Mon, Feb 1 2021, 1:36 PM
The current Mortgage Monitor from Black Knight looks at the recent small increases in mortgage rates and their potential impact on home sales. The com...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 11:08 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 22.4 percent in December compared to a 29.5 percen...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 11:01 AM
January’s already in the rearview mirror and our industry is keeping an eye on all kinds of things. Like silent movies moving into “the Talkies” in 19...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 9:14 AM
Bonds find themselves in an interesting position heading into February. On the one hand, there's a well-established tepid recovery narrative that coi...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 5:35 PM
Decent Recovery After Scary Start But Risks Remain
10yr yields were as high as 1.105% at one point today, bu...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 4:52 PM
After spiking in early January, interest rates returned to near-all-time-low levels by the middle of the week. By the end, however, the market began t...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 11:11 AM
Pending home sales retreated for the fourth straight month in December. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said its Pending Home Sales Index,...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 10:20 AM
One should never stop learning. For example, I just began reading a great book: “How to Cook Crack and Clean a Crab.” Step One: Use commas. I learned ...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 9:40 AM
Yesterday's bond market weakness ran the risk of signalling an end to the winning streak enjoyed since January 12th. Those gains were fairly steady a...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 8:15 AM
While the number of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE) loans in forbearance continued to decline last week, that 4,000 loan improvement was more than of...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 3:52 PM
Why Are We Losing Ground Today and What's The Implication?
Due to its timing and size, today's bond market w...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 11:08 AM
New homes sales managed a small increase in December following three months of losses including a substantial downturn in November. The U.S. Census Bu...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 10:33 AM
The stock price of American Airlines back to February 2020 levels. Investors seem to be “buying hope.” In Mortgage Land, though I am beginning to hear...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 8:31 AM
Bonds have rallied or held steady every day this week and the net effect is a visit to the 1.0% psychological floor for 10yr yields. Psychology aside...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 4:59 PM
Very Tame Reaction to The Fed Despite Bond-Friendly Message
Bonds took a bit of a lead-off heading into toda...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 2:02 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, Jan 27 2021, 9:42 AM
With 10yr yields breaking the 1.075% technical floor on Monday, the bond market added evidence to the case for a move back to 1.0%. Today's early gai...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 9:21 AM
The Acting Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced an extension of the deadline for borrowers with FHA mortga...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 9:18 AM
Just a couple more weeks until my uncle sends me a text asking if I’ve seen these funny photos of Bernie Sanders , of which there are no shortage. The...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 4:03 PM
It probably wasn't on your COVID Bingo card, but the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is finding more and more evidence that the pandemic ...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 4:03 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed to slightly higher today, depending on the lender. "Higher" is a relative term, in this case as the average loan seeker is u...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 3:58 PM
MBS Outperform Treasuries Thank to Light Supply at Fed Buying Operation
Treasuries didn't gain any new groun...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 12:12 PM
The annual increases in U.S. home prices is nearing dizzying levels. The November data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) crossed into dou...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 9:55 AM
While the Biden Administration waits for the Trump staff to tell them the Wi-Fi password in the White House, the government continues to occupy our th...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 9:44 AM
10yr yields broke below 1.075% yesterday--a level that had proven tough to break despite multiple attempts in the past 2 weeks. The move followed sev...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 4:24 PM
What's a bond market rally and why should mortgage rates care? There are all kinds of bonds. US Treasuries would be the quintessential example, but th...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 4:17 PM
Strong Move in Treasuries But MBS Underperform (Significantly)
While much of the world of finance and instit...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 11:44 AM
The interest rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages originated in December reached an all-time low in ICE Mortgage Technology's (formerly Ellie Mae's) ...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 10:35 AM
There’s always “stuff” going on in residential lending, right? Capital markets folks have noticed that the big banks are re-entering buying jumbo loan...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 9:31 AM
Another week, another chance to see if bonds will continue to avoid confrontation with the boundaries of the recent range. 1.075% emerged as the floo...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 4:24 PM
Calm Week Ends on an Even Calmer Note
It's rare to see non-holidays Fridays in January be quite as underwhel...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 4:23 PM
While it wasn't quite the biggest surprise of 2020, the strength of the housing market was one of the best. The just-released numbers for December kee...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 1:09 PM
Existing home sales resumed an upward trajectory in December. After drifting lower by 2.5 percent in November, breaking a five-month streak of gains ,...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 1:00 PM
Optimism is running high in Fannie Mae's first Economic and Housing Outlook of the year. The company's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) team says...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 11:37 AM
Mortgage performance understandably deteriorated over the course of 2020. Black Knight, in its "first look" at December data, noted that the year ende...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 9:59 AM
This week Joe Exotic did not receive a presidential pardon, nor did mortgage rates move much versus last week, but there are still over 16 million ref...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 9:25 AM
The nature of the pandemic has made for some very mechanical and orderly market movement. The best example of this in the bond market is the "trend...
Thu, Jan 21 2021, 3:36 PM
Mortgage rates made more progress today, but only after some drama in the morning. The bond market started the day in weaker territory and many mortga...
Thu, Jan 21 2021, 3:32 PM
Bonds Push Back Against AM Weakness, But Risks Remain
Yields were breaking higher as the domestic session be...
Thu, Jan 21 2021, 10:28 AM
Residential construction finished out 2020 much more strongly than analysts had expected. The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban D...
Thu, Jan 21 2021, 9:56 AM
The GA senate election shift is old news. It did the damage it was always likely to do, but bonds had a good show of support by the end of the follow...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 4:25 PM
Mortgage rates are off to a decent start this week with the average lender offering slightly better terms compared to last Friday. The progress actual...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 3:08 PM
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Tuesday that it has extended eligibility for FHA mortgages to individuals who are c...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 11:45 AM
After setting three successive record highs, most recently a 90 level in November , the pandemic and rising construction costs are taking a toll on th...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 9:50 AM
Does inauguration day matter for the bond market? Not as such, no. To be sure, the changing of the guard in D.C. is indeed a big deal for the bond...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 9:49 AM
In his Saturday Morning Cup of Joe , Jeremy Potter quipped, “The word ‘homeowners’ has the word ‘meow’ in it. Good luck unseeing that from now on.” Pl...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 9:15 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) estimates that applications for the purchase of newly built homes rose only 0.2 percent from November to Decemb...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 9:14 AM
Late last week the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) agreed to amend the Preferred Stock Purcha...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 8:37 AM
The volume of mortgage applications fell back slightly last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index was down 1.9 ...
Tue, Jan 19 2021, 3:51 PM
Uneventful Start This Week; Next Move Remains Debatable
Bonds began the day in weaker territory but rallied ...
