Wed, Mar 30 2016, 5:44 PM
markets continue repricing rate hike expectations
shorter duration debt wins (2yr Treasuries beating 10yr)
MBS are shorter duration than 10yr, s...
Wed, Mar 30 2016, 5:20 PM
Mortgage rates held steady in most cases today, though several lenders continued to improve. The average lender is at least down to 3.75% in t...
Wed, Mar 30 2016, 1:44 PM
Lenders across the nation are switching to potlucks at the end of the month instead of catered lunches. Why? A new survey of mortgage lenders by the M...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 12:08 PM
Is the mortgage-backed security (MBS) based on jumbo mortgage loans back on life-support? Sam Khater, CoreLogic's deputy chief economist, says it a...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 12:06 PM
Black Knight Financial Services announced on Monday that its Home Price Index for January rose 0.1 percent from the month before and was 5.3 percen...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 12:02 PM
Home price gains continued strong in January with the S&P/Case-Shiller indices closely tracking three of the four other major January home price repor...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 11:41 AM
Sweden, with its population of about 9.6 million about the same as Michigan, just adopted a law limiting mortgage loans to 105 years. Our 30-year fixe...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 9:00 AM
On these NFP weeks, one of the concepts we routinely discuss is that of the " pre-NFP lead-off. " Just to make sure we're on the same page, the "lead...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 5:42 PM
Translating Yellen's speech today: not only is the Fed "data dependent," but it doesn't take much to deter hikes and even to contemplate ways to ease ...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 5:00 PM
Mortgage rates moved decisively lower today, following a speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen. While she accomplished it in several ways, Yellen's...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 3:00 PM
If lenders' opinions count, credit standards appear to be as low as they will go, at least in the medium term. On the other hand, it appears they a...
Mon, Mar 28 2016, 12:18 PM
Banks and non-bank mortgage companies aren’t enemies, but plenty of non-bank lenders are envious of the ability of banks to offer HELOCs and other p...
Mon, Mar 28 2016, 10:42 AM
Countering an earlier disappointing report on existing home sales in February, pending home sales reached their highest levels in seven months Counte...
Mon, Mar 28 2016, 8:49 AM
As bond markets continued to grind sideways, seemingly unable to (or "not yet willing?") to break below some key technical levels (see chart), this we...
Mon, Mar 28 2016, 7:12 PM
Quiet overnight trading session with European markets closed
Economic data was mixed and left bond markets generally uninspired
Treasuries and M...
Mon, Mar 28 2016, 5:22 PM
Mortgage rates were decidedly mixed today, depending on the lender. Some were in better shape compared to last Thursday (markets were closed on ...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 12:19 PM
Areas deemed as having homes that were less affordable than their historic norms rose by 7 percentage points from the first quarter of 2015 to the fir...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 10:06 AM
The past year closed out with the lowest level of all-cash sales since the first days of the housing crisis. CoreLogic said on Thursday that 33.4 p...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 9:54 AM
After a worrisome spike in January , foreclosure activity settled back down in February, with some metrics reaching multi-year lows. Black Knight Fi...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 9:49 AM
It could be a little like the fabled barn door - closed but locking up little more than hay and manure - but the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 9:45 AM
Eligibility for specific exemptions to the Qualified Mortgage (QA) that apply to small creditors operating in rural or underserved areas Eligibility ...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 9:31 AM
Home Value Forecast recently analyzed the impact these foreclosure laws are having on the U.S. Housing Market-particularly in the communities of Ph...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 8:32 AM
Bond markets close early (2pm ET), and market participation should reflect the rush for the exits
Translation: liquidity and volume should die down...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 5:10 PM
10yr yields ended the week right where they began it (1.90%)
Same can't be said of MBS, Fannie 3.0s lost ground on the week
Durable Goods data h...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 4:18 PM
Mortgage rates reversed course today, heading back toward the higher levels seen earlier in the week. It's no mystery that rates have been payin...
Wed, Mar 23 2016, 11:30 AM
Everyone knows Pre-Fund and Post Close QC audits are essential and mandatory . But, with the ever changing agency requirements, many lenders find it ...
Wed, Mar 23 2016, 11:05 AM
Sales of newly constructed single-family homes did a partial bounce back in February from a disappointing January in which sales dropped by over 9 per...
Wed, Mar 23 2016, 9:08 AM
After breaking above 1.92%, technicals get interesting for 10yr yields
Bigger-picture uptrends in rates at risk of continuing
Last full day of t...
Wed, Mar 23 2016, 8:09 AM
There was a little bit of Groundhog Day in last week's results from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey. Th...
Wed, Mar 23 2016, 6:40 PM
Much like yesterday, bond markets experienced a somewhat abrupt intraday swing that lacked overt motivation. This time, however, rates were heading...
Wed, Mar 23 2016, 5:27 PM
Mortgage rates moved slightly lower today, recovering some of their losses from the first two days of the week. The average lender continues to ...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 10:29 AM
Fannie Mae's Economic Summary for March reports an improvement in financial market conditions and reduced concerns about an imminent risk of reces...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 10:20 AM
After a revision to previously reported December numbers the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA's) House Price Index (HPI) has now risen by one-h...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 10:05 AM
A major conversation topic is how lenders must adhere to a new certification when making a Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgage. The FHA u...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 8:47 AM
Last week introduced the possibility that March's bearish trend was reversing
yesterday's weakness failed to confirm that reversal
It's still po...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 6:33 PM
Treasuries gain overnight on flight-to-safety surrounding Brussels terror attacks
rates struggled to break overnight lows in morning trading
Af...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 5:37 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher again today, casting a bigger shadow on last week's improvements. Rates haven't yet returned to the higher levels se...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 11:29 AM
Research by RealtyTrac finds the percentage of homes that were bought and sold within 12 months (i.e. flipped) soared to 5.5% of all homes, reaching a...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 11:18 AM
"Fizzle" was the description the National Association of Realtors® (NAR's) used for existing home sales in February. Those sales, which had increased...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 8:37 AM
SIFMA recommended early close for markets ( 2pm ET) on Thu and full close on Friday
Friday is NOT a bank holiday
Bond markets in equivocal ter...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 5:39 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher to begin the new week as stocks and oil prices moved up from Friday afternoon's lows. Today's increases cast a shad...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 3:38 PM
The average single family builder achieved revenue of just over $16 million in 2014 and posted an average net pre-tax profit of $1 million . The Nat...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 10:15 AM
Tomorrow's commentary has some notes about W.J. Bradley and also a stinging rebuttal to Richard Cordray's continued reliance on enforcement actions, b...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 9:23 AM
No econ data on tap apart from Consumer Sentiment
Oil surging, how much does it matter?
Bonds trying to confirm technical bounce, but not quite ...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 4:30 PM
5 straight days of lower closing yields in Treasuries
Almost 5 straight days of higher closes for MBS
In both cases, 90%+ of the gains followed ...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 3:56 PM
Mortgage rates didn't move much today, but of the lenders with noticeable differences versus yesterday, most were just slightly lower. That mean...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 12:35 PM
The new Truth-in-Lending disclosure (TRID) rule is being blamed for a sharp decline in the per loan profitability of mortgage lenders. The Mortgage...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 10:40 AM
The FHA has released new loan-level and annual lender-level certifications which it said it expects will provide better clarity to lenders about FHA...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 10:35 AM
It's not exactly a startling concept but one that has been underlined by recent events; there is a strong correlation between the performance of the...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 10:25 AM
Ellie Mae's Origination
Insight Report published on Wednesday by Ellie Mae shows there was a sharp
decline in the time it took to close a loan i...
