Fri, Mar 20 2020, 9:00 AM
Today, with the official start of Spring, and while the industry waits for the FHFA to answer concerns about appraisals, VVOEs, and other issues, ther...
Thu, Mar 19 2020, 5:42 PM
Today was the most volatile day in the history of the mortgage market in many regards. There were days in the early 80's that saw rates move by simila...
Thu, Mar 19 2020, 2:13 PM
A 10-basis point drop in the average interest rate of closed loans drove up the share of refinances in February. Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Repor...
Thu, Mar 19 2020, 10:41 AM
Freddie Mac is invoking the same types of measures to protect homeowners in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic as it has previously taken in other natu...
Thu, Mar 19 2020, 9:13 AM
“I’ve started investing in stocks: beef, chicken, and vegetable. One day I hope to be a bouillonaire.” There might be a few less “bouilonaires” owning...
Thu, Mar 19 2020, 8:17 AM
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a civil investigation into FICO Corporation. DOJ is apparently looking into claims that the company ...
Thu, Mar 19 2020, 8:10 AM
As anticipated, the two major data sets in February's residential construction report declined from their January level but both construction permitti...
Wed, Mar 18 2020, 10:47 AM
Everyone has a lot to digest right now. The average human on planet earth is no different from the entire financial market in that regard. We're und...
Wed, Mar 18 2020, 9:14 AM
Thank you to Susan M. for, “Your Grandparents were called to war. You’re being called to sit on a couch. You can do this!” I was speaking with an acqu...
Wed, Mar 18 2020, 8:42 AM
New home sales in February are expected to be down from January's levels based on loan application volume data reported by the Mortgage Bankers Associ...
Wed, Mar 18 2020, 8:27 AM
Builder confidence slipped slightly in March according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), but there was one huge caveat. The monthly...
Wed, Mar 18 2020, 8:16 AM
After last week's report on a record-busting week for mortgage applications, with applications for refinancing surging 79 percent and mortgage volume ...
Tue, Mar 17 2020, 9:57 AM
There is some interesting stuff going on with global bond markets. Even as COVID ravages Europe, benchmark yields (German 10yr) are soaring relative ...
Tue, Mar 17 2020, 9:41 AM
“I’ve washed my hands so many times now I can see the answers to a math test I took in 1978!” We’re going through a test of the financial system . I l...
Mon, Mar 16 2020, 5:40 PM
Lots of words recently and lots to do for all of us, so let's make this simple. No, you can't get a that new 0% mortgage rate you heard about! It does...
Mon, Mar 16 2020, 9:44 AM
If you haven't seen the details of the over-the-weekend emergency Fed announcement, read this: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/93...
Mon, Mar 16 2020, 9:03 AM
Gosh, what should we talk about today? If there’s a “winner” with the coronavirus, it is dogs. They are experiencing unprecedented levels of people be...
Sun, Mar 15 2020, 5:45 PM
There are a lot of words here. If you have a mortgage you might ever refinance (and especially if you think Sunday's emergency Fed news means you can ...
Fri, Mar 13 2020, 3:31 PM
Fannie Mae's forecasts for the rest of 2020 took a bit of a hit from the pandemic panic. The company's Economic Developments report for March contains...
Fri, Mar 13 2020, 1:01 PM
Let's clear a few things up.
The Fed was already buying $60bln / month of bonds. Yesterday's announcement meant that the composition of those bond...
Fri, Mar 13 2020, 10:22 AM
With the caveat that its Lender Sentiment Survey was conducted in February when the world was a very different place , Fannie Mae says mortgage lender...
Fri, Mar 13 2020, 9:54 AM
Homeowner equity jumped again in the fourth quarter of last year. CoreLogic's report said it found that, among homeowners with mortgages, about 63 per...
Fri, Mar 13 2020, 9:49 AM
Home sellers and potential buyers appear to be having a variety of reactions to the turmoil surrounding the COVID-19 virus with some even viewing it a...
Fri, Mar 13 2020, 8:44 AM
Here’s an economic tidbit for you. The Port of Los Angeles is reporting a 22.9% decrease in cargo volumes for February compared to 2019, with expectat...
Thu, Mar 12 2020, 9:16 PM
In all my years of following mortgage rates I haven't seen anything quite like the current environment. 2008 came fairly close, but the vibe was decid...
