Mon, Mar 7 2022, 4:14 PM
Mortgage rates have experienced significant volatility so far in 2022. At first, this was almost exclusively a function of the Federal Reserve or, ...
Mon, Mar 7 2022, 12:32 PM
All too often, when it comes to consumer surveys about the future, the results tend to reflect what has already happened as opposed to what will conti...
Mon, Mar 7 2022, 11:52 AM
What is $9,140? It was the production cost, per IMB loan for the 3rd quarter in 2021. (The Q4 2021 results are coming out on March 22.) I bring this u...
Mon, Mar 7 2022, 10:05 AM
The week is getting off to a weaker start. Bonds rallied in the first hour of overnight trading but began to lose ground steadily after that. By the...
Fri, Mar 4 2022, 8:46 PM
Financial markets were already dealing with rapidly evolving Fed policy shifts, a big jump in rates, and a big drop in stocks. But after Russia invade...
Fri, Mar 4 2022, 4:07 PM
Yields Near Recent Lows Heading Into Another Highly Uncertain Weekend
Bonds began the overnight session with...
Fri, Mar 4 2022, 11:46 AM
As Russia continues waging war on Ukraine and wage growth disappointed in this morning's jobs report, bonds are rallying back toward the best levels o...
Fri, Mar 4 2022, 10:28 AM
Yes, it’s March 4th… the only day that is a command for us humans. We thought it was our ability to love that made us human, but it turns out that it ...
Thu, Mar 3 2022, 4:47 PM
The first 2 days of the week marked the best 48 hour stint for mortgage rates since March 2020, and one of the best on record. Such victories require...
Thu, Mar 3 2022, 4:14 PM
Bonds Find Footing After Mid-Week Rout
Any additional weakness after Wednesday's blood-letting would have ad...
Thu, Mar 3 2022, 12:42 PM
There was more than a shred of hope in the overnight trading session as bonds were able to make modest gains despite slightly stronger stocks and anot...
Thu, Mar 3 2022, 10:21 AM
I flew into San Diego yesterday for the MCT Exchange, and it is hard not to notice the number of boats in the harbor. For some quick “fun with numbers...
Wed, Mar 2 2022, 4:56 PM
On a normal week, we can follow day to day movement in rates and point out how far behind the times the week-to-week changes are. This time around, t...
Wed, Mar 2 2022, 4:40 PM
Biggest Selling Spree in a Long Time, Here's Why
Absolutely massive selling in MBS today with 3.0 coupons lo...
Wed, Mar 2 2022, 1:24 PM
Mortgage applications have been making logical moves recently with higher rates causing a sharp deceleration in refinance activity. Purchases are off...
Wed, Mar 2 2022, 11:41 AM
The flight to safety trade has been dominating markets in the past week with bond yields hitting their lowest levels since January 13th yesterday and ...
Wed, Mar 2 2022, 10:03 AM
Loan originators spend their time making people’s days (unlike this film clip). Builders hope that they make people’s days, and I spent some time this...
Tue, Mar 1 2022, 4:48 PM
First thing's first. We need to get some caveats out of the way. The following should always be assumed when reading mortgage rate coverage, but I...
Tue, Mar 1 2022, 4:32 PM
Flight to Safety Dominates While Escalation Threats Remain
The line of traders waiting to buy Treasuries is ...
Tue, Mar 1 2022, 1:46 PM
CoreLogic released its Home Price Index for January today, showing year-over-year price appreciation of 19.1% nationally. That's the highest rate of ...
Tue, Mar 1 2022, 11:29 AM
"Sergeant, can we go for breakfast now?" "March first!" Welcome to March, with Mardi Gras beginning today, Daylight Savings Time on the 13th, Pi Day o...
Tue, Mar 1 2022, 10:54 AM
The line of traders waiting to buy Treasuries is as long as the line of trucks waiting to invade Kyiv. As long as the world is convinced that things ...
Mon, Feb 28 2022, 4:38 PM
Mortgage rates are based on bonds and bonds are often the target of safe haven buying in times of geopolitical distress. The situation in Ukraine c...
