Fri, Jan 27 2017, 1:26 PM
If you're out house hunting this weekend, expect to pay more for the same house that was on the market last weekend. New policy from the administratio...
Fri, Jan 27 2017, 9:48 AM
One would like to think that, as an industry, we’re emerging from the public relations nightmare. And yet the popular press continues the ordeal , the...
Thu, Jan 26 2017, 10:27 AM
The average used car depreciated about 23% last year, faster than the historical average annual rate of 18%, per the National Automobile Dealers Assoc...
Wed, Jan 25 2017, 9:02 AM
"If you want to be successful on the highest level, be willing to serve on the lowest." That is a great statement for companies who take charity work ...
Tue, Jan 24 2017, 9:43 AM
Depository banks know that, per the AARP, more than 67% of US assets are controlled by individuals age 50+, with this group representing more than 67%...
Mon, Jan 23 2017, 9:31 AM
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those that lost their lives in storms in the South and East. On the other coast, Los Angeles has re...
Fri, Jan 20 2017, 10:31 AM
How many people find fault seemingly every day with the FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac programs or structure? Plenty – see below – they can’t seem t...
Thu, Jan 19 2017, 9:25 AM
How has housing changed in the last 100 years? It’s easy to see when a “vertical flight” is put together, and Trulia posted current listings that were...
Wed, Jan 18 2017, 9:07 AM
The mortgage world is full of acronyms. Some refer to Finance of America as “FOAM,” for example. There are new ones every year, making it hard for old...
Tue, Jan 17 2017, 9:17 AM
Well, we have 24 business days until our next Federal holiday (President’s Day on February 20). Sigh. Much worse is this very, very sad, troubling sta...
Fri, Jan 13 2017, 9:05 AM
The average person in the residential lending sector would be hard pressed to say what Julian Castro, the current Secretary of HUD, does , or what rol...
Thu, Jan 12 2017, 9:29 AM
Ever wondered how much Ben Carson is worth, where he puts his money, and how much money he earns? Here you go . His hearing is today for the HUD spot....
Wed, Jan 11 2017, 9:24 AM
While rumors swirl about the topic for the phone call with Stearns Lending’s correspondent-wide staff today (let’s hope its good news), Richard Cordra...
Tue, Jan 10 2017, 9:17 AM
What does $1.38 million, uh, I mean $138 thousand, buy you in South Dakota ? (Of course the heating bill is $3,000 a month...) Buying it may be a litt...
Mon, Jan 9 2017, 9:34 AM
Ah, here we are starting off a work week with 5 whole days in it. Remember that next Monday is a holiday for some, not all, with the usual questions a...
Fri, Jan 6 2017, 9:43 AM
This month for me includes Texas (a few times), Maryland, Northern California, and Colorado (a few times). It can be cold out there! So far the mood s...
Thu, Jan 5 2017, 9:51 AM
This morning we’ve had the Challenger layoff data and the usual Thursday’s weekly Initial Jobless Claims (and its 4-week moving average). Things aren’...
Wed, Jan 4 2017, 9:19 AM
Any LO looking for opportunity should look no further than this statistic: there were 189,100 multifamily rental units completed between the fourth qu...
Tue, Jan 3 2017, 9:34 AM
(Yes, a paragraph of pure fluff to start the year.) Does anyone handwrite checks anymore? Always a struggle to remember “2017” instead of “2016.” And ...
Fri, Dec 30 2016, 9:15 AM
Overheard: “I have a feeling that my ‘check liver’ light may come on this weekend.” I guess drinking helps some people forget, and it’s been a rough w...
Thu, Dec 29 2016, 9:09 AM
New Residential Investment Corp. (NYSE: NRZ) announced it has entered into an agreement, through its wholly-owned subsidiary New Residential Mortgage ...
Wed, Dec 28 2016, 10:31 AM
"I like to party. And by 'party' I mean take a nap." Lots of folks are taking naps this week, but those on the production side of residential lending ...
Tue, Dec 27 2016, 9:08 AM
How has it been ten years since James Brown passed away? And now George Michael. (I guess no matter how much money you have, or how famous you are...)...
Fri, Dec 23 2016, 10:37 AM
We’ve passed the Winter Solstice, and we can look forward to more daylight in the Northern Hemisphere from here on out. (Good news for readers in Fair...
Thu, Dec 22 2016, 9:37 AM
“Hospitality is the art of making guests feel like they're at home when you wish they were.” (Read that again – it’s pretty clever.) Millions of white...
