Thu, Jun 17 2021, 4:31 PM
Strong Showing For Longer-Dated Bonds
With the Fed's dot plot in focus yesterday, the associated drama was h...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 4:23 PM
It's Thursday on a volatile week for the bond market and thus time, once again, to play our favorite game: "no, rates didn't really do that." Sometime...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 11:05 AM
Fortunately for much of the rest of the United States, lumber prices have been falling since May, hopefully cutting the money required for new constru...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 10:55 AM
After Wednesday's Fed-inspired rout, bond yields have done a great job finding support in the 1.56-1.59% area overnight amid high volume trading. All...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 4:42 PM
Mortgage rates were already drifting higher in the first half of the week, but that was nothing compared to today. This afternoon's Fed Announcement w...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 4:18 PM
Fed's Salty Dots Rock Bonds
As feared/anticipated, today was all about the "dots" (the dot plot that shows F...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 2:00 PM
The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum ...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 10:31 AM
Broker and Lender Services and Products Faster applications = happier borrowers = loyal customers. VOE+VOIs are an unnecessary pain in the you know wh...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 10:22 AM
Housing starts recovered in May after falling more than 9 percent in April but permitting had another lackluster month. The U.S. Census Bureau and Dep...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 9:52 AM
There are 8 Fed announcements per year (barring emergencies). Today's announcement is one of the 4 that include updated economic projections (the "do...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:13 AM
The latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) dropped 2 points in June. The Index, a measure of home ...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:10 AM
A new report from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) says that the demand for and sale of vacation homes soared during the pandemic. While th...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:07 AM
Mortgage application activity bounced back from the Memorial Day holiday week with a seasonally adjusted increase of 4.2 percent in the Mortgage Banke...
Tue, Jun 15 2021, 4:15 PM
Mortgage rates had a great week last week, ultimately getting very close to the lowest levels since March. One of the main sources of motivation was t...
Tue, Jun 15 2021, 4:10 PM
Pre-Fed Paralysis Despite Some Interesting Data
Retail Sales down 1.3% and last month revised up to 0.9%? C...
Tue, Jun 15 2021, 11:40 AM
I was spending a little time yesterday evening at the local cannabis club with my favorite bud-tender (an ombudsman!), and she was telling me about ho...
Tue, Jun 15 2021, 9:00 AM
On weeks that close out with the big jobs report, an inordinate amount of headlines include a reference to the impending data. The same is true with ...
Mon, Jun 14 2021, 4:19 PM
New Week, New Sense of Urgency
The new week wasted no time in differentiating itself from the previous week ...
Mon, Jun 14 2021, 10:44 AM
Elaine F. reminded me of a quote from Hemingway: “Never mistake motion for action.” And basketball coach John Wooden said, “Never mistake action for a...
Mon, Jun 14 2021, 9:20 AM
Last week was relatively impressive and perhaps somewhat surprising in terms of bonds' ability to rally in the absence of overt fundamental motivation...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 6:21 PM
No, this isn't one of those click-bait headlines that promise to share "one weird trick" or proclaim "you'll never believe what happened next." Well, ...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 3:55 PM
Bonds Circle Weekend Wagons as Fed Day Looms
This week was a bit of a barn burner for the bond market with 1...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 11:14 AM
Friday: time for some random non-mortgage stuff. Everyone knows that if you lose one sense, your other senses become enhanced. Which is why people wit...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 9:43 AM
Slightly weaker?! How could we say such things when the MBS chart looks like this:
Don't worry. This isn't exactly "real" due to the roll. The...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 8:42 AM
It is hardly a surprise given the rapid increase in home prices, but homeowners gained another $1.9 trillion in equity in the first quarter of this ye...
Fri, Jun 11 2021, 8:40 AM
Redfin says the second home market appears to be cooling although annual sales, measured by mortgage rate locks, were up nationwide by 48 percent in M...
Thu, Jun 10 2021, 4:00 PM
Best Levels in Months After Much Higher CPI Data (No, Really!)
If you'd told someone that core annual CPI wo...
Thu, Jun 10 2021, 10:04 AM
If you'd told someone that core annual CPI would come in 0.4% higher than expected at a staggering 3.8%, but that Treasuries would only sell-off a few...
Thu, Jun 10 2021, 10:02 AM
With plenty of in-person mortgage events slated for the remainder of 2021, it is good that human brains are specialized for facial recognition and tha...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 3:51 PM
Strong 10yr Auction Reinforces Friendly Trend
Bonds charged into the domestic session making surprisingly sw...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 2:40 PM
The bond market is the main ingredient that lenders use to determine lending rates. The mortgage market is no exception . In fact, mortgages have spec...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 11:34 AM
I hope that Google never shuts down. I know six, maybe seven, things. I know that the President’s plane was delayed seven hours this morning due to ci...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 10:37 AM
In the past 48 hours, bonds have entered into one of those interesting rally patterns marked by a striking absence of conventional motivations. That ...
Wed, Jun 9 2021, 8:20 AM
Mortgage application activity slowed further during the week ended June 4, a short business week due to Monday's Memorial Day holiday. The impact of t...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 4:07 PM
Fannie Mae announced a new refinance program “RefiNow”, effective June 5th , designed to provide greater loan flexibilities for low income borrowers, ...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 3:54 PM
Mortgage rates haven't been in the habit of making epic swings recently. That's not a bad thing considering they continue to operate in very low terri...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 3:53 PM
Snowball Rally Reinforces Post-Payrolls Opportunities
Last week's jobs report created an opportunity to ride...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 11:49 AM
The nation's mortgage delinquency rate is inching closer to its pre-pandemic level as early stage delinquencies improve. CoreLogic says that in March ...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 11:47 AM
After years of opening mail I’ve come to the conclusion that, when stamped on an envelope in the U.S. mail, “personal and confidential” usually isn’t,...
Tue, Jun 8 2021, 10:24 AM
A short squeeze occurs when bond yields fall to levels that force short sellers to cover their positions (read more here, if that didn't make sense), ...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 4:25 PM
Sideways to Start The Week, But That's Still a Victory
Last Friday's jobs report sparked a reasonably big bo...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 12:57 PM
April price gains may have set a record for setting records and Black Knight, in its Mortgage Monitor for the month, runs them down. The annual rate o...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 12:47 PM
While consumers' comfort with their financial situation appears to be improving, their pessimism about homebuying is also growing. Fannie Mae says whi...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 12:43 PM
The share of refinances originated during a month dropped below 60 percent in April for the first time since September 2020. ICE Mortgage Technology, ...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 10:54 AM
Time is flying, and the months click by. We’re approaching the Summer Solstice. (Here in Sitka, AK, the official sunrise is around 4AM and it sets aro...
Mon, Jun 7 2021, 9:37 AM
Summertime Mondays--especially those without any significant calendar events--have a tendency to be lighter than normal in terms of volume and volatil...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 3:05 PM
Locking vs Floating After Today's Jobs Report
NFP missed the mark and bonds ultimately rallied today. That ...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 10:22 AM
A while back I made an appointment at a new doctor and under, “What do you wish to be called?” I wrote, “The Chosen One.” Wednesday, I heard the recep...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 9:45 AM
The reaction has been back-and-forth in a very narrow range, but with very typical volume for NFP (in other words, traders are clearly trading... they...
Fri, Jun 4 2021, 8:45 AM
It wasn't a complete record setter, but mortgage bankers still established a few same quarter and other new highs as they kicked off the year with ano...
