Wed, May 24 2017, 8:43 AM
Trends in New Home Sales "Pending" Home Sales, "Existing" Home Sales, and "New" Home Sales - take your pick. They all show something slightly differen...
Wed, May 24 2017, 8:29 AM
While Black Knight Financial Services maintains it was a function of seasonality, mortgage delinquencies increased in April by the largest percentage ...
Wed, May 24 2017, 8:24 AM
Refinancing shored up the Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index during the week ended May 19. While purchase mortgages slowed , the Co...
Tue, May 23 2017, 4:21 PM
Much like the week before last, we're seeing an abundance of new "supply" hitting the bond market. This comes both in the form of the scheduled Tre...
Tue, May 23 2017, 3:54 PM
Mortgage rates began the day in decent shape with the average lender roughly unchanged versus yesterday. As the day progressed, bond markets (which di...
Tue, May 23 2017, 3:53 PM
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its proposed 2018 budget on Tuesday, saying it will continue to provide rental ass...
Tue, May 23 2017, 1:33 PM
Ask anyone house hunting this spring, and they'll tell you there are far too few homes for sale. But, really, it's the price tags of the homes for sal...
Tue, May 23 2017, 10:08 AM
Sales of newly constructed homes lost momentum in April, reversing three straight months of gains. The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and...
Tue, May 23 2017, 10:01 AM
I do my best to group updates to create a narrative that is more "user friendly" than to just throw news out there. But some updates don't fit into co...
Tue, May 23 2017, 9:45 AM
Although yields have risen modestly over the past 3 trading session, they've done so from the best levels in more than 7 months. If we take a few ste...
Mon, May 22 2017, 9:32 AM
Last week was characterized by one big day of volume and volatility surrounding the apparently scandalous and sensational political headlines. By now...
Mon, May 22 2017, 8:53 AM
I recently heard a CEO say, “I am fine competing on product, price, and service. But we shouldn’t have to compete on subjective interpretations of rul...
Mon, May 22 2017, 5:08 PM
Today was super slow for bond markets with 10yr yields holding under the same ceiling that was in place on Friday (2.25+). At the same time, the lo...
Mon, May 22 2017, 4:39 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher for the 3rd straight day, continuing a modest bounce back from the year's lowest rates last Wednesday. In a nutshe...
Fri, May 19 2017, 9:33 AM
For me this week included time in Salt Lake City, Columbus, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Raleigh. (The mood is good as individuals continue to share ...
Fri, May 19 2017, 9:11 AM
If bonds hadn't undergone their highest volume move of the year on Wednesday and Thursday, we would have expected this week to be relatively dead in...
Fri, May 19 2017, 8:46 AM
The status of the GSE's (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), as well as the topic of housing finance reform continue to be "hot," according to Melvin L. Watt...
Fri, May 19 2017, 3:00 PM
Mortgage rates continued higher for the 2nd straight day after hitting the lowest levels in more than 7 months earlier this week. Wednesday's big move...
Thu, May 18 2017, 11:45 AM
Conventional wisdom, the lending version, holds that refinance loans are inherently less risky than purchase loans, but a recent analysis from the Urb...
Thu, May 18 2017, 11:06 AM
The average period necessary to close a mortgage shortened again in April, dwindling by another day from the March timeline to 42 days . This was the ...
Thu, May 18 2017, 10:57 AM
This may, or may not be a cause for celebration. The New York Federal Reserve Bank, using credit data from Equifax, reports that Americans are now bac...
Thu, May 18 2017, 9:57 AM
Imagine being able to keep the money you earn!? Per Mr. Mel Watt, Fannie & Freddie might have to keep their profits to avoid rescue . Mr. Watt, who ha...
Thu, May 18 2017, 9:13 AM
I can't emphasize this enough: when bond markets have a day like they had yesterday, it's often followed shortly thereafter by a correction. In the c...
Thu, May 18 2017, 7:03 PM
It could have been a lot worse! That's a great theme for today's bond market action. Yesterday was the kind of rally where traders buy bonds first a...
Thu, May 18 2017, 6:29 PM
Financial markets are still reeling from political headlines that first began circulating on Tuesday afternoon. While stock markets made a reasonable ...
