Mon, Apr 1 2019, 11:25 AM
Total construction spending rose in February however the increase was almost totally in the publicly funded sector. The Census Bureau said total spend...
Mon, Apr 1 2019, 9:41 AM
In terms of directional movement, things have been great for bond markets since early November 2018. Much of that greatness, however, felt more like ...
Mon, Apr 1 2019, 9:09 AM
(Yes, here is today’s actual commentary.) It is well known among loan officers that real estate agents don’t know their client’s credit situation befo...
Mon, Apr 1 2019, 8:28 AM
There are two strong headlines in Black Knight's new Mortgage Monitor . One is that the pool of homeowners for whom a refinance makes sense increased ...
Fri, Mar 29 2019, 3:54 PM
Bonds began the day in weaker territory, threatening to confirm a 2 day move that ends March's impressive run. Weakness remained intact all day but b...
Fri, Mar 29 2019, 3:18 PM
Mortgage rates were higher again today, making this the first confirmed bounce since beginning their stellar run last week. To be clear, rates have be...
Fri, Mar 29 2019, 12:59 PM
With the third set of new home sales data in 21 days it seems the Census Bureau has caught up from the partial government shutdown. Whether because of...
Fri, Mar 29 2019, 10:36 AM
While the notion that "all good things come to an end" is the subject of philosophical debate, it's a safe bet that all awesome bond rallies will even...
Fri, Mar 29 2019, 9:16 AM
Wells Fargo’s continuing saga continues with the resignation of its CEO Tim Sloan over opening accounts without customer’s permission. “Fortunately” t...
Fri, Mar 29 2019, 8:20 AM
As the Senate Banking Committee wound up its second day of hearings on Chairman Mike Crapo's (R-ID) outline for housing finance reform the White House...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 6:01 PM
It's very easy to fall into the trap of allowing gains or losses to dictate one's market sentiment on any given day. For instance, am I more likely to...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 4:25 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher by a measurable amount today--the first time they've done such a thing in nearly a month! Even after the modest increase, ...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 12:00 PM
Facebook, which has been accused recently of everything short of disappearing Jimmy Hoffa, is in more hot water. The U.S. Department of Housing and Ur...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 11:06 AM
Pending home sales fell again in February. The National Association of Realtors® said its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) declined by 1.0 percent comp...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 9:40 AM
It's no secret that bonds have rallied impressively in March. The bigger and faster a rally is, the more we may worry about the risk of a bounce. To...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 9:02 AM
Be careful with your advertising! HUD announced today that it is charging Facebook with violating the Fair Housing Act by encouraging, enabling, and c...
Thu, Mar 28 2019, 8:37 AM
Does the entire housing market need fixing? Senator Mike Crapo thinks so, and he has a gargantuan reform proposal on the table to prove it (covered he...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 5:36 PM
The notion of contrarian indicators is pretty interesting when it comes to the bond market, at least when it comes to investor sentiment. I take pa...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 4:29 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower for the 6th straight day , bringing them very close to the best levels since late 2017. Perhaps more impressive (or telling...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 12:08 PM
The balance sheet turned red again for mortgage lenders who reported financial data for the fourth quarter to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBS). ...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 11:06 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 3.0 percent in February, growing from 1.2 percent ...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 9:57 AM
"Science" may not be exactly the right term, but let's look at the recent bond market gains under an objective microscope. In so doing, we will see t...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 9:42 AM
Despite finding programs to fit their borrowers being the emphasis for lenders, pricing and margins are a constant discussion topic. For lenders the d...
Wed, Mar 27 2019, 8:06 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) credited a strong start to the spring buying season for a big gain in mortgage applications during the week end...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 5:51 PM
All things being equal, today was a fine day for the bond market. Sure, 10yr yields ended the day 2bps higher than yesterday's latest levels, but in ...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 4:26 PM
Mortgage rates took the day to do just a little bit more of what they've been doing in fairly grand fashion for the past week: MOVE LOWER! When the go...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 2:43 PM
FHA is reversing an earlier decision to remove the rule requiring manual underwriting for mortgages with credit scores below 620 and a ratio of debt t...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 11:12 AM
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller indices and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) Housing Price Index paints two different pictures of the hous...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 10:10 AM
Residential construction numbers continued to see-saw in February. Housing starts were particularly disappointing after their stellar performance in J...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 10:09 AM
Quite a few talking heads and analysts referred to last Wednesday's post-Fed rally as 'overdone.' They pointed to Thursday's moderate weakness as evi...
Tue, Mar 26 2019, 8:59 AM
“Rob, are you hearing that the sudden increase in lock volume is from borrowers who had a lock with one lender moving to another lender?” Not yet, and...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 6:13 PM
There were no significant economic reports today and no obvious market-moving news headlines. Nevertheless, bonds went on yet another snowball rally ...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 5:20 PM
Mortgage rates continued deeper into long-term lows today as the underlying bond market experiences its most impressive rally of the year. In a rally,...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 9:39 AM
From a calendar standpoint, the most notable thing about the week ahead is that it's the final week of the month/quarter. This usually means we'll ...
Mon, Mar 25 2019, 8:56 AM
Sometimes you’re stuck in the middle . (Thanks to Myrtle for that one.) Right now, it seems, rates are done being stuck in the middle and have edged b...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 5:30 PM
At the end of last week, the average top-tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate quote was 4.375%. As of today, the exact same scenario would be at 4.125%--a qu...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 12:41 PM
Like virtually all the experts, including those at the Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac's economists have reduced their expectations for economic growth ....
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 11:03 AM
Existing home sales took off like a rocket in February, with strong results in three of the four major regions. The National Association of Realtors® ...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 10:59 AM
Sometimes a plan comes together and sometimes an educated guess pans out. While it's never safe to plan on any future reality (other than "uncertai...
Fri, Mar 22 2019, 8:47 AM
Congrats to former President Jimmy Carter. As of today he is no longer just the oldest living U.S. president, but now is the longest-living in the nat...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 6:23 PM
Apparently it took the 9:30am NYSE opening bell ringer for stocks to truly realize what just happened. The Fed announcement on Wednesday was their wa...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 5:13 PM
Granted, we're not back to the sub-4% mortgage rates that dominated much of the past 8 years, but breaking into the high 3% range is a valid considera...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:47 AM
Ellie Mae's Origination Insight Report for February is headlined by both a decrease in closing times and, more significantly, further declines in mort...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:33 AM
Want a growth industry? How about aging? PulteGroup's Del Webb 55+ brand will build 10 new Del Webb communities , planned to open over the next 18 mon...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:27 AM
In case you missed yesterday, it was a doozy. Here are a few links that would help you get caught up:
Here's Why Bonds Loved The Fed (And It's ...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 10:03 AM
Mortgage performance, usually at its best in February and March, because it is assumed that tax refunds allow people to catch up on financial obligati...
Thu, Mar 21 2019, 8:11 AM
Consumer attitudes about buying a home seem to be slowly swinging back to positive . The National Association of Realtors ® , in its Housing Opportuni...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 6:00 PM
You may see news stories about the Fed shifting its rate hike outlook (conveyed in a dot plot often referred to as "the dots") to "zero hikes in 2019,...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 5:30 PM
Mortgage rates broke a week-long streak of silence today following a policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. Even before today's Fed announcemen...
Wed, Mar 20 2019, 2:09 PM
Below are the differences in the first paragraph of the current Fed statement as compared to the previous version from January 30th, 2019. There were...