Thu, Mar 12 2020, 10:18 AM
Another day, another false start confirmed for the stock market. More specifically, the modest bounce in stocks that was intact on Tuesday afternoon ...
Thu, Mar 12 2020, 9:07 AM
Here’s a sign of the times. “Rob, I would think many lenders are for sale; they just don't know it yet. EPOs, servicing write-downs, renegotiations, m...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 4:46 PM
Mortgage rates continued a relentless surge higher today. The move began in earnest yesterday for two key reasons: bond market panic and mortgage mark...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 12:46 PM
Just before 11am, we saw a move in MBS like few we've experienced since the financial crisis. WELL before the correlated move in Treasuries, MBS pric...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 9:32 AM
Yesterday brought a fairly significant sell-off to the bond market and a slightly less significant rally to the stock market. Granted, the 4% improve...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 9:13 AM
Mortgage credit availability declined last month, and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says it might be the result of too much of a good thing. ...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 8:58 AM
First, a note of clarification. Yesterday’s commentary mentioned that there was talk of “warehouse banks temporarily suspending funding refi biz.” I r...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 8:50 AM
Unless you were involved in the housing industry or suffered the loss of your home, you probably didn't notice or have by now forgotten one of the mos...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 8:41 AM
Following a full committee hearing on Tuesday morning that featured Charles W. Scharf, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of Wells Fargo & Co...
Wed, Mar 11 2020, 8:19 AM
There was a nearly incomprehensible surge in mortgage applications during the week ended March 6 as mortgage rates hit near record lows. According to ...
Tue, Mar 10 2020, 5:47 PM
Mortgage rates have exploded higher over the past day and a half as the bond market sends threatening signals about a big picture bounce off the recen...
Tue, Mar 10 2020, 9:30 AM
If you're looking at the world through the lens of an epidemiologist, CDC employee, airline CEO, the stock market, the economy, or person over 65 livi...
Tue, Mar 10 2020, 8:55 AM
There sure is a lot going on out there! There is talk of warehouse banks temporarily suspending funding refi biz, lenders charging lock fees, lenders ...
Tue, Mar 10 2020, 8:46 AM
Only one of the six components of Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) posted a net gain in February, but the increase in the numbers of ...
Mon, Mar 9 2020, 5:02 PM
Mortgage rates would kindly like to reserve the right not to make sense to you, or anyone else these days. They haven't been pulled in so many directi...
Mon, Mar 9 2020, 11:43 AM
Overnight market panic made for some truly spectacular movement in the bond market with the 10yr Treasury yield down more than 40 bps at one point to ...
Mon, Mar 9 2020, 9:04 AM
As everyone grapples with changing the clock in their car… The world’s shortest horror movie? At 14 seconds, here you go . (Thanks to Kevin K. for tha...
Fri, Mar 6 2020, 7:28 PM
Mortgage rates remain at or near all time lows , but they haven't moved much since hitting them earlier this week--at least on average. In fact, the a...
Fri, Mar 6 2020, 10:58 AM
At the moment I'm typing this, 10yr Treasury yields are 40 basis points lower than they were at the end of last week. This hasn't happened since the ...
Fri, Mar 6 2020, 10:28 AM
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said its latest study on generational trends in homeownership has found that some homebuying characteristi...
Fri, Mar 6 2020, 9:16 AM
Yesterday, as I was working on my commentary, I looked down. There I was, wearing my WAMU sweatshirt over my Lehman Brother t-shirt, sipping cocoa out...
Thu, Mar 5 2020, 8:57 AM
“Spring Forward” really needs to be a Friday at 4PM thing. At this point most lenders would like another hour instead since most have their hands full...
Thu, Mar 5 2020, 8:00 AM
A bit of a diversion from the typical "Day Ahead" this morning as I came across an interesting assertion while talking about mortgage rates with some ...
Wed, Mar 4 2020, 7:08 PM
Gigantic bond rallies resulting in all-time rate lows have some side effects. One of them is that we subsequently find ourselves wondering if each re...
Wed, Mar 4 2020, 5:21 PM
Mortgage rates have progressively hit newer and lower all time lows every day this week, but there's one massive catch. Rates and fees have been extra...
