Thu, Mar 15 2018, 4:19 PM
Mortgage rates held steady today as political headlines helped to offset some initial weakness in bond markets. When bonds weaken, rates tend to move ...
Thu, Mar 15 2018, 10:32 AM
Home builder confidence ebbed slightly in March, but according to the National Association of Home Builders, it remains in "strong territory." NAHB's ...
Thu, Mar 15 2018, 10:29 AM
Prior to the housing crisis, homeowners who defaulted on their mortgages faced tax consequences if their lender had to write off or write down any par...
Thu, Mar 15 2018, 9:41 AM
You may have noticed that, as of February 22nd, bonds haven't been experiencing the same sort of pain that characterized the first month and a half of...
Thu, Mar 15 2018, 9:16 AM
Rumors continue about companies going out of business, scaling back, or being sold. But let’s talk about progress in pushing forward transitional lice...
Wed, Mar 14 2018, 4:41 PM
We've seen plenty of instances of bond markets shrugging off clear suggestions in the economic data, but today wasn't one of them! Retail Sales and...
Wed, Mar 14 2018, 3:42 PM
Mortgage rates fell again today as several economic updates painted a slightly gloomier picture. In general, weaker economic data coincides with lower...
Wed, Mar 14 2018, 11:34 AM
Millennials are picking up the pace of moving into homeownership, but the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) says not all are finding a way. Its ...
Wed, Mar 14 2018, 9:52 AM
The first month and a half of 2018 was fairly brutal for bond markets. Metaphorically speaking, it was like retreating from their home across a field...
Wed, Mar 14 2018, 9:15 AM
As this week marks the 10 year anniversary of JPM Chase taking over Bear Stearns, the residential lending industry is rife with rumors about companies...
Wed, Mar 14 2018, 8:39 AM
Purchase mortgage applications held their ground for the third consecutive week, pushing the Mortgage Banker Association's Market Composite Index a bi...
Tue, Mar 13 2018, 4:56 PM
Bond markets moved to their best levels in more than a week on a combination of tame inflation data and Trump's unexpected announcement of Rex Till...
Tue, Mar 13 2018, 4:15 PM
Mortgage rates fell today following a tame read on inflation as well as the announcement of Rex Tillerson's departure from the White House. The Consum...
Tue, Mar 13 2018, 11:04 AM
New home sales are projected to have increased again in February. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that based on its Builder Applications S...
Tue, Mar 13 2018, 9:12 AM
As I head to head to Chicago today to attend the Illinois MBA Conference , I won’t win any Brownie Points mentioning that a United Van Lines National ...
Tue, Mar 13 2018, 8:30 AM
Since at least the middle of 2017, the Consumer Price Index has been in the driver's seat as far as economic data that matters to bonds. This likely ...
Mon, Mar 12 2018, 5:23 PM
Bond markets were slightly weaker to start the session, but soon found some support from a European bond market rally. Even after the European close...
Mon, Mar 12 2018, 4:44 PM
Mortgage rates spent the entirety of last week at the same levels based on end-of-day rates sheets from the average lender. That was a tremendously un...
Mon, Mar 12 2018, 10:29 AM
The Senate looks set to pass Senate Bill 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which seeks to undo some of the pr...
Mon, Mar 12 2018, 9:34 AM
Thanks to February's lower day count throwing off the normal cadence of Treasury auctions, bond markets will have to take down 3 auctions in the first...
Mon, Mar 12 2018, 9:11 AM
Rates have gone up, refi volumes are dropping, and LOs are having plenty of discussions with potential borrowers about “rent vs. buy.” SmartAsset has ...
Fri, Mar 9 2018, 3:53 PM
Mortgage rates must really like being where they are right now, because they've been at roughly the same levels for the past 5 days! Not only is this ...
Fri, Mar 9 2018, 9:50 AM
CoreLogic has been watching for signs of overvalued markets for some time. The company and its lead analysts Frank Nothaft, Molly Boesel, and Sam Khat...
Fri, Mar 9 2018, 9:15 AM
Let’s end the week with a non-mortgage related note about nature. You Tube has a live webcam a live webcam in the San Francisco Presidio of a Red-Tail...
Fri, Mar 9 2018, 8:29 AM
Beliefs, expectations, and assertions can be tricky business if they're not backed up by hard data. No other economic report brings as many armchair ...
