Wed, Feb 11 2015, 7:32 AM
Europe is a tangled mess of politics and bureaucracy that puts anything else to shame. Why do I say this? First, because it's true. Second, and mor...
Wed, Feb 11 2015, 6:03 PM
Julian Castro told the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday
that the Federal Housing Administrations (FHA) historically high premiums limi...
Wed, Feb 11 2015, 5:33 PM
Mortgage rates are in the midst of a substantial losing streak . Today's outright losses weren't that bad in and of themselves, but they have...
Wed, Feb 11 2015, 5:29 PM
The last few highlighted comments at the bottom of this page tell the story of the late-day headlines. The first one caught markets' attention:
RT...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 12:22 PM
If I didn't know any better (and I might not), I'd guess that someone from Greece is calling up news organizations and pretending to be an EU official...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 10:49 AM
Foreclosures during the 12 months ended on December 31 were
the lowest recorded in the U.S. over that time period since November 2007
CoreLogic sa...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 10:32 AM
Tonight
I head to Houston for a couple days, and the city certainly has its
share of coffee houses. What if purchasing your next house near a
St...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 7:37 AM
Remember 2008 though the middle of 2011, or the 2nd half of 2013? Me neither, but I went back and read a few of my old posts and think I have a prett...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 5:30 PM
Bond markets got the 3yr Treasury auction out of the way today. While it was noticeably positive for Treasuries, it was the least potent of the 3 in ...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 4:28 PM
Mortgage rates remain under significant pressure , having now moved higher almost every day in February. So far, this is the worst month for rate...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 3:36 PM
In a paper on the issue, the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says that "Many older consumers and their
families are confused and frustr...
Mon, Feb 9 2015, 12:56 PM
The most interesting news overnight was the reaffirmation from Greek leaders that the country is done with austerity, no matter the cost. At this poi...
Mon, Feb 9 2015, 10:59 AM
Next Monday is a Federal Holiday. When I was a kid we had
both Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays off, and it serves as a
reminder that we got g...
Mon, Feb 9 2015, 7:34 AM
In many ways, the current tussle between Greece and its creditors is reminiscent of past iterations. There's some bluffing, posturing, lying, feigned...
Mon, Feb 9 2015, 7:16 PM
After Friday's aggressive sell-off, bond markets managed only a modest bounce back before acquiescing to even weaker levels by the close. There wer...
Mon, Feb 9 2015, 5:16 PM
Mortgage rates , fresh off a rather ugly Friday last week, continued to struggle today. The morning hours were mostly OK. Some lenders were in...
Mon, Feb 9 2015, 3:08 PM
Fannie Mae said today that its monthly National Housing
Survey (NHS) portrayed increasing optimism as both employment and overall
economic figures...
Fri, Feb 6 2015, 11:00 AM
"Rob, do you know where I can find a list of
the largest credit unions?" Yes I do: credit union ranking .
Credit unions in the United States serv...
Fri, Feb 6 2015, 7:05 AM
Oh man... I'm about to say some crazy stuff . If I could go back in time one year and tell myself "hey, past self, in a year you're going to write a...
Fri, Feb 6 2015, 6:13 PM
In a real sense, today's bond market weakness was nothing more than a continuation of February's existing trend on steroids. Multiple asset classes h...
Fri, Feb 6 2015, 4:56 PM
Mortgage rates shot higher at their fastest pace in nearly a year today following this morning's employment data. This also leaves rates at thei...
Fri, Feb 6 2015, 2:16 PM
The National Association of Home Builders ( NAHB ) said today
that nationwide metropolitan area markets are improving at a constant pace and are
n...
Fri, Feb 6 2015, 2:07 PM
This morning's MUCH -stronger than expected NFP hit bond markets while they were already on the back foot in terms of the February trend. It followe...
Fri, Feb 6 2015, 2:02 PM
As
might be expected, as the number of foreclosures has dwindled , so has the number
of so-called zombies . However RealtyTrac
said on Friday th...
Thu, Feb 5 2015, 10:55 AM
In
the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to visit Florida, Oregon,
Colorado, Southern California (its own state), Arizona, Texas, and
Fl...
