Fri, Nov 23 2018, 10:08 AM
The share of loans that were for refinancing and those where borrowers opted for adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) both ticked up in October , with the...
Fri, Nov 23 2018, 9:11 AM
I could go on and on about why it makes so very little sense for today to be a business day and for Thursday to be the official Thanksgiving holiday...
Fri, Nov 23 2018, 8:53 AM
"Why is it that when the CDC warns us to not eat romaine lettuce, we take it as gospel. But when the CDC tells us that vaccines save lives, we think t...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 5:46 PM
Bond markets have a habit of getting progressively more quiet heading into Thanksgiving. It's not the kind of thing you should bank on from a strat...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 4:55 PM
Mortgage rates were almost perfectly flat today, and have been largely unchanged since last Friday. If you were forced to predict such a thing at the ...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 11:55 AM
Existing home sales broke their extended losing streak in October, increasing 1.4 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.22 ...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 9:22 AM
I used to be annoyed by the word "consolidation." It was on a short-list of market jargon words that were overused and possibly nebulous. But over t...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 8:56 AM
Do you think non-QM is going to “save your bacon?” After a non-exhaustive survey, it appears that non-QM, aka non-Agency, aka expanded credit, is runn...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 8:25 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Group (ESR) upped their projection for economic growth slightly, to 3.1 percent this year , but say housi...
Wed, Nov 21 2018, 8:07 AM
Mortgage rates pulled back slightly during the week ended November 16, but that did little to move mortgage applications higher. The Mortgage Bankers ...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 6:24 PM
We've had a pretty good run recently where bond yields have been willing to at least move in the same direction at the same time during sharper stock ...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 5:21 PM
Mortgage rates managed to maintain their lowest levels in more than a month yet again today. All this despite modest losses in underlying bond markets...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 10:50 AM
October was another mixed but largely mediocre month for residential construction . Permits were lower both on a monthly and an annual basis, while ho...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 9:36 AM
Despite a fairly perfect bounce yesterday, the trend-lines acting as floors in stocks and bonds have given way overnight, even if only in somewhat u...
Tue, Nov 20 2018, 9:04 AM
Here are some tech developments as we seem to be moving closer to machines running our lives, or a loan being approved instantly by reading a fingerpr...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 6:04 PM
Builder Confidence doesn't typically move markets, but today it did. For the past several month's, the NAHB's Housing Market Index (generally consider...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 5:17 PM
Freddie Mac has announced a new collaboration with a handful of rural non-profits to expand sweat equity opportunities to homeowners in several rural ...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 4:55 PM
Mortgage rates unexpectedly dropped to their lowest levels in more than a month as of last Friday. That assertion is at odds with quite a few media re...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 10:32 AM
Builder confidence took a steep dive this month, reflecting increasing news of slowing home sales and rising concerns over affordability. The National...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 9:18 AM
Thanksgiving means many things to many people: family time, a half day of work Wednesday, or a four-day weekend. To the staff and students of Johns Ho...
Mon, Nov 19 2018, 9:12 AM
Happy Thanksgiving week. These can go a few different ways for bond markets with 2 main varieties standing out. Both varieties are the product of il...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 7:24 PM
We haven't heard much out of new Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida since he accepted the position, but what we heard today was good. Well, at least the ...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 6:19 PM
Mortgage rates hit their lowest levels of THE month yesterday, and the lowest levels in A month today. It's a bit of a technicality, really. As of yes...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 12:16 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) notes that applications for the purchase of new homes declined by 2.1 percent in October compared to the same m...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 10:22 AM
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) said on Thursday that its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMI Fund) exceeded its congressionally mandated min...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 9:24 AM
Because November 1st was a Thursday, we'll be treated to the earliest possible iteration of Thanksgiving. It's next week, by the way! Why are we talki...
