Fri, Jun 10 2022, 12:42 PM
As feared, today's CPI data has proven to be the most capable market mover of the week, by a wide margin. Unfortunately, that volatility is playing o...
Fri, Jun 10 2022, 10:27 AM
Start the day with a little something non-mortgage? Ira S. with U.S. Mortgage, on his time off, of course, found “River Runner.” One can basically cli...
Thu, Jun 9 2022, 3:37 PM
Bonds Consolidating at Higher Yields Ahead of CPI
The end of the week is marked by a battle with 3-letter ab...
Thu, Jun 9 2022, 3:18 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher this morning as the bond market reacted to a new policy announcement from the European Central Bank (ECB). If you're thin...
Thu, Jun 9 2022, 2:45 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) publishes a monthly index that attempts to quantify how tight or loose lending standards are compared to a comm...
Thu, Jun 9 2022, 11:39 AM
As has been the case for most of the past 2 weeks, European bonds have been arguing for a move to higher rates and US bonds have been reluctantly foll...
Thu, Jun 9 2022, 11:18 AM
Plenty of folks in our biz can be accused of having aprosexia. (No, I didn’t join some “Word of the Day” club.) But lenders and originators have to be...
Wed, Jun 8 2022, 4:48 PM
Rates jumped significantly higher last week and have continued drifting up at a gradual pace since then. The average lender remains in territory that...
Wed, Jun 8 2022, 4:13 PM
Yields Quickly Forced to Defend Monday's Ceiling
Bonds started off on the defensive today with a weaker hand...
Wed, Jun 8 2022, 3:48 PM
It's a fairly sobering headline any way you word it: mortgage applications hit the lowest levels in 22 years last week according the the Mortgage Bank...
Wed, Jun 8 2022, 11:55 AM
After a bumpy start to the week on Monday, the bond market is still trying to define a sideways range that serves as a waiting room where traders will...
Wed, Jun 8 2022, 11:06 AM
Yesterday in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, at the Indiana Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual conference, one of the non-mortgage conversations that I had was...
Tue, Jun 7 2022, 3:52 PM
Mortgage rates are primarily determined by mortgage-specific bonds (MBS, or mortgage-backed securities to be exact). MBS share similarities with the ...
Tue, Jun 7 2022, 3:24 PM
Is Today's Bounce Enough to Reinforce the Range?
After 5 straight trading days of weakness and 3 stubborn da...
Tue, Jun 7 2022, 2:30 PM
Fannie Mae conducts a monthly survey on homebuying sentiment, officially known as the Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI). It tracks buyer/seller at...
Tue, Jun 7 2022, 9:43 AM
At the risk of repeating ourselves regarding bond market trends of the past few months, 2022's initial rate rout clearly gave way to something more 's...
Mon, Jun 6 2022, 4:19 PM
Bonds Surprised by Supply Even Though They Knew Supply Was Coming
Whether in reference to the regularly sche...
Mon, Jun 6 2022, 3:53 PM
Last week's mortgage rate momentum served to reverse 3 of the best consecutive weeks in nearly a year--themselves a reversal of the worst 4 months sin...
Mon, Jun 6 2022, 3:36 PM
In stark contrast to the recent New Home Sales data, a new white paper from Black Knight suggests that, by the time we include existing homes, there a...
Mon, Jun 6 2022, 11:49 AM
The week begins with bonds adding to recent losses as yields move back toward the top of the prevailing sideways range. There are several ways to app...
Mon, Jun 6 2022, 10:44 AM
As servicing rights continue to be sold, and residential lender layoffs are rampant, here’s a quick reminder that anyone displaced can post their resu...
Fri, Jun 3 2022, 6:05 PM
By last Friday, rates had improved so much from recent highs that we were finally able to consider that 2022's trend had shifted gears from "skyrocket...
Fri, Jun 3 2022, 4:18 PM
Why Bonds Reacted to Such a Small Beat in The Jobs Data
In today's jobs report, headline payrolls came in at...
Fri, Jun 3 2022, 10:10 AM
Vice President Dan Quayle sagely observed, among other things, “If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." Is our housing market in danger of f...
Thu, Jun 2 2022, 4:53 PM
Mortgage rates jumped higher at a fairly quick pace during the first 2 days of the week (in this case, Tue/Wed due to Memorial Day holiday). Today br...
