Thu, May 23 2013, 6:58 AM
The idea of "tapering" the Fed's long term asset purchases isn't as new as the past two weeks might make it seem. It was most visibly introduced in...
Thu, May 23 2013, 5:03 PM
Treasuries had a bit of an easier time today than MBS, the latter feeling the effects of a shift in duration preference that has been historically unk...
Thu, May 23 2013, 4:19 PM
Mortgage rates weren't quite finished with what they began on Wednesday, which was the worst we've seen in a long time . Despite bond markets man...
Thu, May 23 2013, 2:58 PM
The Fed giveth, and the Fed taketh away. Both stocks and bonds fell on Wednesday after a Q&A session with Ben Bernanke , and minutes from the latest ...
Thu, May 23 2013, 1:41 PM
New home sales rose 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in April to an annual rate of 454,000 units . The Census Bureau and the Department ...
Wed, May 22 2013, 12:51 PM
Yesterday the commentary mentioned a rumored shut down of MGIC's Capital Markets Group . I received this e-mail: "MGIC has indeed reorganized certai...
Wed, May 22 2013, 12:41 PM
If you read this commentary with any sort of frequency, you may have noticed a trend of late, where the mid-day recap has been coming out later than n...
Wed, May 22 2013, 12:24 PM
Existing home sales remain constrained
by limited inventory and tight credit but still managed to eke out a small
increase in April the National A...
Wed, May 22 2013, 11:29 AM
Lender Processing Services (LPS) has
provided its regular advanced release of data from its Mortgage Monitor . This " first
look " at April 2013 m...
Wed, May 22 2013, 8:33 AM
A big drop in applications for
refinancing dragged the Mortgage Bankers Associations Market Composite Index, a
measure of mortgage applications v...
Wed, May 22 2013, 8:11 PM
Today was among the worst on record for MBS since the carnage that was late 2010. We still have yet to see anything rival Black Wednesday's, but almo...
Wed, May 22 2013, 7:23 AM
Wednesday May 21st, and we finally get to see what all the fuss is supposedly about . The "fuss" or hype, if you prefer, was theoretically kicked in...
Wed, May 22 2013, 6:10 PM
Mortgage rates were utterly destroyed today. Not only did the average rate move above the highest seen in 2013, but rates haven't been this high s...
Wed, May 22 2013, 3:11 PM
Members of a
House Financial Services subcommittee issued a press release Tuesday afternoon
which essentially dismissed testimony heard earlier in...
Wed, May 22 2013, 3:04 PM
In April 2012 distressed properties
accounted for 45.8 percent of home sales in California the states Association
of Realtors® said Wednesday, but l...
Tue, May 21 2013, 12:51 PM
Recognizing that real estate investors have played a key role in the state's housing market recovery, the California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R...
Tue, May 21 2013, 12:10 PM
Like a jilted lover learning how to trust again, MBS were tentative at first, and Treasuries hesitated at 1.97 as they descended from morning weakness...
Tue, May 21 2013, 11:13 AM
If you're like me and rest your weary eyes each night by reading the Fair Housing Act of 1968, then you don't need to be told that the act " prohibit...
Tue, May 21 2013, 6:12 AM
There continues to be little to do or say about the first two days of the week. For the most part, they merely serve as a sort of cruel waiting game ...
Tue, May 21 2013, 4:28 PM
In sort of an inverted reading of the recent script, bond markets weakened right out of the gate and began improving at 10am (several notable occasion...
Tue, May 21 2013, 3:32 PM
Mortgage rates finally caught a break, moving just slightly lower for only the second time this month. For some, the drop in rates may be too litt...
Mon, May 20 2013, 12:49 PM
Most risk professionals who
participated in a recent survey believe the status quo is going to prevail when
it comes to loan delinquencies over the ...
Mon, May 20 2013, 12:36 PM
Please note the timestamp on the pricing snapshot below, and that it's about an hour and 15 minutes old. The snapshot will continue to be generated b...
Mon, May 20 2013, 9:32 AM
Here in Austin, at the Texas Mortgage Banker Association's yearly conference, the talk is not so much about the Millennial generation but about how ...