Mon, Feb 28 2022, 4:06 PM
Massive Month-End Buying Collides With Safe-Haven Demand
There was already a ton of safe haven demand in the...
Mon, Feb 28 2022, 1:53 PM
If it hasn't already happened, we'll likely all be tired of hearing the phrase 'geopolitical risks' by the end of the week. As far as non-experts can...
Mon, Feb 28 2022, 11:08 AM
I could tell that my cat Myrtle was miffed, and this time it didn’t have anything to do with the CFPB. (Nor me heading to Salt Lake City today for the...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 4:43 PM
Bonds End Roughly Unchanged As Market Prices Out Some Risk
Bonds started weaker and gradually worked their w...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 12:39 PM
The National Association of Realtors released January's Pending Home Sales report this morning, which measures signed purchase contracts as opposed to...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 12:11 PM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 11.2 percent in January compared to a 13.1 perce...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 11:54 AM
Remember how you wished that the pandemic wouldn’t be in the headlines every day? You got it! Unfortunately, it has been replaced by the Russian invas...
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 11:44 AM
Russia's military operations in and around Ukraine over the past 3 weeks have created significant volatility for the bond market. The fact that the ma...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 4:33 PM
Financial markets were intently focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine today. Such things tend to push interest rates lower and today was no excep...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 4:22 PM
What Did Bonds Give Up So Much Of Their Gains?
Russia fully invaded Ukraine overnight and bonds surged in re...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 1:46 PM
In today's release from the Census Bureau, New Home Sales fell 4.5% in January to an annual pace of 801k units. Economists were already expecting a d...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 12:48 PM
Russia fully invaded Ukraine overnight and bonds surged in response. Stocks fell. Oil prices surged. Then at 5:30am, oil prices and bonds reversed ...
Thu, Feb 24 2022, 11:13 AM
Greetings from Little Rock, Arkansas (home of cheese dip, 1935)! George Thorogood’s music is alive and well here, and a happy 72nd birthday to he who ...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 4:25 PM
It was another bad day for the mortgage market. This has been the norm so far in 2022 as financial markets continue repositioning for less and less s...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 3:40 PM
No Love For Bonds Despite Decent Auction and Stock Sell-Off
Bonds started the day in moderately weaker terri...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 3:02 PM
Fannie Mae’s economists have again stepped up their expectations for the Fed’s response to escalating inflation. A 7.5 percent annual increase in the ...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 12:28 PM
As we look back on the past few trading days (and reconcile them with up-to-the-minute action) it increasingly looks like stocks and bonds priced in a...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 9:47 AM
Lending is full of statistics. And originators follow many of them, looking for an edge in finding clients. Last year 27.1 million Americans moved, 80...
Wed, Feb 23 2022, 9:25 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly mortgage application data this morning. Here's the skinny: Refi Applications
-16% from last...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 4:51 PM
Heading into the extended weekend, there was a small possibility that today's mortgage rates would turn out to be slightly lower. Reasons for this ...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 4:43 PM
Treasuries Still Pricing In Some Uncertainty; MBS Underperform.
Bonds had a volatile trading day as markets ...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 4:42 PM
The Mortgage Bankers Association released its monthly update on the share of mortgages in forbearance. Forbearances spiked as the pandemic began, but...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 11:17 AM
Home price appreciation peaked in July with the FHFA House Price Index up 19.3% year-over year and the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Index up 20....
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 9:59 AM
While the bond market is watching the world define a Ukrainian “invasion,” do you know why you should respect people who wear glasses? They paid good ...
Tue, Feb 22 2022, 9:51 AM
Overnight trading was volatile at first, with yields falling all the way to 1.846 for 10yr Treasuries. In the first hour of domestic trading, they've...
Mon, Feb 21 2022, 7:42 AM
The mortgage talk here in Cleveland is how, “Tough times never last but tough people do.” Many estimates have residential production hitting $4.8 tril...
Fri, Feb 18 2022, 4:55 PM
With things still up in the air in terms of geopolitical risk, markets are seeking safer havens. Most recently, this is affecting stocks a bit more t...
