Fri, Sep 12 2014, 1:33 PM
There are five key issues confronting
the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) its director told a banking audience
on Monday. The five, taken t...
Thu, Sep 11 2014, 12:05 PM
After 8 days in throes of volatility and weakness, bond markets are finally catching a small break today. For now, it's no more than a half-hearted...
Thu, Sep 11 2014, 10:40 AM
In preparing to write a small blurb about the Unmarried and Singles Week
that starts in 10 days, which, as best I can tell, is nowhere near
Vale...
Thu, Sep 11 2014, 7:31 AM
When we talk about the 'longer term trend' these days, we're referencing the slow and steady improvements for bond markets that began in early 2014. ...
Thu, Sep 11 2014, 4:26 PM
It was a bit of a cruel session for bond markets as the day started out in stronger territory only to sell off with less than 2 hours to go. After 8 ...
Thu, Sep 11 2014, 3:00 PM
Mortgage rates were essentially unchanged today. Most lenders were microscopically lower in terms of closing costs, though several went the othe...
Thu, Sep 11 2014, 1:43 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA's)
measure of new home sales reflected a significant drop in the volume of applications
for mortgages to p...
Thu, Sep 11 2014, 1:42 PM
Foreclosure activity increased significantly in August according to the
U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released Thursday by RealtyTrac. The increa...
Wed, Sep 10 2014, 12:41 PM
Fannie 3.5s are down 10/32nds from yesterday's latest levels. Keep in mind that today's prices reflect October coupons whereas yesterday's were based...
Wed, Sep 10 2014, 10:55 AM
The
city of San Francisco has 121 square kilometers (about 47 square
miles). The Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport's area is about 70 square
kilometers, ...
Wed, Sep 10 2014, 9:10 AM
Mortgage applications displayed their worst
volumes in months during the week ended September 5. That the week was shortened by the Labor Day
holid...
Wed, Sep 10 2014, 7:33 AM
Yesterday's mid-day commentary did a good job of summing up the general malaise in bond markets. Revisit it HERE if you like, but here's the impo...
Wed, Sep 10 2014, 5:00 PM
Whiel we could see some sort of technical bounce or a data-driven consolidation of recent trading patterns, bond markets have generally been on a tear...
Wed, Sep 10 2014, 3:37 PM
Mortgage rates continued moving higher at a fairly quick pace today. Some borrowers may now start to see rate quotes moving up an eighth of a po...
Tue, Sep 9 2014, 12:13 PM
Negative momentum has been pervasive in September so far. Even the brief rally after Friday's jobs report failed to get yields back down to Thursday'...
Tue, Sep 9 2014, 10:42 AM
First
time home buyers include more than just Millennials - see the note a
few paragraphs down. The group includes recent immigrants, newly
divo...
Tue, Sep 9 2014, 7:39 AM
September has been decidedly negative for bond markets so far, and largely without any regard for economic data and events. Given that 'month-end' ...
Tue, Sep 9 2014, 4:40 PM
NOTE: Tonight is "the roll" for Fannie and Freddie 30yr Fixed MBS. That means that September coupons will be done trading at the end of business tod...
Tue, Sep 9 2014, 3:12 PM
Mortgage rates finally delivered an unequivocal performance today. Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind we were hoping for. Rates moved higher at t...
Tue, Sep 9 2014, 2:38 PM
The market share of all-cash home sales
continues to fall and in June made up the lowest share since the beginning of
the financial crisis . Cor...
Tue, Sep 9 2014, 1:30 PM
Freddie Mac's HomeStep program, the
vehicle through which the company sells its foreclosed property or REO, is
experiencing increased numbers of m...
Mon, Sep 8 2014, 12:52 PM
Consumer sentiment toward housing
appeared to turn a bit negative in August.
Fewer participants in Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey thought i...
Mon, Sep 8 2014, 12:43 PM
Monday continues to look like a mere shadow of the trading days at the end of last week. For example, Fannie 3.5 MBS have been in a range between 1...
Mon, Sep 8 2014, 10:31 AM
Here
at the Pacific Northwest Lenders conference in Portland, a big topic of
conversation is, like it is everywhere, regulation. Understandably
...
Mon, Sep 8 2014, 7:33 AM
Compared to last week, we have fewer potential market movers on the calendar in the week ahead. But that doesn't make it any less important. If anyt...