Wed, May 17 2017, 9:53 AM
The Home Affordable Refinance Program or HARP may be in its waning days, but is still being used by underwater homeowners . The Federal Housing Financ...
Wed, May 17 2017, 9:40 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research Team had as a headline for its May forecast, It's Déjà Vu All Over (and Over) Again. Déjà vu indeed, as f...
Wed, May 17 2017, 9:01 AM
I hate politics and talking about political issues with anyone, ever, unless they have a clear and specific impact on bond markets. That was the case...
Wed, May 17 2017, 8:51 AM
A Bank Director survey of bank directors, execs, and HR officers finds the top compensation challenges last year were, in order, tying compensation to...
Wed, May 17 2017, 8:38 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said today that mortgage applications were down across the board during the week ended May 12, with refinancing...
Wed, May 17 2017, 5:32 PM
Today will either go down as a game-changing rally in the course of bond traders' decision making process for 2017, or as an epic head-fake that p...
Wed, May 17 2017, 5:06 PM
Mortgage rates surged significantly lower today, as a part of a broad-based market movement following a political scandal that began taking shape yest...
Tue, May 16 2017, 9:18 AM
In compensation news, Merrill Lynch's wealth management unit will discontinue signing bonuses for experienced brokers beginning June 1, instead focusi...
Tue, May 16 2017, 9:08 AM
All three residential construction measures for April were lower than those in March. The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Develo...
Tue, May 16 2017, 9:06 AM
I'll be one of the first to tell you that traditional concept of stock prices moving in the same direction in bond yields breaks down when viewing lon...
Tue, May 16 2017, 8:37 PM
The week began in slow fashion yesterday both in terms of volume and volatility. That largely remained the case in the bigger picture today, despite...
Tue, May 16 2017, 2:50 PM
Compared to yesterday, mortgage rates are either a little bit higher or lower depending on the lender at the moment. On average, they've inched just p...
Mon, May 15 2017, 11:17 AM
Applications for new home purchase mortgages fell by 19.4 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis in April. The Mortgage Bankers Association said r...
Mon, May 15 2017, 10:33 AM
Builder confidence just hit its highest level since December , reaching the second highest level since well before the housing crisis began. The Natio...
Mon, May 15 2017, 9:22 AM
Last Friday represented a potential shift in the recent trend toward higher rates that began in mid-April. 10yr yields (which we track as the best ...
Mon, May 15 2017, 8:56 AM
Economists, like royal children are not punished for their errors. Data revision can be a career strategy for some, and certainly some companies wish ...
Mon, May 15 2017, 6:55 PM
Last week ended with the hope that rates were breaking below the uptrend that had been in place since mid-April. Certainly, if we had to judge that...
Mon, May 15 2017, 6:28 PM
Mortgage rates were s teady to slightly higher today, largely maintaining the improvements seen last week. Underlying financial markets were calm and ...
Mon, May 15 2017, 1:29 PM
The first quarter of 2017 the year saw home prices in large metropolitan areas appreciate at the fastest rate in nearly two years . The National Assoc...
Fri, May 12 2017, 12:39 PM
Rising wages helped to boost housing affordability in the first quarter, even as interest rates rose. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)...
Fri, May 12 2017, 11:49 AM
Want to help educate a real estate agent, or a home buyer? Show them this site . "...comprehensive, accurate, and reliable neighborhood information. F...
Fri, May 12 2017, 9:21 AM
It's going to be a chart-focused commentary today, because frankly, there's not much to say with words. The bottom line is that this morning's econom...
Fri, May 12 2017, 6:24 PM
Bonds were losing ground clearly and convincingly this week, until this morning's economic data came along. To be fair , we might say that bonds beg...
Fri, May 12 2017, 5:30 PM
Most of the movement in mortgage rates had been slow, steady, and generally unfriendly in recent weeks. Today was a stark exception as rates surged si...
Thu, May 11 2017, 10:32 AM
For me this week includes Maryland , Utah, Wyoming , and California. There are all kinds of rumors out there, ranging from Donald Trump naming Brian M...
