Tue, Aug 10 2021, 2:24 PM
After hitting 6-month lows early last week, mortgage rates bounced and have been moving higher ever since. The increases were moderate at first, but t...
Tue, Aug 10 2021, 12:00 PM
Bonds are still in the process of trying to find a ceiling after embarking on a decisive uptrend that began in the middle of last week and accelerated...
Tue, Aug 10 2021, 10:51 AM
While the national delinquency rate has not returned to the 3.5 percent rate it had reached before the onset of the pandemic, CoreLogic says the perce...
Tue, Aug 10 2021, 10:47 AM
It was one week ago that the “benchmark” 10-year yield hit 1.17 percent. Now we’re back up to 1.32, the same yield that we saw for much of early and m...
Mon, Aug 9 2021, 3:28 PM
Bonds Turn Red Early, But Outright Losses Were Minimal
The week began with refreshing stability and modest g...
Mon, Aug 9 2021, 2:50 PM
Consumer sentiment about buying a house fell even further into negative territory in July. Fannie Mae said that only 28 percent of respondents to its ...
Mon, Aug 9 2021, 10:47 AM
Last week I was in Orange County at the Insellerate Experience Summit 21, and this week I am 2,500 miles away in Orlando, FL at the Lenders One Summit...
Mon, Aug 9 2021, 10:33 AM
If bonds needed an excuse to move up and out of their lowest range since February, last week's jobs report provided enough of an opportunity for selle...
Fri, Aug 6 2021, 3:56 PM
Bigger Picture Bounce Becomes Bigger Risk, But Not The only Risk
Friday's strong jobs report certainly deser...
Fri, Aug 6 2021, 12:38 PM
Thanks to rising home prices. hardly any homeowners find themselves underwater on their mortgages and the few that do are concentrated in a few cities...
Fri, Aug 6 2021, 11:15 AM
NFP printed at 943k vs a median forecast of 870k. The previous month was revised up by 88k as well. Unemployment ticked down to 5.4% vs a 5.7% forec...
Fri, Aug 6 2021, 11:04 AM
We live in world of numbers. It has been 76 years since an atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Let’s hope nothing close, with its 140,000 instantaneou...
Thu, Aug 5 2021, 4:47 PM
Freddie Mae has announced a new single-close mortgage product that will allow homeowners to finance the cost of small scale renovations. The CHOICERen...
Thu, Aug 5 2021, 4:28 PM
Bonds Definitely Playing Defense Ahead of NFP
Friday's nonfarm payrolls data (NFP) will be more important th...
Thu, Aug 5 2021, 3:11 PM
Mortgage rates moved up from 6-month lows yesterday and that trend continued today. This time around, we didn't have any obvious culprits on the econo...
Thu, Aug 5 2021, 11:28 AM
“Why was the mortgage so depressed? Because it was a loan.” Yes, cutting-edge humor like that is why you read this commentary. No MLO should be depres...
Thu, Aug 5 2021, 10:02 AM
Bonds have been increasingly willing to react to economic data as we approach the fall months (the time frame in which the Fed's taper announcement be...
Wed, Aug 4 2021, 4:20 PM
Mortgage rates hit their best levels in 6 months yesterday, but moved higher today following a strong report on the services sector. The economy is on...
Wed, Aug 4 2021, 4:17 PM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 12.9 percent in June compared to an 8.6 percent ga...
Wed, Aug 4 2021, 4:02 PM
Sell-Off Talked Tough But Backed Down When Confronted
On a week that started with a downbeat ISM Manufacturi...
Wed, Aug 4 2021, 10:54 AM
After a quiet, boring Tuesday, Wednesday is bringing the heat. It looked like things would get off to a solid start for bonds after weaker ADP data e...
Wed, Aug 4 2021, 10:51 AM
WalletHub released its 2021 Home Overleverage Report after determining where homeowners have the most unsustainable mortgage debts. WalletHub compared...
Wed, Aug 4 2021, 10:46 AM
Despite newly lower interest rates, mortgage applications were lower during the week ended July 30. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Ma...
Tue, Aug 3 2021, 5:43 PM
Each of the GSEs have posted strong financial results for the second quarter of 2021. Both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae more than doubled their net inco...
Tue, Aug 3 2021, 5:41 PM
The prognosticators keep prognosticating, but their prognostications don't happen. Home price appreciation shows no sign of slowing down. CoreLogic sa...
