Wed, Jun 28 2017, 9:31 AM
Transitional licensing, where a bank LO can move to being a non-depository LO and still can originate? Yup.Contact your rep in Congress to support it ...
Wed, Jun 28 2017, 9:19 AM
Seemingly overnight (in fact, it WAS overnight yesterday), the notion of a European taper tantrum burst on the scene following comments from ECB Pre...
Wed, Jun 28 2017, 8:47 AM
Applications for mortgages plunged during the week ended June 23, even as interest rates remained relatively stable. The Mortgage Bankers Association ...
Tue, Jun 27 2017, 4:59 PM
Bond markets got sucker-punched today. Traders were on the lookout for Yellen's comments at a conference in London in the afternoon. Instead it wa...
Tue, Jun 27 2017, 3:50 PM
Mortgage rates saw their biggest bounce higher in more than a week today as domestic bond markets (which dictate rates) followed a much bigger move in...
Tue, Jun 27 2017, 1:59 PM
Bloomberg is reporting there appears to be yet another plan in the long running reality show featuring the government sponsored enterprises or GSEs. F...
Tue, Jun 27 2017, 10:27 AM
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for April set a record high , on a non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) basis for the fifth consecut...
Tue, Jun 27 2017, 9:31 AM
Worries about Europe’s economies have, in most part, subsided. But rumors swirl regarding The Land of Lincoln. Illinois, it seems, isn't doing too wel...
Tue, Jun 27 2017, 9:26 AM
Members of the FOMC are constantly giving speeches and making appearances at various events. The only exception would be the "blackout period" where ...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 5:35 PM
Despite a super narrow range throughout the day, last Friday saw 10yr yields close at the 2nd best levels of the year. With that in mind, it wouldn'...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 4:21 PM
Mortgage rates were steady to slightly lower today, depending on the lender. Underlying financial markets continue moving in a narrow range--something...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 12:25 PM
Is there relief in sight for those oft cited, much maligned tight housing inventories? The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) sees a glimmer of h...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 11:23 AM
As home buying affordability has declined, it has indirectly moved lenders' apparent willingness to loosen credit standards in the opposite direction....
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 10:11 AM
The third major home price indicator of the month was released on Monday and again there was no indication that the rate of appreciation is slowing . ...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 10:08 AM
On November 30, 2016 Freddie Mac's economists issued their monthly Outlook which, in light of the sudden surge in interest rates earlier that month, w...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 10:06 AM
“Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive but what they conceal is vital.” We’re always watching home sales & construction – but it...
Mon, Jun 26 2017, 9:37 AM
Whereas the previous week was generally devoid of significant economic data or market moving events, the current week is more of a contender. On the ...
Fri, Jun 23 2017, 5:32 PM
We've been watching the intraday trading ranges in bond markets to keep an eye on just how flat things have been in the wake of last Wednesday's big t...
Fri, Jun 23 2017, 4:59 PM
Weeks like this are the reason that some mortgage rate analysis is only done once a week. There haven't been any significant developments in financial...
Fri, Jun 23 2017, 2:09 PM
The final installment of a series of working papers produced by the University of Southern California (USC), in partnership with Fannie Mae, looks at ...
Fri, Jun 23 2017, 10:46 AM
The report on May new home sales, released this morning, paints a much brighter picture than last month's release of April data. In that report, the U...
Fri, Jun 23 2017, 10:13 AM
Rumors continue to swirl, this time about Orange County’s Americash. Yes, the drop in refi volume is showing, and even if you made it through the bad ...
Fri, Jun 23 2017, 8:59 AM
You've heard of "innocent until proven guilty." This week of trading in bond markets has been "flat and boring until proven volatile." For many, i...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 4:43 PM
Yesterday's recap went into some detail about the market phenomenon that can result in intense periods of sideways momentum (and trader apathy) duri...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 3:50 PM
Mortgage rates have been so little-changed in recent days that yesterday's coverage wouldn't need to be changed in order to apply perfectly today. Ind...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 9:38 AM
April data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) indicates that, once again, there was no moderation in the pace of home price increases . FH...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 9:18 AM
Prepayments, apparently spurred by the recent retreat in interest rates, soared in May. Black Knight Financial Services, in its "first look" at the mo...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 9:17 AM
Originations are increasingly tilted toward home purchase mortgages per the latest Origination Insight Report from Ellie Mae. The May data show the sh...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 8:58 AM
This week’s Sindeo's closure reminds lenders of the basic premise: if you didn't make money in 2016, what makes 2017 any different? Your competitors w...
Thu, Jun 22 2017, 8:53 AM
With the trading activity seen in the wake of last Wednesday's high-volume/high-movement day, it's clear that bond markets have been in a holding patt...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 4:50 PM
With the taper tantrum in 2013 and Brexit in 2016, two of our most recent examples of summertime bond trading have been pulled very far from historica...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 3:11 PM
Mortgage rates have been locked in an exceptionally narrow range for most of the month of June, but especially over the past 5 days. Given that mortga...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 10:22 AM
Existing home sales weren't expected to strengthen in May, in fact analysts were looking for a slight decline. Sales however did manage to recover fro...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 9:30 AM
Welcome to the first day of summer. Hey, I don’t where you’re going to be exactly two months from now, but on August 21, besides marking the anniversa...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 9:21 AM
The volume of applications for refinancing expanded for the third consecutive time during the week ended June 16. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MB...
Wed, Jun 21 2017, 9:17 AM
Here we are again with oil falling into new lows for the year and suddenly, it's the inspiration for everything according to most mainstream financial...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 4:54 PM
Today had no significant news or events on the calendar, thus leaving traders to watch other traders for cues. To some extent, several Fed speakers g...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates were steady to slightly lower today, with underlying bond markets essentially erasing the damage seen yesterday. This was neither here ...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 10:20 AM
New home purchase mortgages became a little riskier in the first quarter of 2017 per CoreLogic. The company said its Housing Credit Index (HCI), which...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 9:43 AM
Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David H. Stevens, has released a statement objecting to one of the three recommendations made this week...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 9:42 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Team hedged a few bets in its June economic summary. It laid out some wild cards while predicting that th...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 9:28 AM
“People who don’t give up attract other people’s attention.” As do people whose humor is stuck in 4th grade – like mine usually is. For example . Reve...
Tue, Jun 20 2017, 9:08 AM
The week continues to offer little by way of scheduled economic data/events to stir the pot, thus leaving us to observe the underlying biases among tr...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 5:06 PM
Right out of the gate this morning, NY Fed President William Dudley set a rather negative tone for bond markets with several comments that essentially...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 4:17 PM
Mortgage rates were mostly flat again today, despite bond market weakness (lower bond prices generally mean higher rates). Between MBS (the mortgage-b...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 10:58 AM
In some areas, they are called "scrape-offs," but the usual term is tear-down ; demolishing an existing home to build a new one in its place. Tear-dow...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 9:40 AM
The past 3 trading sessions marked 3 of the 5 lowest closes for 10yr yields in 2017. Friday's strength did a nice job of pushing back against a poten...
Mon, Jun 19 2017, 8:59 AM
Winston Churchill said that, “If the present tries to sit in judgement on the past, it will lose the future.” No argument there in mortgage banking. U...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 5:04 PM
Today was destined to be a sideways grind at slightly weaker levels for bond markets. This would have extended the theme that had been in place sin...
Fri, Jun 16 2017, 4:37 PM
Mortgage rates were flat today, after weaker-than-expected construction data prompted a positive bounce for bond markets. In general, bonds (which dic...