Mon, May 20 2013, 7:53 AM
Whether or not it turns out to be justified, hype and anticipation have been building over this week's FOMC Minutes for over a week now. The hy...
Mon, May 20 2013, 4:44 PM
Bond markets got in this morning and quickly began undoing some of the damage done by the overnight trading session. Treasuries and MBS both opened f...
Mon, May 20 2013, 3:56 PM
Mortgage rates continued May's nearly constant trend higher to begin the week, though the pace of increases is slower compared to that seen on F...
Mon, May 20 2013, 2:53 PM
Maintaining that the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) have caused government involvement in the mortgage market to balloon...
Mon, May 20 2013, 1:31 PM
Fannie Mae's economic and strategic research team today called the housing recovery "undeterred" after it contributed 0.3 percentages points to ec...
Fri, May 17 2013, 12:51 PM
Here we are again... All but a few days this week have seen morning sell-offs that have required negative reprice alerts for MBS Live subscribers . ...
Fri, May 17 2013, 7:53 AM
The bulk of the week's activity has passed, from a calendar standpoint, and this morning's Consumer Sentiment data is all that's left on the domestic ...
Fri, May 17 2013, 4:56 PM
The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has released a brief issues paper voicing objections to HR 1077 , The Consumer Mortgage Choice Act. The bil...
Fri, May 17 2013, 4:46 PM
MBS took a running start downhill this morning before reaching the edge of the cliff marked by yesterday morning's "ledge" of prices. This was the 10...
Fri, May 17 2013, 3:51 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher at their fastest pace in two weeks , after having their best day in more than 6 weeks just yesterday. The net effe...
Fri, May 17 2013, 3:18 PM
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said Thursday it might be time to " dial down the credit stringency ." ...
Fri, May 17 2013, 2:26 PM
A Texas homebuilder will surrender more than $100,000 to the Consumer Finance Protection Agency under a consent order filed on Friday. Paul Taylo...
Fri, May 17 2013, 2:04 PM
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL has asked for an investigation and possible "crackdown" on the manner in which short sales are impacting consumer credit fi...
Fri, May 17 2013, 1:54 PM
The Consumer Finance Protection Agency (CFPB) reminded lenders today that new Truth in Lending Act (TILA) rules banning mandatory arbitration provis...
Fri, May 17 2013, 1:18 PM
Among the nation's 30 largest metro areas included in a recent Zillow study, Pittsburgh (39%), Tampa (33%), New York (30%), Cleveland (29%) and Miami ...
Thu, May 16 2013, 11:50 AM
Hopefully, in talking about the half point rally in MBS we're not unintentionally "jinxing" it, but yeah--there's a half point rally underway in MBS. ...
Thu, May 16 2013, 9:51 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said today that new housing starts were down in April by 16.5 percent c...
Thu, May 16 2013, 9:27 AM
"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see." Hedge funds and investment banks have a lot of talent, and perio...
Thu, May 16 2013, 9:03 AM
The median price of homes in California
topped $400,000 in April for the first time in five years. The California Association of Realtors®
(C.A.R...
Thu, May 16 2013, 8:59 AM
"Nationwide and in most markets it
appears builders are planning to ramp up activity that will help offset a drop
in foreclosure starts , but the...
Thu, May 16 2013, 8:01 AM
If the presence of greater amounts of economic data was a benefit for bond markets on Wednesday (and we're not sure that it was), then Thursday has ev...
Thu, May 16 2013, 4:47 PM
Yesterday and again early this morning (before the data), we discussed the potential significance of yesterday's prices failing to make a new low for ...
Thu, May 16 2013, 4:15 PM
Mortgage rates moved lower at their fastest pace in 6 weeks today, erasing most of the losses seen so far this week. Not all lenders have adju...
Thu, May 16 2013, 1:15 PM
CoreLogic said today that home prices are projected to increase 3.9 percent on an annualized basis between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the same q...
Wed, May 15 2013, 12:49 PM
Builder confidence has perked up
again. After dropping three points in
April to 41, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo
...
Wed, May 15 2013, 12:46 PM
Once again, please note the timestamp in the pricing snapshot below, as it is about an hour and a half old now. This time gap will continue to be the...
