Fri, Sep 27 2019, 10:23 AM
In the day just passed, bonds did their best to make it seem as if they were paying attention to various headlines and events without actually moving ...
Fri, Sep 27 2019, 9:26 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 12.9 percent in August , increasing from 6.3 perce...
Fri, Sep 27 2019, 8:47 AM
Let’s end the week with some non-mortgage ramblings. Last night in Dallas I had dinner at The Mercury, a fish restaurant. (Who was in charge of naming...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 5:00 PM
It's hard to say whether yesterday's heavy selling in the bond market was acting alone or whether it was in response to the heavy buying seen on Tuesd...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 3:59 PM
Mortgage rates held steady today--a welcome development after yesterday's move higher. In the bigger picture, rates have done an acceptable job of mov...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 11:31 AM
It's been plain to see in recent months that MBS have had a very tough time keeping pace with the drop in Treasury yields. That's been especially tru...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 10:16 AM
Pending home sales resumed their upward trajectory in August after declining 2.5 percent in July, making for positive results in three of the last fou...
Thu, Sep 26 2019, 8:56 AM
Depending on the product, 20-25% of the nation’s loans come from California. “Appraisal firms and appraisal management companies utilizing independent...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 6:12 PM
First, let's talk about how big today's sell-off was. In terms of 10yr yields, it fully erased the past 2 days of gains and some of the improvement...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 5:23 PM
Mortgage rates bounced higher today, after making it to the best levels in more than a week yesterday afternoon. Markets responded to a strong home sa...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 10:37 AM
New home sales in August reclaimed part of July's sharp loss. The Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development said sales nationwide ...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 9:29 AM
In the day just passed, the bond market managed to improve at a fairly decent clip, but the gains were much easier to come by for Treasuries vs MBS. ...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 8:33 AM
One could argue that house flippers could make less if they buy the house for more than they expected, costs were more than anticipated, or the sales ...
Wed, Sep 25 2019, 8:06 AM
Although changes in mortgage rates were gradual and mixed during the week ended September 20, mortgage volume moved sharply lower. Refinancing was esp...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 5:38 PM
Today was a victory for the bond market in general, but a relatively hollow one for MBS. Gains were modest for both Treasuries and MBS at first, ...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 3:11 PM
Mortgage rates managed to hold on to the improvements seen yesterday. This was far from a certainty yesterday afternoon as the underlying bond market ...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 10:18 AM
Both the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller indices and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index (HPI) were released on Tuesday. The Ca...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 9:35 AM
In the day just passed, bonds started out strong with help from exceptionally weak economic data in Europe. German manufacturing, in particular, cont...
Tue, Sep 24 2019, 8:58 AM
What does the AFL-CIO have in common with Zillow? Both own mortgage companies. Think partnerships and “strategic alliances” are against the rules? Thi...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 6:19 PM
Today was largely the story of troublingly weak econ data prompting an rally to the best levels of the day for bond markets. The biggest move came i...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 5:58 PM
Foreclosure starts hit an 18-year low in August and were down 23 percent compared to the previous August. Black Knight, in its First Look at August lo...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 5:41 PM
Mortgage rates added to last week's friendly rebound with their best single-day drop in more than a month today. Weak economic data in Europe and tepi...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 11:46 AM
The good news from a new National Association of Realtors® (NAR) survey is that a large majority of respondents think it is a good time to buy a home....
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 10:11 AM
In the week just passed, the bond market underwent a nice correction after the previous week pushed yields higher at the fastest pace in years. To pu...
Mon, Sep 23 2019, 9:04 AM
Call it a comfortable barge or a luxury water house, thanks to Rudy D. for sending along this story about a $5.5 million floating home in Florida . Go...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 6:15 PM
Last week brought the pain. It was the worst single week for the bond market (if we count MBS) since 2013. Although this week won't break any record...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 5:59 PM
What a difference a week makes! At the end of last week, things were pretty grim, with mortgage rates having just seen their worst single week since 2...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 11:22 AM
Total home equity, not surprisingly, increased again in the second quarter of the year. CoreLogic's quarterly Homeowner Equity Insights report, which ...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 10:14 AM
In the day just passed, bonds trading was exceptionally calm in the wake of Wednesday's Fed day. As I mentioned in the recap, it was one of the least...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 8:36 AM
A mile is 5,280 feet. And Central Park Tower on West 57th St. in Manhattan now stands at 1,550 feet, about a third of a mile. I mention this because i...
Fri, Sep 20 2019, 8:24 AM
Thirty-year mortgage loans closed in August carried an average interest rate of 4.07 percent according to Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report. Rate...
Thu, Sep 19 2019, 5:45 PM
Relative to the expectation for yesterday's Fed events to cause volatility, the movement we've seen in the bond market has been fairly pitiful in re...
Thu, Sep 19 2019, 4:23 PM
Here is exactly what yesterday's Fed rate cut did to mortgage rates: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! No Fed rate cut (or hike) will EVER do ANYTHING directly to m...
Thu, Sep 19 2019, 11:17 AM
While the increase wasn't as strong as in July, last month's existing home sales posted a second straight month of gains and, as previously, the Natio...
Thu, Sep 19 2019, 9:16 AM
In the day just passed, the bond market finally got a chance to sink its teeth into the much-anticipated Fed announcement/forecasts/press conference. ...
Thu, Sep 19 2019, 8:52 AM
The residential lending industry continues to evolve. Lenders are coming and going, moving in and out of business channels. (The latest example being ...
Thu, Sep 19 2019, 8:38 AM
Fannie Mae says consumer spending will continue to support the economy. The company's Economic Summary for September cites increases in auto and retai...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 5:49 PM
As far as Fed days go--especially the kind where we get updated economic projections--today's example was pretty damn uneventful. These things happen...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 4:54 PM
One of the greatest potential sources of confusion for prospective mortgage borrowers is the relationship between the Fed and mortgage rates. While th...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 2:02 PM
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June July indicates that the labor market remains strong and that economic acti...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 10:23 AM
August turns out to have been among the year's strongest periods for residential construction. While analysts had expected builders to shake off some ...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 9:09 AM
In the day just passed, the bond market managed to add a 2nd day to a friendly correction--a small counterattack against the much larger corrective se...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 8:25 AM
This morning I find myself in Pittsburgh, PA for the MBA of Southwest Pennsylvania . (Yes, I am bound for lunch at Primanti Brothers.) It turns out th...
Wed, Sep 18 2019, 8:10 AM
There was a jump in purchase mortgage applications during the week ended September 14 even as interest rates moved higher. The Mortgage Bankers Associ...
Tue, Sep 17 2019, 6:24 PM
Today saw the narrowest trading range of any day so far this month and by far the calmest day since the big September selling spree began. Drama came...
Tue, Sep 17 2019, 5:02 PM
Mortgage rates have risen rather abruptly from their long term lows 2 weeks ago and are now at the highest levels in more than a month. Fortunately, t...
Tue, Sep 17 2019, 11:20 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is anticipating an increase in new home sales in August. The organization's Builder Application Survey found th...
Tue, Sep 17 2019, 10:41 AM
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) increased 1 point in September. Along with an upward revision ...
Tue, Sep 17 2019, 9:27 AM
In the day just passed, bonds saw their first reprieve from the fairly brutal correction that has defined essentially all of September. 10yr yields d...
Tue, Sep 17 2019, 8:53 AM
As yet another example of a mortgage conference eating into a weekend, leading attendees to travel on a Friday or Saturday, the Mortgage Bankers Assoc...