Fri, Nov 16 2018, 8:59 AM
Why is the housing market sluggish despite a solid U.S. economy, solid demographics, and pent-up demand? Those don’t matter if prices are out of reach...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 6:00 PM
Remember the middle of 2016 when rates managed to make it all the way back in line with all-time lows despite having almost no justification in terms ...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 5:27 PM
Fannie Mae has expanded the menu of post-disaster services it is offering to its borrowers. The new services are in addition to the up to 12 months of...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 5:11 PM
Mortgage rates hit their lowest levels of the month today! Sure, that's only 10 business days for the mortgage world, but we'll take every little vict...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 12:10 PM
It ain't going to get any easier... The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) tells us these cheery words encapsulate the attitude of responden...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 9:30 AM
Ah Brexit... You thought you'd heard the last of it back in 2016? No such luck. Actually, it is a bit lucky to be hearing about it, at least as far...
Thu, Nov 15 2018, 9:01 AM
With only week until Thanksgiving there’s a lot going on – every one of these stats impacts lenders. CoreLogic tells us that there are 48,390 homes at...
Wed, Nov 14 2018, 4:58 PM
The narrative has grown (remained?) the same for bonds lately. If stocks are losing ground, then it's time to rally . If stocks are stabilizing or ...
Wed, Nov 14 2018, 4:18 PM
Mortgage rates began the day in roughly unchanged territory. Some lenders were microscopically stronger or weaker compared to yesterday, but not enoug...
Wed, Nov 14 2018, 9:39 AM
While reams of research have been done on why members of the Millennial generation are less likely to own a home compared to their baby boomer and Gen...
Wed, Nov 14 2018, 8:28 AM
Bonds are actively trying to decide who they are and what they want to do with their lives. Will they be barometers of economic growth and inflation?...
Wed, Nov 14 2018, 8:08 AM
Mortgage application activity continued to shrink during the week ended November 9. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composite Index, ...
Tue, Nov 13 2018, 4:51 PM
CPI (the Consumer Price Index) has been the most relevant economic report on the horizon since the balmy NFP report from 2 weeks back. Reason being...
Tue, Nov 13 2018, 4:25 PM
Mortgage rates improved by what could only be described as a token amount today. In other words, we're not talking about any major changes. In fact, m...
Tue, Nov 13 2018, 11:17 AM
It may be that California, where home prices have exploded over the last few years, has jumped the shark when it comes to affordability. CoreLogic's A...
Tue, Nov 13 2018, 9:46 AM
People vote with their feet. Some population movements are dramatic and garner headlines around the world, others not so much. “About 130,000 more res...
Tue, Nov 13 2018, 9:23 AM
As of last Thursday, it didn't look like traders were much interested in hearing arguments in favor of bonds. Then, an unexpectedly healthy little ...
Fri, Nov 9 2018, 6:26 PM
Interesting day today... It began with a decent overnight rally, mostly led by European bond markets. The first big speed-bump came at 8:30am with ...
Fri, Nov 9 2018, 5:45 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed today, depending on the lender. Most lenders began the day in slightly worse shape compared to yesterday. Bond markets impro...
Fri, Nov 9 2018, 10:27 AM
The ongoing improvement in mortgage performance hit a slight snag in the third quarter of 2018, one that appears to be disaster related. The Mortgage ...
Fri, Nov 9 2018, 9:20 AM
Between the mid-term elections earlier this week and the simple tradeflow move following the Fed yesterday, bond markets have had their chance to make...
Fri, Nov 9 2018, 8:58 AM
Whether bond loans (we all know how management loves those), non-QM, reverse mortgages, or high loan to values, originators everywhere are working har...
Thu, Nov 8 2018, 5:02 PM
It's hard not to give the Fed a wide berth as the biggest potential market mover on any given Fed day. Today was a Fed day! We talked about the ou...
Thu, Nov 8 2018, 4:36 PM
Mortgage rates moved back up today, leaving them right in line with the highest levels of the week. These also happen to be the highest levels since e...
