great analogy to be made about perspective (...
Fri, Oct 22 2021, 10:31 AM
Semper Fi! Tomorrow marks the 38th anniversary of the 1983 bombing in Beirut of a U.S. Marine barracks in the largest conventional explosive blast in ...
Fri, Oct 22 2021, 10:04 AM
To buy the dip or not to buy the dip (in bond prices). That is the question faced by traders today as 10yr yields hit the 1.70% technical level in af...
Thu, Oct 21 2021, 4:27 PM
Existing home sales resumed an upward trajectory in September after dipping 2.0 percent in August. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said sa...
Thu, Oct 21 2021, 4:21 PM
Fear of The I-Word
Today's 5yr TIPS auction met with heavy demand for inflation protection. While that didn...
Thu, Oct 21 2021, 10:57 AM
Thousands of people in the residential lending biz headed to the San Diego aerodrome and flew home. Plenty were sore from wearing dress shoes everywhe...
Thu, Oct 21 2021, 10:51 AM
Considering yields have pushed to new long-term highs on 3 out of the past 3 days, it's safe to say that bonds are "trending" as opposed to flat/sidew...
Wed, Oct 20 2021, 4:24 PM
Sideways to Slightly Weaker After Another Long-Term High
10yr yields hit a 5-month high early in the overnig...
Wed, Oct 20 2021, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates began moving off longer term lows in early August and that trend has continued ever since. The September 22nd Fed Announcement (and pre...
Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:31 AM
Today has the dubious distinction of being exactly 2 weeks before the Fed announcement (the one that's likely to contain the official tapering announc...
Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:27 AM
Someone here in San Diego asked an audience, “Who out there misses their Blackberry?” and many raised their hands. Technology… an interesting thing. H...
Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:22 AM
The volume of applications for mortgages to purchase newly constructed homes plunged in September, falling 16.2 percent from the September 2020 level ...
Wed, Oct 20 2021, 10:20 AM
Mortgage application volume fell sharply last week, the second decline of more than 6 percent in the past three weeks. Refinancing was down for the fo...
Tue, Oct 19 2021, 4:30 PM
The Trend is Not Your Friend
October has been one of those unpleasant months where bonds have several reason...
Tue, Oct 19 2021, 3:48 PM
Mortgage rates hit their highest levels in months yesterday as bonds lost ground at a brisk pace to start the new week. Bonds--specifically mortgage-b...
Tue, Oct 19 2021, 2:08 PM
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) will be expanding their low-income refinance programs to include those making at or below 100 percent of an...
Tue, Oct 19 2021, 10:36 AM
Both permits and housing starts fell in September following an unanticipated increase the previous month. Where the August gains were driven primarily...
Tue, Oct 19 2021, 10:34 AM
The MBA's conference, which began with a capacity crowd at mPower , is packed with meetings and sessions, and I am sure glad that I’m not going betwee...
Tue, Oct 19 2021, 10:01 AM
It's an interesting time for rates because the market collectively knows where it should be going (i.e. toward even higher rates), yet seems to be dra...
Mon, Oct 18 2021, 4:20 PM
Decent Recovery After a Rocky Start
Bonds sold off right at the start of the overnight session with yields n...
Mon, Oct 18 2021, 3:24 PM
Mortgage rates had a mixed showing last week. They started out high before improving through Thursday. Finally, they took a step back up on Friday. No...
Mon, Oct 18 2021, 12:21 PM
Members of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) are holding their annual convention in San Diego this week and the opening day was accompanied by th...
Mon, Oct 18 2021, 12:19 PM
Home builders apparently pushed aside current concerns about supply chain disruptions to display increased confidence in the new home market in Octobe...
Mon, Oct 18 2021, 10:20 AM
One discussion topic here at the MBA’s annual conference, besides how rates are pressing higher, is how wonderful the San Diego weather is. But there ...
Mon, Oct 18 2021, 10:05 AM
We typically don't talk too much about volume. It doesn't much matter for the purpose of tracking intraday reprice risk because the price is the pric...
Fri, Oct 15 2021, 7:33 PM
After a calm summer at historic lows, interest rate volatility has ramped up heading into the fall. What are rates worried about, and is this just the...
Fri, Oct 15 2021, 3:08 PM
Steady Selling All Day For Bonds
Bonds may have rallied on Mon-Thu, but Friday's theme has been quite differ...
Fri, Oct 15 2021, 1:32 PM
The number of homeowners in forbearance receded at a brisk clip last week as the first wave of final expirations continues. Black Knight reports the n...
Fri, Oct 15 2021, 11:18 AM
As was probably inevitable, foreclosure files rose significantly in the third quarter of 2021 and appeared to accelerate in the last month of that qua...
Fri, Oct 15 2021, 10:55 AM
Consumers continue to have divergent opinions about the current environment for buying and selling a home. Fannie Mae says its September National Hous...
Fri, Oct 15 2021, 10:52 AM
Life is full of decisions. One space or two after a period in a sentence? Move to a state with no state income tax, or stay put? Wells Fargo is no lon...
Fri, Oct 15 2021, 8:57 AM
Thursday brought more gains for bonds, but not the kind that led us to expect a continuation of the rally. Rather, we argued the improvement was bett...
Thu, Oct 14 2021, 4:25 PM
Mortgage rates fell today as a majority of lenders finally got caught up with the past few days of strength in the bond market. Lenders rely on bonds-...
Thu, Oct 14 2021, 4:25 PM
Can The Good Times Keep Rolling?
Referring to the past 3 days as "good times" is questionable. Perhaps "tim...
Thu, Oct 14 2021, 11:00 AM
Labor strikes are back in the news, but this time of year is *** cancer awareness month . Did you know that 1 in 8 women get *** cancer, and it can at...
Thu, Oct 14 2021, 10:47 AM
Refinancing again dominated mortgage originations in August after falling below a 50 percent market share in both June and July. ICE Mortgage Technolo...
Thu, Oct 14 2021, 9:26 AM
Headlines like "Indecision Setting In" have ironically been seen at the start of some days that ended up being big movers, so apologies in advance if ...
Wed, Oct 13 2021, 3:51 PM
Closely following intraday moves for the bond market and mortgage rates means that seemingly insignificant time frames are actually important . For in...
Wed, Oct 13 2021, 3:45 PM
No Floors Harmed in Defense of The Ceiling
With yields vaulting higher last week, we've been looking for any...
Wed, Oct 13 2021, 10:35 AM
Those heading to the conference in San Diego should pack stylish, yet sensible, shoes given the amount of walking. (Today’s audio version of the comme...
Wed, Oct 13 2021, 10:31 AM
The volume of mortgage applications ticked up last week for the first time in three weeks, but an uptick was the extent of it. The Mortgage Bankers As...
Wed, Oct 13 2021, 9:45 AM
There has been more than a little bit of willingness on the part of the bond market to react to Fed's rate hike outlook. This began in earnest after ...
Tue, Oct 12 2021, 4:15 PM
Bonds Improve After Treasury Auction; Why MBS Are Lagging
Bonds began the day weaker, but improved steadily ...