Thu, Feb 5 2015, 7:32 AM
If you're just getting caught up, here's the long and the short of yesterday's news from the ECB in relation to Greece-inspired Euro-drama.
The re...
Thu, Feb 5 2015, 5:57 PM
Last night, Treasuries attempted to play it safe ahead of the European session by rallying sharply on news they figured would have a big positive effe...
Thu, Feb 5 2015, 4:57 PM
Mortgage rates held their ground today even as trading levels in bond markets suggested a move higher. This has to do with the heads-up I offere...
Thu, Feb 5 2015, 2:43 PM
New initiatives aimed at increasing access to credit and making it more
affordable began to pay off in January according to Mike Fratantoni, the
Mor...
Thu, Feb 5 2015, 2:41 PM
Even though his predecessor as head of the Federal Housing
Finance Agency (FHFA) was adamant in his refusal to consider it, Melvin L. Watt
seems r...
Wed, Feb 4 2015, 9:43 AM
Appraisers, and pet lovers, will find this house dedicated to felines
of interest. Personally, I view it as somewhat quirky. Maybe not so
quirky...
Wed, Feb 4 2015, 8:59 AM
Mortgage activity showed no signs of settling down from its rather wild
and wooly behavio r since the first of the year. Data from the Mortgage Ban...
Wed, Feb 4 2015, 7:37 AM
For the first time in the history of the Day Ahead, I'm referencing an oil inventory report as a solid potential market mover. This is significant,...
Wed, Feb 4 2015, 4:58 PM
Mortgage rates were steady to slightly higher today, depending where you looked and at what time of day. The morning hours brought additional pa...
Wed, Feb 4 2015, 4:39 PM
Unlike yesterday, which had a decent start and crappy conclusion, today's trading session began with bond markets at their weakest levels in more than...
Wed, Feb 4 2015, 1:38 PM
To make a long story short, bond markets have been correcting from their recent rally ever since Greece began correcting from their recent rout . ...
Tue, Feb 3 2015, 12:51 PM
10yr yields are up just more than 7bps to 1.75%. That's bad in the sense that 1.70 is an inflection point that would have been nice to hold, but s...
Tue, Feb 3 2015, 10:20 AM
What's
ahead of us this month? Valentine's Day, that's what. "The Hallmark
Holiday" is quickly approaching and hopefully you have bought your love...
Tue, Feb 3 2015, 10:03 AM
The uninterrupted streak
of annual nationwide price increases was extended to 34 months in December
CoreLogic said today. The company's Home
P...
Tue, Feb 3 2015, 7:33 AM
First thing's first. Let's make a quick distinction between bond market components. When we talk about "incredible momentum," it has nothing to do...
Tue, Feb 3 2015, 5:11 PM
Bond markets began the day by putting in a repeat performance of yesterday's overnight and early morning hours. Both days say a 3-4 bp drift higher ...
Tue, Feb 3 2015, 4:33 PM
Mortgage rates picked up the pace of weakness today, moving higher at their quickest pace of the year. That's the bad news. The good news is th...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 12:48 PM
December expenditures for construction posted a small gain
in December, rising a scant 0.4 percent over November figures. The Census Bureau said tod...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 12:33 PM
Overnight and early domestic trading were unkind to bond markets. Global PMI data was generally in line with expectations or slightly stronger. Tr...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 10:18 AM
The economy is filled with surprises , and people warning us about them
- and us not listening. Every time we fill up our gas tanks we are
remi...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 7:23 AM
Another week, another chance for markets to express their feelings about European QE, Greek theater, and 'global growth concerns.' So far, these thin...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 5:08 PM
At one point, today looked like it could be nearly as anticlimactic for bond markets as 2nd goal for the--well... never mind. Nothing is that antic...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 4:26 PM
Mortgage rates were just slightly higher today, but generally did a good job of holding on to recent gains. For perspective, last Friday was the...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 3:09 PM
Rising home prices have been a boon to many homeowners but may
not bode as well for those who are facing foreclosure. Black Knight Financial Service...
Fri, Jan 30 2015, 10:48 AM
The
U.S. Census Bureau has published some facts featuring the metro areas
represented by the two teams playing in Super Bowl XLIX (the New England...
