Wed, Jul 14 2021, 8:44 AM
Mortgage application volume during the week ended July 9 featured the largest weekly increase since the first full week of 2021. The Mortgage Bankers ...
Tue, Jul 13 2021, 4:08 PM
Mortgage rates are coming off a solid performance last week after having moved to the lowest levels in 5 months by Thursday afternoon. This week is sh...
Tue, Jul 13 2021, 3:43 PM
How Does Today's Big Sell-Off Affect The Bigger Picture?
Bonds sold off somewhat aggressively this afternoon...
Tue, Jul 13 2021, 11:48 AM
The share of mortgages originated for home purchases hit its highest level since February of 2020 in May. ICE Mortgage Technology's Origination Insigh...
Tue, Jul 13 2021, 11:19 AM
When one thinks of a Constitutional Amendment, many think of the 2nd amendment (right to bear arms, 1789), 13th (end of slavery, 1865), or the 16th (c...
Tue, Jul 13 2021, 9:16 AM
We came into today expecting some asymmetric risk in favor of the bond market due to the recent tendency to take inflation numbers in stride. In simp...
Mon, Jul 12 2021, 3:56 PM
Still on a Fence as Bonds Work Through Early-Week Risks
We closed out last week on a fence about the short t...
Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:41 AM
There was, as expected, a huge improvement in the number of forbearance plans during the week ended July 6. Black Knight reports that the number of ho...
Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:38 AM
I head to San Diego today for the CAMP event as the industry continues to change back to in-person events. There is always change. (How’s that for an ...
Mon, Jul 12 2021, 9:18 AM
Last week ended on a bittersweet note as a surprisingly strong rally was met with big push-back on Friday. The jury was out as to whether we were wit...
Fri, Jul 9 2021, 2:23 PM
Bigger Picture Bounce or Just Another Pre-Weekend Pause
Bonds were moderately to sharply weaker overnight an...
Fri, Jul 9 2021, 1:37 PM
Even though rates rebounded to slightly higher levels on Friday, the week generally brought pleasant surprises as the mortgage market returned to leve...
Fri, Jul 9 2021, 10:42 AM
Someone once said, “A loss is not a failure until you make an excuse.” You can apply that to politics or to sports. Or to business. No company wants t...
Fri, Jul 9 2021, 9:17 AM
Big changes in the economic landscape bring big opportunities to consider whether bonds are priced where they should be. The entire spring and summer...
Thu, Jul 8 2021, 4:20 PM
Impressive Move to Longer-Term Lows. What's Next?
The centerpiece of today's global trading session was an ...
Thu, Jul 8 2021, 2:58 PM
With yesterday's mortgage rates already near longer-term lows, all it took was a modest improvement for today's rates to officially hit their best lev...
Thu, Jul 8 2021, 11:38 AM
Fannie Mae said "Consumers are increasingly adamant that it's a good time to sell, bad time to buy a home" as it released its June Home Purchase Senti...
Thu, Jul 8 2021, 11:34 AM
I head to Salt Lake City today, and on the way to the airport thought to myself, with all the technological and scientific advances being made, the fo...
Thu, Jul 8 2021, 8:59 AM
A more and more vocal contingent of traders and analysts began calling for "1.25% before 1.75%" over the past 2 months and they were rewarded overnigh...
Wed, Jul 7 2021, 4:14 PM
We recently summarized a report from the Urban Institute (UI) about the apparent reluctance of sellers to entertain offers from prospective buyers int...
Wed, Jul 7 2021, 4:04 PM
Traders Shrug Off Fed Minutes to Keep buying Bonds
Hindsight is 20/20 and it now seems clear that traders we...
Wed, Jul 7 2021, 3:04 PM
Mortgage rates have fallen fairly consistently over the past 2.5 weeks with the past 2 days seeing some of the better improvements. There haven't been...
Wed, Jul 7 2021, 11:52 AM
Sorry the commentary was a little late today. I was on the phone dealing with my car’s extended warranty. Per the personalized recording, they’ve been...
Wed, Jul 7 2021, 9:38 AM
Whether it's an imperfect catch-all term like "tradeflows," or a similarly imprecise reference to the "unseen hand," bonds often find motivation from ...
Wed, Jul 7 2021, 8:08 AM
The week preceding the Independence Day holiday saw a further decline in mortgage applications for both home purchases and refinancing. The Mortgage B...
