Fri, Feb 16 2018, 9:59 AM
Residential construction got off to a strong start in January, with sizable increases in both permits and housing starts and only a slight downturn in...
Fri, Feb 16 2018, 9:11 AM
Mortgage rates are greatly influenced by supply and demand. And if both the U.S. government and individuals need to borrow money, the government usual...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 4:14 PM
At face value, today was great! Bonds overlooked all of the morning's economic data (no surprise) and made modest gains that were subsequently held...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 3:41 PM
Mortgage rates were roughly unchanged today. Some lenders even offered improved rates in the afternoon as underlying bond markets managed to hold mode...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 2:04 PM
While the prospect of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needing taxpayer money conjures up images of a failing mortgage market requiring a government bailout...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 10:37 AM
New home builders are looking ahead, and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says this optimism was reflected in its Housing Market Index...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 10:33 AM
Although it has been declared by many in Congress as "dead on arrival" the Trump Administration's proposed 2019 budget appears more predicated on anot...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 10:10 AM
I've mentioned the comparisons between 2013 and the current selling trend several times recently. Most of those have been in response to journalists ...
Thu, Feb 15 2018, 9:08 AM
If you claim that many areas of the nation have few houses for sale, no one will disagree. (“Rob, when are those big funds that own tens of thousands ...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 6:28 PM
Old people who've been endlessly frustrated by the fact that no one seemed to be concerned about inflation for the past 6 or 7 years are finally havin...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 5:37 PM
Mortgage rates surged higher today, moving easily to new 4-year highs. Today's average conventional 30yr fixed rate is roughly one eighth of a percent...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 12:19 PM
Is homeownership still the American Dream? Should it be? An article published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives argues while the former has long...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 9:33 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is forecasting a sizable jump in new home sales in January. Based on responses to its Builder Application Surve...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 9:19 AM
Two men are sitting in a bar when Mark Zuckerberg walks in. One of the men says to his friend, “This is awesome! On average, everyone in this bar is w...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 9:10 AM
Purchase mortgage applications, after starting out strong at the beginning of the year, stalled for the third straight time last week, bringing overal...
Wed, Feb 14 2018, 8:32 AM
CPI has been a big deal since last May. That's when more than a year of higher, more stable Core CPI first began slipping under 2.0%. Bond markets r...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 4:29 PM
Today was "nice" in the highly charged sense of the word where it's meant to convey a certain acceptability and a certain absence of excellence . ...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 3:55 PM
Mortgage rates began the day fairly well in line with the past 2 days. While it's nice to see some stability in this environment, it's not so nice tha...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 11:42 AM
While home price increases softened slightly in the fourth quarter of last year, the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said, an uptick in existi...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 10:26 AM
A certain reality of the recent rate spike needs to be revisited based on conversations I've had with a few clients. Thankfully, it's pretty simple: ...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 9:53 AM
Last fall's hurricanes again dominate the CoreLogic November Loan Performance Insights Report, although the nature of the storms' influence has change...
Tue, Feb 13 2018, 9:13 AM
Every lender has seen rates move higher, and nearly every lender has seen the inventory of homes for sale decline. With rates moving higher, which sho...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 4:52 PM
Caveat 1: bond yields hit the highest intraday levels in more than 4 years before the open.
Caveat 2: bond yields hit the highest intraday levels...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 4:33 PM
In 2011, when Congress and the Obama Administration wanted to give taxpayers a temporary 2.0 percentage point reduction in payroll (FICA and Medicare)...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 3:49 PM
Mortgage rates were generally in line with Friday's latest levels today. Unfortunately, those happened to be the highest in more than 4 years . Rates ...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 9:41 AM
2018 has seen the most unpleasant start to a new year since 2009 as far as bond markets are concerned. The big sell-off in 2009 is easier to reconci...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 9:18 AM
Last year Congress failed to pass a sweeping bill repealing much of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act. It appear...