Wed, Dec 21 2016, 9:11 AM
Hey, don’t know what to get your favorite capital markets guy or gal this year for Christmas? Here's a memorable gift , with a one minute video. Altho...
Tue, Dec 20 2016, 9:49 AM
The whole world is changing! There are 500 McDonalds in the United States that currently offer table service. The bring-your-burger-to-you trial has p...
Mon, Dec 19 2016, 9:07 AM
The cold temperatures sweeping the nation, especially in the Upper Plains, have plenty of folks wondering how Native Americans kept warm during the wi...
Fri, Dec 16 2016, 9:18 AM
The Fed reports US household net worth soared to a record $90.2 trillion in Q3, as the stock market jumped and housing prices increased. One group of ...
Thu, Dec 15 2016, 9:17 AM
As more people under the age of 30 enter residential lending, what is happening on the other end? Well, congrats to SunTrust's Elaine Lee who is retir...
Wed, Dec 14 2016, 9:30 AM
Happy 121416, by the way, in the United States. Plenty of potential home buyers are still paying rent . You’re probably working in an office where the...
Tue, Dec 13 2016, 9:24 AM
What is this, Europe? 20 weeks off for new parents at American Express? While we're on employment trends, I'm not sure if this will come as a surprise...
Mon, Dec 12 2016, 9:44 AM
“The Mile High City” has seen solid appreciation, but NAR expects that to slow in 2017. (Chicago is expected to put in the worst performance of the to...
Fri, Dec 9 2016, 10:28 AM
Here’s something you won’t see in North America: the sale and transfer of 1.3% of the last mass of the continent. It just happened in Australia with t...
Thu, Dec 8 2016, 9:39 AM
“I find it ironic that the colors red, white, and blue stand for freedom, until they're flashing behind you.” The OCC doesn’t have flashing lights, bu...
Wed, Dec 7 2016, 9:27 AM
Today is the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawai’i where 2,403 Americans died and 1,178 were wound...
Tue, Dec 6 2016, 9:27 AM
Many years ago, it was a joke in Britain to say that, “the War Office was always preparing for the last war.” To their credit, regulators now often tr...
Mon, Dec 5 2016, 9:50 AM
It is probably not the case that this date is celebrated by mortgage bankers from coast to coast, and forget the jokes about it being the “Mortgage Dr...
Fri, Dec 2 2016, 9:24 AM
Plenty of people are on the roads in December, traveling for the holidays. Ever curious about the basic differences between a road, a street, a boulev...
Thu, Dec 1 2016, 10:00 AM
Numbers can be deceiving. U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro announced that public housing developments in the U.S. will...
Wed, Nov 30 2016, 10:07 AM
Underwriters’ hands are tied in using income from something the Federal Government considers illegal. For example, Washington State had nearly $212 mi...
Tue, Nov 29 2016, 10:11 AM
From Louisiana comes, “I doubt that HUD will be a high priority for Trump – perhaps it will be like Ronald Reagan’s view. Remember the story that Pres...
Mon, Nov 28 2016, 9:54 AM
Happy birthday to Tina Turner who turned 77 on Saturday. (I doubt if her personal information is at risk after HUD was hacked .) I bet Tina, who is a ...
Wed, Nov 23 2016, 10:22 AM
My cat Myrtle is old school. A traditionalist. Even though she has never said it out loud, I know that she doesn’t approve of me putting one space aft...
Tue, Nov 22 2016, 9:53 AM
Another day, another settlement. Ally Financial Inc said it agreed to pay $52 million to settle claims made by the U.S. Department of Justice against ...
Mon, Nov 21 2016, 11:56 AM
“Made up my mind to make a new start…Going to California with an aching in my heart. Someone told me there's a girl out there, with love in her eyes a...
Fri, Nov 18 2016, 10:46 AM
Just how much did rates go up recently? Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed a 37 basis point (.375) jump in the average 30-year rate, ...
Thu, Nov 17 2016, 10:13 AM
The FDIC reports banks paid $37.5 billion in taxes through Q2. That’s a lot. In individual tax news, the Mortgage Bankers Association sent out a joint...
Wed, Nov 16 2016, 10:55 AM
Baby Boomers like lists and rankings. Here is one that I ran across: the 50 highest paying professions not needing a college degree. There are a coupl...
Tue, Nov 15 2016, 10:43 AM
For me this week and last includes time in Knoxville, Las Vegas, Portland, Northern California, Colorado, and Salt Lake City. The mood? Besides plenty...