Thu, Jun 2 2022, 4:39 PM
Do Bonds Care About Jobs Data Again?
Yesterday it was the ISM Manufacturing data that moved the bond market....
Thu, Jun 2 2022, 11:44 AM
For those that prefer not to overcomplicate things, the current bond market environment can be summed up with one quick concept: rates have broadly le...
Thu, Jun 2 2022, 10:59 AM
If you see me talking to myself, just move along. I'm self-employed, and we're having a staff meeting. Self-employed borrowers are certainly a target ...
Wed, Jun 1 2022, 4:38 PM
Mortgage rates moved higher for the 2nd straight day this week. On both days, the pace has been brisk by historical standards. In terms of the avera...
Wed, Jun 1 2022, 4:10 PM
Ceiling Looking Too Low After ISM Data Reaction
Yields may have failed to break below a floor of 2.72% last ...
Wed, Jun 1 2022, 12:28 PM
Construction spending continues to run well above its pace in 2021 with the residential sector remaining responsible for much of the gain. Total spend...
Wed, Jun 1 2022, 11:16 AM
This morning I head off to Orange County to the IMN Non-QM Forum where homeownership and home finance option discussions will be center stage. Did you...
Wed, Jun 1 2022, 9:56 AM
Even though mortgage interest rates moved lower again last week, application activity continued to decline. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) sai...
Wed, Jun 1 2022, 9:45 AM
10yr yields weren't able to break convincingly below 2.72% after multiple attempts in the previous week. Friday's final attempt was definitively crus...
Tue, May 31 2022, 4:52 PM
As of last Friday, mortgage rates had enjoyed 3 of their best weeks in a long time. Sure, there were caveats that argued against celebrating the gain...
Tue, May 31 2022, 4:31 PM
Big Losses For Bonds After 3 Weeks of Gains
The last 3 weeks of May were like an oasis in what has otherwise...
Tue, May 31 2022, 11:51 AM
10yr yields bounced at or near 2.72% for 4 straight days heading into the end of last week. Now this morning, they're sharply higher and already abov...
Tue, May 31 2022, 11:09 AM
Yes, it’s already Tuesday. Are we at the top of the market? A pair of Goldman Sachs-backed ventures gobbled up an entire rental home community in Flor...
Fri, May 27 2022, 4:30 PM
The housing market has been keeping its head down, keeping calm, and carrying on in the face of the biggest rate spike since the 1980s. The ability t...
Fri, May 27 2022, 4:20 PM
"Little-Changed" Friday, Both For Bonds and Inflation
Today begins with the much-anticipated PCE inflation d...
Fri, May 27 2022, 12:12 PM
Today begins with the much-anticipated PCE inflation data coming in right in line with expectations. The result: a bond market that was already mostl...
Fri, May 27 2022, 11:07 AM
What guy hasn’t wanted to usher a gal through to a club like Ray Liotta did, masterfully filmed without cutting away? Unfortunately, breaking the spel...
Thu, May 26 2022, 5:21 PM
Rate Ceiling Considerations Ahead of Inflation Data
Rates/bonds were under pressure ahead of today's 7yr Tre...
Thu, May 26 2022, 10:43 AM
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) says its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) in April represents a sixth consecutive monthly decline. The Inde...
Thu, May 26 2022, 10:36 AM
Yesterday I visited Sacramento to speak to an audience of real estate agents and originators in a joint MGIC/Golden 1 Credit Union event. The mood was...
Wed, May 25 2022, 5:48 PM
Bonds Holding Gains Despite Bounce in Stocks; Fed Minutes Uneventful
Today's Fed Minutes proved to be every ...
Wed, May 25 2022, 5:46 PM
Mortgage rates fell again today, bringing them even deeper into their best levels in over a month, but caveats abound. First off. They're still quit...
Wed, May 25 2022, 4:08 PM
Today's weekly mortgage application survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) was fairly unsurprising in that applications declined, but at a...
Wed, May 25 2022, 10:47 AM
All the stories that could be told, and so many that have yet to happen. And now 19 that never will be. It is very hard to go about one’s day, whether...
Wed, May 25 2022, 10:02 AM
In the run up to the most recent Fed announcement, the 50bp rate hike was a foregone conclusion. There was some uncertainty about how the Fed would a...