Mon, Feb 12 2018, 9:11 AM
People are usually surprised to learn there are more boating licenses issued in Wyoming then in Hawai’i. Arizona and flooding? CoreLogic research find...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 9:18 PM
Mortgage rates experienced some ups and downs this week (mostly ups), but ultimately weren't able to capitalize on a few attempts to move lower. Monda...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 9:14 PM
I'm Matt, but I'll be frank with you for a moment. I don't like the way this chart looks.
If your mind's eye is anything like mine, A) you ne...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 11:29 AM
A small group of VA approved issuers have been warned that the speed at which their loans are being prepaid makes it appear they are participating in ...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 9:36 AM
The short answer is "to 10yr yields below 2.66% and ideally below 2.49%." Those are the levels we'd need to see in order to suggest a more substanti...
Fri, Feb 9 2018, 9:14 AM
Here’s a riddle for tonight’s Happy Hour for snowed-in Chicagoans: What do New Day Financial, Nations Lending Corp., Freedom Mortgage Corp, LoanDepot....
Thu, Feb 8 2018, 5:42 PM
Everyone likes an intellectual bully, right? Well, not really, but everyone likes the person that knows what's up and isn't shy about articulating fa...
Thu, Feb 8 2018, 5:22 PM
Mortgage rates continued higher today, bringing the average 30yr fixed rate to another new multi-year high. That said, rates may vary quite a bit from...
Thu, Feb 8 2018, 12:27 PM
The National Delinquency Survey (NDS), a quarterly measure of mortgage performance from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), found delinquencies in...
Thu, Feb 8 2018, 9:23 AM
It's too easy and too common for experts and casual observers alike to discuss bond markets through the lens of inflation. It's easy and common bec...
Thu, Feb 8 2018, 9:13 AM
People are usually surprised to learn there are more boating licenses issued in Wyoming then in Hawai’i. Arizona and flooding? CoreLogic research find...
Wed, Feb 7 2018, 4:34 PM
In the past or under different circumstances, a day like yesterday might not have been enough for me to write a headline like "nice while it lasted." ...
Wed, Feb 7 2018, 3:40 PM
Mortgage rates surged higher today, with most lenders ending up back in line with the 4-year highs seen on Friday afternoon. At issue--among other thi...
Wed, Feb 7 2018, 12:02 PM
Five of the six components that make up Fannie Mae's Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) rose in January, pushing the index to an all-time high . HPS...
Wed, Feb 7 2018, 9:10 AM
Amazon Go opened its doors in Seattle as the first digital grocery store without any cashiers. (One initially simply downloads an app to use the digit...
Wed, Feb 7 2018, 9:05 AM
In a world where race horses are named after bond market movements, there has been some easy betting in the past two months. The winners circle has b...
Wed, Feb 7 2018, 8:36 AM
Mortgage activity increased slightly during the week ended February 1. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says its Market Composite index, a measu...
Tue, Feb 6 2018, 5:02 PM
Yesterday's massive stock market rout was enough to coax reluctant bond yields to the lowest levels since the end of January. Given that the end of J...
Tue, Feb 6 2018, 4:39 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed today, with most lenders offering slightly better terms this morning compared to yesterday's mid-day levels. Things took a t...
Tue, Feb 6 2018, 11:48 AM
Mortgage credit availability increased significantly in January. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) r...
Tue, Feb 6 2018, 10:21 AM
CoreLogic's Home Price Index (HPI) finished up 2017 a little lower than when the year started but showing some additional slowing from later in the ye...
Tue, Feb 6 2018, 9:12 AM
As all the pre-printed “Patriots: 2018 Super Bowl Champions” t-shirts are being shipped off for donation to 3rd world countries (yes, that is what hap...
Tue, Feb 6 2018, 8:54 AM
Overnight volume in bond markets is about as high as I've ever seen it . In general, we use a benchmark of 1 million 10yr futures contracts as the b...
