Thu, Oct 24 2013, 9:20 AM
With recent changes in QM/ATR rules along with intolerance for any
error which may impinge marketability or the ability to expeditiously
foreclose...
Thu, Oct 24 2013, 6:53 AM
On some levels, yesterday's trading session could have been frustrating for
bond bulls (aka fans of lower rates) due to the late day sell-off. A ...
Thu, Oct 24 2013, 5:19 PM
Today was another session where the movement is best characterized as
"incidental"--that is to say, bond markets didn't set out with any
salient g...
Thu, Oct 24 2013, 3:39 PM
Mortgage rates held steady for the most part on Thursday, keeping them in line with 4 Month Lows (a milestone reached last Friday ).
There wer...
Wed, Oct 23 2013, 12:38 PM
Home prices posted a 19 th
consecutive monthly gain in August the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
said on Wednesday. FHFA's purchase only Ho...
Wed, Oct 23 2013, 12:29 PM
Treasuries rallied overnight in rather underwhelming fashion.
Volume was moderate and the trading range was fairly narrow.
Yesterday's weak NFP ...
Wed, Oct 23 2013, 10:58 AM
The national foreclosure rate jumped over 4 percent in September Lender
Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) said today, but the foreclosure inventory
...
Wed, Oct 23 2013, 10:11 AM
I am spending a couple days in Kansas before heading to North
Carolina, and around here the old saying goes, "The older the buck, the
stiffer the ...
Wed, Oct 23 2013, 9:11 AM
The volume of mortgage applications received by
the nation's lenders was virtually unchanged during the week ended October 18
the Mortgage Bankers...
Wed, Oct 23 2013, 7:08 AM
September 18th's FOMC Announcement set off warning bells about a
potential move lower for rates but such a move was always to be
dependent on Sept...
Wed, Oct 23 2013, 4:57 PM
Mortgage rates fell again today,
but at a gentler pace than yesterday, bringing them to new 4-month
lows. With no meaningful economic data to...
Wed, Oct 23 2013, 4:30 PM
Since 8:40am yesterday morning, bond markets have been exceptionally
calm compared to past examples of decently sized moves following the
monthly ...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 12:42 PM
Today's Employment Situation Report--rescheduled from the original
October 4th release data--has been easily up to the task of inspiring a
break o...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 9:35 AM
I travel to a lot of engagements (this week is Los Angeles, Kansas,
and North Carolina, and then to DC for the conference) and am jealous of
my co...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 6:55 AM
Will absence have made the heart grow fonder when it comes to bond
markets' affections for the payrolls data? Yes, it already has. If
Treasuries...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 5:01 PM
In the post-meltdown era of hyper-regulation, lenders are
understandably
not eager to stick their necks out any further than necessary. Many in
...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 4:41 PM
Mortgage rates fell abruptly today,
after the long-awaited Employment Situation Report painted a
bleaker-than-expected picture for labor marke...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 4:28 PM
In the first few seconds of trading following this morning's NFP
release, 10yr yields dropped from 2.59 to 2.54. From there, they eased
gently lo...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 4:05 PM
In a move some borrowers and
originators might consider "too little, too late" both Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac announced today they are expanding t...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 3:28 PM
Pending homes sales in California dipped
by 1.8 percent on the California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R)
Pending Home Sales Index, falling to 106...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 2:07 PM
The 'Value of Construction Put in
Place' survey for August was published on Tuesday, three weeks after its
scheduled release. The Census Bureau
re...
Tue, Oct 22 2013, 1:10 PM
In its October Outlook Freddie Mac says that the resurgent housing
market supported economic growth in the second quarter but the recovery appears...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 11:49 AM
Bond markets were just slightly weaker overnight, but Treasuries
held inside Friday's range at first. Fannie 3.5 MBS opened just in line
with Fri...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 11:02 AM
Even though sales of existing homes
drifted off the record levels established in the previous two months, September
sales were higher by double digi...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 10:18 AM
It is being billed as the largest
single-institution settlement arising from the financial crisis. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has agreed to pay $13
billi...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 9:41 AM
Some of the information out there is "about as reliable as a
Realtor's photograph." But rumors continue to swirl about the health of
companies. On...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 7:50 AM
For all the sound and fury produced over the past two weeks, trading
levels in bond markets returned more-or-less in line with the trajectory
that...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 5:08 PM
Today's session could as easily not have happened, and it wouldn't
change anything about the bigger picture. The same could be true for
most any ...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 3:47 PM
Mortgage rates rose modestly today,
but remained in line with the lower levels seen since last week's
debt-ceiling deal. The difference betwe...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 1:04 PM
Residential remodeling eased off in
August, dropping by 13 percent from the July seasonally adjusted annual rate of
3.434 million to 2.987 million...
Fri, Oct 18 2013, 12:46 PM
Yesterday's rally was strong. Today, not so much. That's OK
because if we were to extend the rally (2 day rally, really, totaling
over a point o...
Fri, Oct 18 2013, 9:57 AM
It is a proven fact that ghosts, ghouls, vampires, werewolves, and
the like all live forever. (I either read it in the National Enquirer or
Nation...
Fri, Oct 18 2013, 7:22 AM
Clues provided by early overnight bullishness in bond markets were
accurate in that both Treasuries and MBS returned to the ranges that had
recent...
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...
