Fri, Oct 18 2013, 5:11 PM
Despite declining FHA loan
originations (from 120,917 in April 2013 to 105,995 in July), HUD issued
Mortgagee Letter 2013-24 on August 15, tighteni...
Fri, Oct 18 2013, 5:01 PM
Mortgage rates fell only slightly today,
but with yesterday already near 4-month lows, today's moderate
improvement makes it official--at leas...
Fri, Oct 18 2013, 4:50 PM
When the potential government shutdown became an increasing reality
into late September, bond markets entered in to a narrow, sideways
range. Whe...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 12:32 AM
Congress apparently thought the 10/17 debt ceiling deadline was a
much bigger deal than financial markets. It's not that markets didn't
perceive ...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 11:59 AM
After adding half a point yesterday, Fannie 3.5 MBS are up another half
point today (Fannie 3.5s as of 11:55am) as the ill effects of the
governme...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 10:50 AM
LA Dodgers' Tommy Lasorda reportedly said, "I found out that it's not
good to talk about my troubles. Eighty percent of the people who hear
them d...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 6:39 PM
Surprisingly enough, after the government shutdown, both Treasuries
and MBS are back to levels they were trading at- well--before the
shutdown. T...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 6:25 PM
Home sales in California were down over
5 percent in September as buyers, according to the California Association of
Realtors® (C.A.R.) reacted to...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 5:10 PM
Mortgage rates fell significantly today,
returning in line with the lowest levels seen in recent weeks for some
lenders. Not every lender exp...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 1:27 PM
LIRA, a forward looking indicator of
remodeling activity, continues to project a double digit annual increase in
home improvement spending through t...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 1:20 PM
Some of the gist of Fannie Mae's October Economic
Forecast, released Thursday but written late last week, was made obsolete when
the government shut...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 10:59 AM
Fannie Mae appears to be moving quickly
to meet the goal of risk sharing set for it by its conservator the Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). ...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 10:56 AM
A biologist, a chemist, and a statistician are out hunting. The
biologist shoots at a deer and misses 5 feet to the left, the chemist
takes a shot...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 9:58 AM
Refinancing extended its comeback during
the week ended October 11, rising to a 66 percent share of all mortgage applications
reported by the Mo...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 7:14 AM
When was the last time there was any meaningful level of interest in the Fed's Beige Book ?
Some economic releases, if you're not waiting for the ...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 5:03 PM
Mortgage rates fell today,
recovering yesterday's losses on average. Some lenders' rate sheets
were just slightly better or worse than yester...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 4:37 PM
Somehow, the same debt deal (or similar anyway) that caused
problems for bond markets yesterday, ended up being the leading suspect
behind a solid...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 3:39 PM
Like other housing indicators covering
the summer's end, the one released today by DataQuick showed a gradually
slowing market. The San Diego bas...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 2:39 PM
HOPE NOW
member servicers completed 67,000 loan modifications in August . There were
63,000 modifications completed in July so the August figures r...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 2:13 PM
With the Census Bureau, like the rest of
the government, shut down and unable to release its usual economic data the
National Association of Home Bu...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 1:59 PM
With the FNC Residential Price Index TM (RPI) levels for August home prices have climbed back
to December 2009 levels. But the index,
while it r...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 1:21 PM
Treasuries and MBS have had varying reactions, at times, to fiscal
headlines. In one moment, bond markets may have weakened in response to
the pr...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 12:25 PM
Bond markets began the day preemptively weakened by headlines out on Monday suggesting the Senate was working on a deal
that would fund the governme...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 9:53 AM
Welcome to "National Aging in Place" Week (October 15-21). No, this
doesn't mean sitting in that 10-yr old office chair, slouched over your
comput...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 7:17 AM
The week begins largely where the previous week left off: with bond markets seemingly scared
of any sort of debt-ceiling resolution. The move low...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 5:22 PM
Mortgage rates rose moderately today,
bringing them to their highest levels since September 23rd. Though the
recent move higher has happened ...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 5:07 PM
Bond markets began pouting even before they were open, according to
movement in Treasury futures during yesterday's bond market closure.
The nega...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 4:14 PM
The Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB) released a bulletin today in response to requests for further
clarification on three servicing ...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 3:08 PM
There may be life in those old GSE bones yet. At least that is one
conclusion that can be drawn from an article in Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Writers...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 1:26 PM
Periods of high risk and uncertainty greatly decrease the tendency to
"overdo" the typical reaction. During these times, bond market yields
alrea...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 11:44 AM
Entities like title companies, real estate agencies, home inspection
services, etc. don't mind this statistic, but lenders sure do: the
National A...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 7:37 AM
Well... The bulk of the prose-based commentary was just accidentally
divulged in the bullet points above. There's not much more to it
really. We...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 6:34 PM
Bond markets came into the session on a stronger note. They looked
intent on bouncing back from yesterday's somewhat troubling weakness.
Everyth...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 5:43 PM
Mortgage rates were flat today,
ending the week higher for the second Friday in a row after 3
exceptionally strong weeks in September. Some l...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 5:10 PM
On November 16, Fannie Mae will implement scheduled changes to its
automated underwriting system (DU or "Desktop Underwriter"). DU is used
by len...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 4:12 PM
Wells Fargo Bank reported record net income for the third quarter of $5.6
billion, a 13 percent increase from the same quarter in 2012 even though ...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 2:25 PM
The life or death of the mortgage interest deduction (MID) is a perennial
Washington, DC soap opera. The prospect
of eliminating it is always on ...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 1:16 PM
Please note that the pricing snapshot below is from earlier in the morning before
we got hit with mid-day weakness. Before that, bond markets came ...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 12:58 PM
MBS Live : MBS Morning Market Summary
++INSERT COMMENTARY HERE++
MBS Pricing Snapshot
Pricing shown below is delayed, please note...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 11:17 AM
Foreclosure activity in September was up
2 percent from August, RealtyTrac said today, but the third quarter saw the
lowest level of foreclosure...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 10:51 AM
While applications for mortgages to
finance newly constructed homes fell slightly in September they continued to
increase in three large Sunbelt sta...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 10:09 AM
"Ladies, if your guy says that he is going to fix something, he means
it. There is no need to remind him every six months." Hopefully the
governme...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 4:46 PM
Mortgage rates were noticeably higher today despite
a late day rally that saw several lenders offer improved rate sheets.
That means that thi...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 4:28 PM
Though somewhat of a hollow victory, bond markets improved after
today's strong 30yr bond auction. It was hollow in the sense that the
gains mere...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 1:52 PM
Lending for multifamily housing in
buildings with five or more units increased by 33 percent in 2012 according to
the Mortgage Bankers Association...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 1:47 PM
Fannie Mae checked off another box on
the Federal Housing Finance Agencies 2013 Conservatorship Scorecard by recently
signing an agreement for cred...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 1:21 AM
Markets have clearly begun pricing in various levels of default risk
for the US. Sounds scary, but it's not the first time and it won't be
the la...
Wed, Oct 9 2013, 12:36 PM
Part of the explanation for today's movement lies in yesterday's
events. Notably, we saw the biggest spike yet in 1-month Treasury
Bills. This i...
Wed, Oct 9 2013, 10:51 AM
I have decided to take matters into my own hands. I am in the
Washington DC area today for the Mid-Atlantic Lender Conference, and I
plan on telli...
Wed, Oct 9 2013, 8:49 AM
The revival in refinancing applications
continued again last week as mortgage interest rates retreated again. The
Mortgage Bankers Association (...