Tue, Jul 6 2021, 4:09 PM
CoreLogic report for May is yet another reporting home prices are still moving higher. May's year-over-year appreciation of 15.4 percent was the highe...
Tue, Jul 6 2021, 4:07 PM
The Urban Institute (UI) says it appears that the current sellers' market is having a negative impact on government backed loans and the borrowers who...
Tue, Jul 6 2021, 4:04 PM
The past week saw a moderate drop in the number of loans in forbearance, but Black Knight, in its report for the week ended June 29, said the upcoming...
Tue, Jul 6 2021, 4:00 PM
Strong Start to a Slow Week
Bonds rallied today, both before and after the weak ISM Non-Manufacturing data. ...
Tue, Jul 6 2021, 11:08 AM
Dang it is becoming more and more expensive to follow all the rules and regulations to originate residential loans. These costs, of course, are borne ...
Tue, Jul 6 2021, 9:36 AM
2021 began with heavy selling pressure in bonds following the Georgia senate election (which gave full control of congress and the White House to one ...
Fri, Jul 2 2021, 3:34 PM
What To Make of The Post-NFP Rally
Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) beat forecasts (850k vs 700k), which is normally s...
Fri, Jul 2 2021, 11:27 AM
I realize that this is a commentary about lending, but it is good for MLOs to be cognizant of what their real estate agent client’s clients want… In a...
Fri, Jul 2 2021, 9:03 AM
While the headline for nonfarm payrolls (850k vs 700k f'cast) seems like cause for concern at first glance, the bond market is digesting it well so fa...
Thu, Jul 1 2021, 4:24 PM
Mortgage rates have had several good weeks now after being dealt a blow by the Fed announcement on June 16th. Said "blow" is relative , to say the lea...
Thu, Jul 1 2021, 3:14 PM
Uneventful Start to Q3, But Tomorrow is a Wild Card
There's always some risk that the first trading day of a...
Thu, Jul 1 2021, 11:27 AM
Construction spending fell off a bit in May, however residential construction remains the strongest sector , accounting for more than half the annuali...
Thu, Jul 1 2021, 11:25 AM
Pending home sales in April unnerved a lot of people. At what should have been a high point in the spring market, they fell 4.4 percent from the previ...
Thu, Jul 1 2021, 11:00 AM
Halfway done with 2021?! Yes, time is flying, and summer is here. The weather service just published instructions on how to bake a lasagna in your mai...
Thu, Jul 1 2021, 9:36 AM
The simple concept of timing is often underappreciated as a market mover. For instance, 820am and 3pm ET can often be sources of volatility simply be...
Wed, Jun 30 2021, 4:29 PM
Mortgage rates fell again today--now officially below the lowest levels in the past 2 weeks. In order to accomplish that, rates had to fully erase the...
Wed, Jun 30 2021, 4:11 PM
Failed Breakout Puts More Emphasis on End-of-Week Events
Notice that the headline didn't invoke "the jobs re...
Wed, Jun 30 2021, 10:57 AM
“Adam and Eve were the first people not to read the Apple terms and conditions.” Who has actually read their phone’s manual? Technology marches on, wi...
Wed, Jun 30 2021, 9:41 AM
Some people may pine for Fridays due to the end of a work week, or perhaps as the start of an extended weekend (as is the case with the impending exam...
Wed, Jun 30 2021, 9:34 AM
Mortgage applications fell sharply last week, affecting both refinance and purchase components of the Mortgage Banker Association's (MBA's) Market Com...
Tue, Jun 29 2021, 4:10 PM
Strong Data, But Even Stronger Sideways Grind
Bonds started the day in slightly weaker territory but moved v...
Tue, Jun 29 2021, 3:12 PM
Mortgage rates are primarily a function of trading levels in the bond market and bonds have enjoyed (or suffered) an interesting mix of volatility and...
Tue, Jun 29 2021, 1:17 PM
The government stakeholders involved in the various pandemic related forbearance programs appear to be directing their full attention to their upcomin...
Tue, Jun 29 2021, 1:14 PM
When the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller and Federal Housing Finance Agency's price reports for March were released we wrote that the superlatives were get...
Tue, Jun 29 2021, 10:57 AM
Ginnie Mae sent out a press release last week could create some confusion for those readers who only skimmed the lede. The opening paragraph states th...