Mon, Sep 8 2014, 4:37 PM
Bond markets started the day in stronger territory, but well-within the range set by Friday's trading. Treasuries took cues from Europe amid limited ...
Mon, Sep 8 2014, 3:39 PM
Mortgage rates were higher OR lower today, depending on the lender. Some of the differences in pricing strategies have to do with Friday afterno...
Fri, Sep 5 2014, 12:20 PM
Treasuries and MBS dodged a bullet today in that a strong showing from the Employment Situation Report (aka "NFP" for the primary component: nonfarm...
Fri, Sep 5 2014, 10:35 AM
There's
a lot of data swirling around the demographic black-hole of lending
known as "the Millennials." I've come to the conclusion that this is
...
Fri, Sep 5 2014, 7:31 AM
Bond markets are vulnerable right now--perhaps more vulnerable than they've been for several months. During that time, they've taken on an air of n...
Fri, Sep 5 2014, 5:05 PM
Some movies are interesting and dramatic in a way that real life tends not to be. This even applies to many TV series where the protagonist "solves" ...
Fri, Sep 5 2014, 4:11 PM
Mortgage rates were lower out of the gate this morning after the weaker-than-expected jobs report fueled bond market gains. As bond prices rise,...
Fri, Sep 5 2014, 3:08 PM
Housing America's Older Adults, a new study conducted by Harvard's
Joint Center for Housing Studies for the AARP Foundation points to the
problems...
Thu, Sep 4 2014, 10:44 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on
Thursday that overall access to mortgage credit tightened very slightly in
August. The Association...
Thu, Sep 4 2014, 7:31 AM
The European Central Bank (ECB) announcement hits at 7:45am this morning and ECB President Draghi does the usual press conference at 830am. With th...
Thu, Sep 4 2014, 5:04 PM
Most every indication we've had from economic data in recent months has been that it just doesn't matter that much to bond markets. Treasuries, esp...
Thu, Sep 4 2014, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates ended the day fairly well mixed between higher and lower compared to yesterday. This is heavily dependent on the lender in questi...
Thu, Sep 4 2014, 1:51 PM
A Synergy survey finds Gen Y find the following to be the most important bank features and services: ease of
doing business (88%), continual access...
Thu, Sep 4 2014, 1:00 PM
It's been a busy morning for bond markets, with lots of economic data as well as the European Central Bank Announcement and Press Conference. Several...
Wed, Sep 3 2014, 12:40 PM
Today's entire trading session centers on one key event: an overnight announcement that a Ukraine Ceasefire had been agreed to by both 'sides.' Bond...
Wed, Sep 3 2014, 9:33 AM
September...
ugh. Most latitudes in the U.S. are losing 2-3 minutes a day of
daylight; in Anchorage they lose 5-6 minutes a day, Key West only abo...
Wed, Sep 3 2014, 9:16 AM
Mortgage applications were virtually
unchanged during the week ended August 29.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said that its Market Composite I...
Wed, Sep 3 2014, 9:11 AM
Yesterday marked the most abrupt day of selling in bond markets since the end of July. In some ways, it was a wake-up call as to the time of year, ...
Wed, Sep 3 2014, 5:11 PM
In terms of interesting, singular market-moving events, only one thing happened today. It was at 4am that headlines came out suggesting a ceasefire b...
Wed, Sep 3 2014, 3:56 PM
Mortgage rates started the day heading higher after overnight news of a potential ceasefire in Ukraine caused investors to quickly sell safe-have...
Tue, Sep 2 2014, 12:54 PM
Bond markets had been setting up for the extended weekend by being cautious about getting caught on the wrong side of this week's trade. Consider the...
Tue, Sep 2 2014, 10:34 AM
The
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking public comment on a set of
preliminary affordable housing goals for the two government spon...
Tue, Sep 2 2014, 10:30 AM
If you don't open up one other link in this e-mail, at least open this link to a photo of a sign that surely has applications to residential lending...
Tue, Sep 2 2014, 7:25 AM
While the week ahead is shorter than normal thanks to Labor day, it's no less relevant. In fact, it's probably quite a bit more relevant than anyt...
Tue, Sep 2 2014, 4:35 PM
Fannie 3.5s stayed inside a 4 tick (.125) range today despite a round of upbeat economic data at 10am and a clear trend toward higher yields in Trea...