Tue, Aug 3 2021, 5:15 PM
Inconsequential Trading Day With Some MBS Underperformance
Today was remarkably unremarkable. Volume and vo...
Tue, Aug 3 2021, 2:48 PM
Mortgage rates moved slightly lower again today--extending a steady string of improvements that began after last week's Fed announcement. The average ...
Tue, Aug 3 2021, 11:30 AM
There is always a lull in covid reporting over the weekend as several states no longer publish weekend data. Monday's counts are thus informative as ...
Tue, Aug 3 2021, 11:09 AM
As the industry digests Fannie Mae’s earnings announcement this morning with its $7.2 billion of net earnings in the second quarter of 2021, did you k...
Mon, Aug 2 2021, 3:40 PM
Bonds Surge Into August Despite Headwinds
It was an interesting juxtaposition to see a Fed speaker talking a...
Mon, Aug 2 2021, 1:41 PM
In its latest Mortgage Monitor, Black Knight analyzes the impact the elimination of the 50 basis point adverse market fee from the cost of Fannie Mae ...
Mon, Aug 2 2021, 1:27 PM
June was yet another month when the only bright spot in the U.S. Census Bureau's construction spending report was provided by the residential sector. ...
Mon, Aug 2 2021, 1:25 PM
With the federal moratorium on evictions expiring on July 31, it is becoming apparent that there is a real housing crisis looming. Not one like we saw...
Mon, Aug 2 2021, 1:24 PM
The number of active forbearance plans jumped higher this week , increasing by a net of 31,000 loans. Black Knight says that, as of July 27, there wer...
Mon, Aug 2 2021, 11:10 AM
Who predicted that we’d be at 1.22 percent on the 10-year yield to start August? And 30-year fixed-rate mortgages still chopping around in the high 2 ...
Mon, Aug 2 2021, 10:59 AM
Due to the presence of bigger ticket economic data (among other things), it was fair to expect more volatility in the current week compared to the pre...
Fri, Jul 30 2021, 4:12 PM
Strong, Calm Week. Next Week Might Be Different
Saying "next week might be different" is of questionable va...
Fri, Jul 30 2021, 11:23 AM
Yesterday I received this note from Tennessee. “Rob, thank you for the commentary, as always. Among several noteworthy items in yesterday’s, one thing...
Fri, Jul 30 2021, 11:00 AM
The sun also rises and inflation also misses its forecast! After several months of reasonably big upside surprises, core PCE inflation finally undersh...
Thu, Jul 29 2021, 3:56 PM
Slightly Weaker Today, But Still In The Recent Range
Thursday proved to be a very forgettable session for th...
Thu, Jul 29 2021, 2:50 PM
"Taper talk" refers to comments, speeches, or official policy communications from the Federal Reserve (aka "the Fed") that speak to the timing and nat...
Thu, Jul 29 2021, 11:27 AM
The Board of Directors of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has released model state regulatory prudential standards for nonbank mortgag...
Thu, Jul 29 2021, 11:24 AM
Pending home sales fell back slightly in June after a notable and unexpected 8.0 percent gain in May. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said...
Thu, Jul 29 2021, 11:12 AM
Mission Statements are so passe. We now have “long term vision statements.” For some, great literature consists of the Bible, or Moby . For others of ...
Thu, Jul 29 2021, 10:47 AM
With the Fed having confirmed their expected stance (closer to tapering, tolerant of short-term inflation, and plenty of pandemic-related uncertainty ...
Wed, Jul 28 2021, 4:34 PM
Fed Hints At Tapering, But Bonds Don't Care
Why are rates lower despite the Fed announcement taking another ...
Wed, Jul 28 2021, 2:01 PM
The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum ...
Wed, Jul 28 2021, 11:07 AM
Refinancing continues to support mortgage application activity while purchase applications continued to weaken during the week ended July 23. The Mort...
Wed, Jul 28 2021, 11:06 AM
Like 8 other Wednesdays each year, today brings a healthy dose of volatility risk from the Fed Announcement and press conference (note: this is one of...
Wed, Jul 28 2021, 11:05 AM
I didn’t sign up for a 401k. I can’t run that far. Understanding numbers is important, as is accurately reporting them. For example, yesterday I mista...
