Thu, Jun 18 2020, 10:43 AM
Freddie Mac's Economic and Housing Research Group says say that, heading into summer, the housing market is rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic's da...
Thu, Jun 18 2020, 9:12 AM
Capital markets folks focus on risk management every day. The public is getting a taste of another kind of risk management when they go to a bar, tatt...
Thu, Jun 18 2020, 8:34 AM
The bond market had been very flat with yields near all time lows since mid-April. If there was any predisposition toward strength or weakness during...
Wed, Jun 17 2020, 5:06 PM
Mortgage rates joined many other sections of financial markets today in doing almost absolutely nothing . Both stocks and bonds were almost perfectly ...
Wed, Jun 17 2020, 4:36 PM
There has apparently been considerable confusion regarding servicer obligations to report to credit agencies regarding loans in forbearance. The origi...
Wed, Jun 17 2020, 4:07 PM
Which Way Do We Go?
Markets continue trying to sort out the prospects for a recovery vs the risk of covid-19...
Wed, Jun 17 2020, 10:49 AM
Residential construction numbers climbed in May after their pandemic-driven collapse in April. The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urb...
Wed, Jun 17 2020, 8:52 AM
Yesterday afternoon I was doing my quarterly ten minutes of YouTube yoga (“Align those internal organs! “The journey is the reward!”) and my mind wand...
Wed, Jun 17 2020, 8:35 AM
Perspective is always important when considering market movement. Most decent charting software or any responsibly-created custom chart will scale th...
Wed, Jun 17 2020, 8:13 AM
Mortgage Application volumes continued to grow during the week ended June 12 as mortgage rates reached new lows and states allowed more businesses to ...
Tue, Jun 16 2020, 4:21 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher for the 3rd straight business day. That said, last Friday is better described as being a "2nd consecutive day of all-time ...
Tue, Jun 16 2020, 3:58 PM
Economic Hope Squares Off Against Virus Fears (Again)
Markets continue trying to sort out the prospects for ...
Tue, Jun 16 2020, 11:11 AM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its annual Report to Congress for 2019 on Monday. The report summarizes the FHFA's activities as re...
Tue, Jun 16 2020, 10:45 AM
The COVID-19 outbreak struck a major blow to builder confidence in April. The prospect of widespread shutdowns of businesses and prolonged shelter at ...
Tue, Jun 16 2020, 8:54 AM
What? You aren’t offering a 30-year rate below 3% yet? Better catch up, because that is where the mainstream press is telling borrowers rates are. Of ...
Tue, Jun 16 2020, 8:27 AM
Last week saw stock prices and bond yields fall as markets got back in touch with their recent habit of trading primarily on the coronavirus outlook. ...
Mon, Jun 15 2020, 5:27 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher today for the average lender. Additionally, some lenders bumped rates a bit in the middle of the day in response t...
Mon, Jun 15 2020, 3:34 PM
Virus Fears Back in Focus For Markets
Rather than the gradual decline that many had hoped for, we're instead...
Mon, Jun 15 2020, 9:49 AM
The continued high volume of refinancing kept mortgage lenders' outlook for profits relatively high during the second quarter, although it was down sl...
Mon, Jun 15 2020, 9:03 AM
With the increase in COVID cases, plenty are heading back into captivity, and it is important to keep a level head . (What is so hard to understand ab...
Mon, Jun 15 2020, 8:54 AM
The week begins with global financial markets once again defending against coronavirus risks. Case counts were flat in April and most of May. The im...
Fri, Jun 12 2020, 4:55 PM
2 Wild Weeks That Mostly Cancel Each Other Out
What a difference a week makes! Last week, the order of the ...
Fri, Jun 12 2020, 4:54 PM
Mortgage rates plunged well into new all-time lows this week, which is a striking turn of events given the vastly different outlook at the end of last...
Fri, Jun 12 2020, 12:12 PM
Home flipping, defined as buying a home and reselling it (in two arms-length transactions) within a year, accounted for 7.5 percent of all home sales ...
Fri, Jun 12 2020, 11:30 AM
The number of homeowners with mortgages in forbearance has fallen for the second consecutive week. Black Knight reports that, as of June 9, there were...