Thu, Mar 8 2018, 6:35 PM
The ECB released a policy announcement this morning. They weren't expected to make any significant changes and indeed they made none. Well, to be ...
Thu, Mar 8 2018, 5:46 PM
Mortgage rates were generally unchanged for the 3rd day in a row today despite a fair amount of movement in underlying bond markets. Rates reacted to ...
Thu, Mar 8 2018, 11:29 AM
Lending standards tightened in February, especially for conforming and super-conforming (jumbo) loans. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its...
Thu, Mar 8 2018, 9:11 AM
In these days of fleeting texts, emails, and photos that last for one look, it is nice to think that some things last. News broke that a record-breaki...
Thu, Mar 8 2018, 9:11 AM
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi's press conference (which follows the scheduled ECB policy announcement) could set the tone for bon...
Wed, Mar 7 2018, 4:41 PM
The resignation of White House Economic Advisor Gary Cohn thew markets a curveball when it was announced after the close of business yesterday. Cur...
Wed, Mar 7 2018, 3:49 PM
Mortgage rates stayed fairly close to yesterday's levels as underlying bond markets experienced some volatility throughout the course of the day. If m...
Wed, Mar 7 2018, 12:11 PM
Americans may be growing a bit pessimistic about housing, that came through loud and clear in the results of Fannie Mae's February edition of the Nati...
Wed, Mar 7 2018, 10:40 AM
Opposition to the recently announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports is beginning to emerge from the construction industry. President Donald J. ...
Wed, Mar 7 2018, 9:48 AM
At the close of business yesterday, the bond market outlook was decidedly negative. We're not talking about a colossal shift in sentiment, mind you, ...
Wed, Mar 7 2018, 9:11 AM
How about this note I received from the owner of a non-bank lender in the Northeast. “Rob, in your conversations with CEOs, is anyone talking about cu...
Wed, Mar 7 2018, 8:43 AM
The strong performance of purchase mortgage applications during the week ended February 23 didn't last long, and overall mortgage activity barely stay...
Tue, Mar 6 2018, 6:59 PM
It may or may not actually be shocking to learn that White House economic advisor Cohn has resigned , but it certainly wasn't a given. Cohn had prev...
Tue, Mar 6 2018, 5:59 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher again today, but not because of anything that happened today. Rather, it was yesterday's bond market weakness that did the...
Tue, Mar 6 2018, 9:25 AM
Lenders appear to be easing the way for lending in areas crucial to the home construction industry. The National Association of Homebuilders said its ...
Tue, Mar 6 2018, 9:19 AM
If you've ever invested or even thought about investing, you likely have a magic number when it comes to the rate of return that would motivate you to...
Tue, Mar 6 2018, 9:10 AM
“Rob, in past decades, near the end of every credit cycle, lenders seem to head back down the credit score scale and seem to be more aggressive with u...
Mon, Mar 5 2018, 5:48 PM
Bonds were moderately stronger in the overnight session thanks to European political uncertainty, among other things. One of those "other things" c...
Mon, Mar 5 2018, 4:26 PM
Mortgage rates ended higher today, after financial markets reacted to developments in last week's tariff-related news. Last Thursday, stock prices and...
Mon, Mar 5 2018, 11:16 AM
The refinance pool, homeowners who could benefit from exchanging their old first mortgage lien for a new one, is shrinking fast . Black Knight says, i...
Mon, Mar 5 2018, 9:22 AM
The good news is that bond markets improved--albeit microscopically--during each of the past 3 weeks. That's significant because before that 3-week...
Mon, Mar 5 2018, 9:13 AM
The Senate is set to vote this week on a bill by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, that would revise several sections of the Dodd-Frank Act . Among the bill's...
Fri, Mar 2 2018, 7:43 PM
If only it were October! The costume contest at the annual bond trader Halloween bash would be easy to win with that "2.79%" costume in the back of...
Fri, Mar 2 2018, 7:07 PM
Mortgage rates snapped back toward recent highs today. Part of this has to do with how well rates have done over the past 3 weeks. Granted, rates have...
Fri, Mar 2 2018, 12:11 PM
Freddie Mac looked at the possible effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 in an earlier edition of its Outlook economic forecast. This month it ...
