Thu, Mar 23 2017, 11:14 AM
New home sales posted a much better February than did existing home sales and, in fact, better than most analysts had expected. The U.S. Census Bureau...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 10:15 AM
The House Financial Services Committee (FSC) held a hearing on Tuesday into the constitutionality of the structure of the Consumer Financial Protectio...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 9:57 AM
As further evidence that the era of refinancing is ending, Black Knight Financial Services says that prepayment speeds (the SSM rate), historically a ...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 9:10 AM
Have you been asked to join the Trump Administration’ new group focusing on mortgage finance policy? No? My cat Myrtle hasn't gotten the nod (yet) eit...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 7:46 AM
In the post-apocalyptic hell (relative) that is the post-election bond market trading environment, there was a noble group of traders who attempted to...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 6:17 PM
Rarely has something so "off the radar" become such a focal point for financial markets as this week's vote on a healthcare revamp to replace the Aff...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 4:06 PM
Mortgage rates were slightly higher for the first time in 8 days as markets braced for the impact of political developments. The big issue of the day ...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 11:20 AM
Existing home sales burst out of the box in January to start the year out with a 3.2 percent increase over the previous month. Those gains, however, w...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 10:56 AM
What a difference a month makes. After posting monthly price increase in all but one month since early 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency report...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 9:23 AM
Things are getting exciting for markets, and not simply because bond yields have returned to the core of their prevailing range for 2017 just after al...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 8:36 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said today that the volume of applications for both purchase mortgages and refinancing retreated last week from...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 5:36 PM
“Dance like no one is watching. E-mail like one day it may be read aloud in a deposition.” Here's some pithier legal news. The Department of Justice i...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 5:30 PM
Bond markets began the day in slightly stronger territory and quickly embarked on the same sort of rally that characterized yesterday morning. Today'...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates were lower for the 7th day in a row today, further extending their push into the lowest levels of the month. At first, that positive mo...
Tue, Mar 21 2017, 12:39 PM
The reported net profit per loan reported to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) by independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of charter...
Tue, Mar 21 2017, 12:36 PM
In terms of credit risk, the loans originated in the fourth quarter of last year are among the highest quality mortgages originated since 2001 accordi...
Tue, Mar 21 2017, 10:16 AM
Who can you trust? Digital Journal reports new malware targets Google Chrome users with a pop up that indicates a new font needs to be installed for w...
Tue, Mar 21 2017, 9:13 AM
Bond markets continue making a case for re-entry into the core of the range that has been intact since December 2016. The December Fed meeting helped...
Tue, Mar 21 2017, 5:21 PM
If there was one catalyst for the overall surge toward higher stocks and rates at the end of 2016, it was the expectation that the new administration'...
Tue, Mar 21 2017, 4:14 PM
Mortgage rates continued lower today as political uncertainty sparked the biggest day of stock market losses since the election. In general, short ter...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 10:58 AM
Say it ain’t so! Fannie is being bought by an Italian company?! Sure enough, Italy’s Ferrero International SA is buying U.S.-based Fannie May Confecti...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 9:15 AM
This week will be fairly light in terms of scheduled economic data . The first relatively significant report won't be out until Wednesday (Existing ...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 7:14 PM
Much like Friday, today was uneventful and moderately positive for bond markets. At some point, we have to consider the combined effects of these sor...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 3:58 PM
Mortgage rates were steady-to-slightly lower today, keeping them in line with the lowest levels in 2 weeks and very close to the lowest levels of the ...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 3:28 PM
Fannie Mae's March economic forecast was written before the FOMC announced an increase in the fed funds rate last Wednesday. The company's economists ...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 2:39 PM
The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a hearing on March 21 titled "The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection's (CFPB's) Unconstituti...
Fri, Mar 17 2017, 10:58 AM
Earlier this month, Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) submitted a report to the agency claim...
Fri, Mar 17 2017, 10:31 AM
FHA's mortgage share, which surged following the housing crisis and helped shore up the market, is now in a steady decline. However, the loans written...
Fri, Mar 17 2017, 9:03 AM
The Fed reported US household net worth (total asset value minus total liability value) jumped to a record $92.8 trillion in Q4 driven by stock market...
Fri, Mar 17 2017, 8:53 AM
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Now that you're thinking about a country in Europe, let's talk about European bonds for a moment. US and European bonds...
Fri, Mar 17 2017, 5:28 PM
If wearing some green is all it takes, bonds would have escaped today pinch-free. Treasuries and MBS began the day with just a token amount of green ...
Fri, Mar 17 2017, 2:56 PM
Mortgage rates managed to maintain the improvement seen since Wednesday's Fed announcement. While the Fed did indeed hike its policy rate, the hike wa...
Thu, Mar 16 2017, 10:10 AM
Housing permits were down in February, wiping out the gains posted in January, while housing starts also reversed course , posting the year's first ga...
Thu, Mar 16 2017, 10:09 PM
Home purchase loans jumped to a 57 percent share of all mortgage originations in February, up from 53 percent in January. Data from the latest Ellie M...
Thu, Mar 16 2017, 9:50 AM
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that is stupid.” Different peopl...
Thu, Mar 16 2017, 8:29 AM
After the overnight session led bonds to open in modestly weaker territory, we're left with the sense that further gains aren't necessarily a given. ...
Thu, Mar 16 2017, 5:47 PM
The big takeaway from yesterday's Fed reaction was that the rally was finite--not motivated by a new development, but rather by a correction to an o...
Thu, Mar 16 2017, 1:12 PM
Mortgage rates are right in line with yesterday's levels, and yesterday saw rates fall at the fastest pace of the year, ultimately reaching the lowest...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 10:31 AM
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said its new home builder members displayed a surge of confidence this month. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Ho...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 9:19 AM
Yes, calendars have changed over a few thousand years. But the Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March, marked by se...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 8:55 AM
The volume of mortgage applications rose last week even as some interest rates reached their highest levels in nearly three years . The Mortgage Banke...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 8:27 AM
If you've caught essentially any post in the last few weeks, there's nothing left to say about today. If, however, this is your first time reading ...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 6:42 PM
Yesterday's recap said that bonds were dreaming about the Fed's dot plot (the economic projections released with today's Fed announcement). In spite ...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 4:43 PM
Mortgage rates fell at their fastest pace of the year following today's rate hike announcement from the Fed. If you're wondering why mortgage rates fe...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 2:05 PM
(Additions underlined, deletions struck through)
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December February indicates ...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 1:15 PM
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said consumer confidence is growing across the country, especially in rural and middle America. Its most r...
Tue, Mar 14 2017, 11:47 AM
New home sales are expecting to post an increase of 15.9 percent in February as compared to the previous month. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)...
Tue, Mar 14 2017, 10:42 AM
The three major credit reporting agencies have announced a significant change in their credit reporting metrics that could both boost credit scores fo...
Tue, Mar 14 2017, 9:05 AM
Every lender should know a little about demographics . The Millennials receive the publicity, but the population aged 65 and older is expected to grow...
Tue, Mar 14 2017, 8:32 AM
The entire week is clearly focused on Wednesday afternoon's Fed events (chiefly, the Fed' economic projections, which will give us an idea of how th...