Fri, Jun 12 2020, 9:38 AM
Yesterday, after 4 straight days of improvements, the bond market easily returned to the trading range that had been intact for 6 weeks (until it was ...
Fri, Jun 12 2020, 9:08 AM
How the heck could anyone value a mortgage company these days? The value is pretty much comprised of its servicing, cash, receivables, and assets (loa...
Thu, Jun 11 2020, 5:48 PM
Mortgage rates plunged well into new all-time lows today. This is a striking turn of events given the vastly different outlook at the end of last week...
Thu, Jun 11 2020, 4:53 PM
Bonds Back in Business; More New All-Time Low Rates
What a difference a week makes! Last week, the order of...
Thu, Jun 11 2020, 11:56 AM
Home equity reports have not been particularly interesting over the last few years. Home prices kept rising, owners kept whittling down their loan-to-...
Thu, Jun 11 2020, 9:08 AM
Despite the early stages of quarantine and captivity seeming to drag, the year is rushing along. They always do. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve t...
Thu, Jun 11 2020, 8:43 AM
We'll have to be careful about thinking or saying that bonds have "confirmed" any sort of shift when it comes to established ranges or trends. The la...
Wed, Jun 10 2020, 5:07 PM
Mortgage rates dropped quickly today. This wasn't necessarily destined to be the case this morning, but after the Fed released its most recent policy ...
Wed, Jun 10 2020, 3:42 PM
Fed Delivers. Bonds Surge
As far as the Fed is concerned, bonds don't have to stress out about rates rising ...
Wed, Jun 10 2020, 2:03 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 10 2020, 10:10 AM
Lenders, responding to increasing unemployment rates and other risks, tightened lending standards in May, sending the Mortgage Bankers Association's (...
Wed, Jun 10 2020, 10:09 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says that mortgage application volume rose significantly during the week ended June 5 as many states began to l...
Wed, Jun 10 2020, 9:09 AM
The word "roll" has a few meanings around here. For those who participate in MBS markets at a higher level, "dollar rolls" are actual tradeable posit...
Wed, Jun 10 2020, 8:51 AM
Not only are origination staff asking for refreshed marketing efforts as volumes show a tinge of falling off, but how about this note that I received ...
Tue, Jun 9 2020, 5:53 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower again today, with the average lender erasing a good amount of the weakness seen last week. That's good news considering rat...
Tue, Jun 9 2020, 4:42 PM
Bond Rally or a Token Bounce After Last Week's Rout?
Last week saw rates rise at the fastest pace in months ...
Tue, Jun 9 2020, 11:47 AM
After falling an aggregate of 29.5 points in March and April, Fannie Mae says its Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) has begun to recover. The Index...
Tue, Jun 9 2020, 9:38 AM
The strength of the housing industry at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 served, to a certain extent, as a buffer as the COVID-19 pandemic began ...
Tue, Jun 9 2020, 8:43 AM
Last week saw rates rise at the fastest pace in months in an apparent lift-off from an extended stint near all-time lows. Now the current week looks v...
Tue, Jun 9 2020, 8:35 AM
Big picture, in case you haven’t been paying attention, the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed that the U.S. economy has slowed: The econo...
Mon, Jun 8 2020, 5:02 PM
After moving higher at a fairly quick pace last by last Friday, mortgage rates are off to a better start this week. Rates remain noticeably higher ver...
Mon, Jun 8 2020, 3:34 PM
Surprisingly Strong Day Made Possible By Last Week's Rout
After last week's rout at the hands of stronger ec...
Mon, Jun 8 2020, 9:47 AM
Who doesn’t like being kept informed at absolutely no cost? There is no reason for anyone not to join the Mortgage Action Alliance as the Mortgage Ban...
Mon, Jun 8 2020, 9:41 AM
Black Knight says that only three months after the national delinquency rate hit a record low, falling 1.5 percentage point below its pre-Great Recess...
Mon, Jun 8 2020, 8:53 AM
Bonds are coming off their roughest week in months with yields rising at their quickest pace since the mega-volatility seen during the panicked sell...
