Mon, Jul 15 2019, 9:12 AM
In the week just passed, the first 4 days (and especially Tue/Thu) served as the scene for a breakout from the previous trend (seen in the yellow line...
Mon, Jul 15 2019, 8:47 AM
You don’t think your spouse listens to you? What about Google? You bet: “Google Very Angry After Contractor Leaks Over a Thousand Assistant Recordings...
Fri, Jul 12 2019, 6:28 PM
Last Friday's jobs report meant business (bad business for low rates). Even though Powell ultimately told us that one jobs report wouldn't fundamen...
Fri, Jul 12 2019, 5:56 PM
Mortgage rates moved decisively higher this week as the underlying bond market finally began shifting gears. After the Fed meeting in June, rates move...
Fri, Jul 12 2019, 11:28 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released a treasure trove of data, its 2018 report on Characteristics of New Housing. The report, based on data collec...
Fri, Jul 12 2019, 10:52 AM
Applications for financing new home purchases slipped in June in spite of the continued easing of mortgage interest rates. The Mortgage Bankers Associ...
Fri, Jul 12 2019, 9:16 AM
Glenn Freezman sent, “I have a step ladder. I never knew my real ladder.” Toddlers, drunk people, and yoga pants don’t lie. What about statistics? Den...
Fri, Jul 12 2019, 9:12 AM
In the day just passed, bonds slipped into a bit of a capitulation sell-off following slightly stronger CPI data and a much weaker 30yr bond auction. ...
Fri, Jul 12 2019, 8:21 AM
The Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) is the agency, housed under the Department of Housing and Urban Development, that converts g...
Thu, Jul 11 2019, 9:09 AM
In honor of World Population Day today, the Census Bureau tells us that the world’s population will hit 7.58 billion this month. But why believe that?...
Thu, Jul 11 2019, 9:08 AM
In the day just passed, bonds weakened abruptly in the overnight session--mostly due to strong European economic data. Traders were also cautious ahe...
Wed, Jul 10 2019, 3:10 PM
There was a lot that could have gone wrong for the bond market today, given the confluence of big-ticket events (Powell testimony, 10yr auction, Fed m...
Wed, Jul 10 2019, 2:31 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed today following the much-anticipated congressional testimony by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Although these testimonies are regu...
Wed, Jul 10 2019, 9:59 AM
There are still, surprisingly, people who deny that climate change is occurring. There are plenty of low-lying areas of this country that are threaten...
Wed, Jul 10 2019, 9:16 AM
In the day just passed, bonds weakened slightly but remained inside the recent range. The weakness is in line with a linear trend leading to the uppe...
Wed, Jul 10 2019, 8:22 AM
Independence Day played the usual holiday havoc on mortgage applications data, but some trends were maintained. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)...
Tue, Jul 9 2019, 3:59 PM
Bonds weakened today, even if only slightly. It was enough to bring 10yr yields right up to the closest and arguably most significant overhead tech...
Tue, Jul 9 2019, 3:07 PM
Mortgage rates rose today, largely in response to weakness in the bond market seen yesterday afternoon (and confirmed this morning). Mortgage rates fo...
Tue, Jul 9 2019, 1:59 PM
While it was only a small gain, the June increase in the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) was the sixth in a row . The Mortgage Bankers Assoc...
Tue, Jul 9 2019, 10:36 AM
The national delinquency rate declined by another 0.7 percent on an annual basis in April. Mortgage loans that were 30 or more days past due, includin...
Tue, Jul 9 2019, 9:21 AM
In the day just past, bonds began the week slowly and without much conviction. Friday's post-NFP weakness was essentially confirmed by the fact that ...
Tue, Jul 9 2019, 8:48 AM
I find it amusing when someone tells me, “The stock market is too risky for me. I have my money with some investment gal/guy.” What do you think they ...
Mon, Jul 8 2019, 6:01 PM
Today was the story of a bond market that is considering a potential shift in momentum in response to a confluence of events. These include last Frid...
Mon, Jul 8 2019, 5:28 PM
Mortgage rates began the day in slightly lower territory compared to last Friday afternoon, but they'd risen noticeably from Wednesday to Friday. The ...
Mon, Jul 8 2019, 3:38 PM
Consumers are beginning to buy into the idea that mortgage rates might go down, at least according to responses to the June National Housing Survey (N...
Mon, Jul 8 2019, 9:13 AM
In the week just past, bonds rallied hard into the Independence Day holiday. 10yr yields hit fresh multi-year lows before getting slammed by a jobs r...
Mon, Jul 8 2019, 8:55 AM
Welcome to “Work from Bed Day” around the nation. Okay, I just made that up, but it sounds enticing. Perhaps it would lead to greater worker satisfact...
Fri, Jul 5 2019, 6:04 PM
If we went back to Monday morning and learned that today's NFP number would come in at 224k, any sane person would have guessed yields would be much h...
Fri, Jul 5 2019, 5:11 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher today following higher-than-expected job creation in a report from the Labor Department. The Employment Situation (aka "th...
Fri, Jul 5 2019, 9:47 AM
The IRS has only been with us since 1862, modern nationwide income tax since 1913. But, just like the gfee income “share” with Freddie and Fannie, and...
Fri, Jul 5 2019, 8:31 AM
On Wednesday, bond markets digested two of the week's most important economic reports in the from of ADP employment and ISM non-manufacturing. Appoin...
Wed, Jul 3 2019, 2:19 PM
Mortgage rates fell at a moderate pace today. As expected, the lenders who hadn't gotten around to improving during yesterday's bond market rally (str...
Wed, Jul 3 2019, 12:02 PM
Seven or eight years ago the home sales headline was the entry of big institutional investors into the single-family market. These investors, many of ...
Wed, Jul 3 2019, 9:05 AM
I was in Park City, Utah recently, and the real estate agents gave me an interesting statistic: it is believed that 80% of the land and buildings are ...
Wed, Jul 3 2019, 8:16 AM
Mortgage application activity during the week ended June 28 was largely unchanged from the week that preceded it. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MB...
Wed, Jul 3 2019, 8:15 AM
In the day just past, the bond market finally made its first move outside of the recent consolidation range--a series of lower highs and higher lows t...
Tue, Jul 2 2019, 4:55 PM
In the amusement park that is financial markets, each asset class has a few favorite rides. When the place is packed, it's tough for any given asset ...
Tue, Jul 2 2019, 3:33 PM
Mortgage rates moved down today by varying amounts depending on the lender. In some cases, lenders weren't offering much of an improvement over yester...
Tue, Jul 2 2019, 11:26 AM
The shrinking rate of home price increases that has headlined the price data from most sources for months may have ended, at least according to CoreLo...
Tue, Jul 2 2019, 10:10 AM
This weekend I helped my son change apartments in San Francisco, and all over were billboards for ZeroDown.com : “Smartest Way to Buy a Home.” And if ...
Tue, Jul 2 2019, 9:41 AM
In the day just past, bonds did an admirable job of fending off the implications of the weekend's G20 news (US/China reopening trade talks, etc). Whi...
Mon, Jul 1 2019, 6:07 PM
There was certainly some risk of volatility associated with the G20 summit over the weekend, even if no one expected it to produce any fundamental cha...
Mon, Jul 1 2019, 5:30 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher to start the new week, which is a pretty good outcome considering the underlying events. On Friday, we anticipated...
Mon, Jul 1 2019, 11:59 AM
Construction spending in May, dipping 0.8 percent compared to April's seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.304 trillion to $1.294 trillion. On an ann...
Mon, Jul 1 2019, 9:37 AM
In the week just past, bonds avoided a negative correction following the previous week's Fed-induced rally. There was plenty of back and forth, but i...
Mon, Jul 1 2019, 9:24 AM
May mortgage performance data indicates that the mortgage finance industry might consider shifting priorities for a while. Black Knight, in the curren...
Mon, Jul 1 2019, 9:12 AM
Huh? We’re in the 3rd quarter of 2019 already? To where did the first six months fly off? I am hearing from some lenders that solid April, May, and Ju...
Fri, Jun 28 2019, 3:01 PM
Bonds were perfectly unchanged to start the day after the smallest amount of overnight movement we've seen all week. This is a palpable reminder th...
Fri, Jun 28 2019, 12:59 PM
Mortgage rates enjoyed a pleasantly flat week despite some volatility in the underlying bond market. The day-to-day changes in Treasuries and Mortgage...
Fri, Jun 28 2019, 9:09 AM
VA lenders are talking about the “cap” being removed as the Department of Veterans Affairs can now back loans that exceed the conforming loan limit. P...
