Tue, Jun 29 2021, 10:45 AM
Say what you will about huge companies not having an impact on housing, MLOs can’t ignore the fact that they’re here. The latest example is global rea...
Tue, Jun 29 2021, 9:21 AM
Since the 2nd week of June, the bond market has been operating in a fairly narrow range with trading momentum being largely flat in the bigger picture...
Mon, Jun 28 2021, 4:38 PM
Monday Giveth
Summertime weekend trading dynamics are sadly a source of motivation for bond markets--especia...
Mon, Jun 28 2021, 11:38 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 8.6 percent in May compared to a 13.2 percent gain...
Mon, Jun 28 2021, 11:37 AM
The White House has announced another key appointee to a federal housing post. Julia Gordon has been named Assistant Secretary for Housing at the Depa...
Mon, Jun 28 2021, 11:36 AM
Black Knight reports that the number of loans in forbearance rose by 1,000 during the week ended June 22. The company says this was a continuation of ...
Mon, Jun 28 2021, 11:16 AM
Seattle will hit 110 degrees F today. Change is afoot. Last week changes of personnel within the CFPB and the FHFA (hence Fannie & Freddie) captured o...
Mon, Jun 28 2021, 10:39 AM
This week brings good potential for volatility as Friday represents the confluence of several individual events that are normally worth some volatilit...
Fri, Jun 25 2021, 11:56 AM
Small, Defensive Shift Heading Into The Weekend
The highest core inflation in decades proved to be no big de...
Fri, Jun 25 2021, 11:29 AM
As lenders are working on adjusting margins, best-ex, and staffing, while at the same time relieved that rates haven’t gone up and pipelines are motor...
Fri, Jun 25 2021, 10:07 AM
Much like the CPI data 2 weeks ago, today's PCE data showed the highest core inflation in decades. In fact, we'd have to go back almost 3 decades when...
Thu, Jun 24 2021, 3:26 PM
Bonds Snooze Through Data and Infrastructure Bill
The day began with a morning of lackluster econ data being...
Thu, Jun 24 2021, 11:41 AM
The White House didn't waste any time after a Supreme Court ruling allowed it to do so, removing Mark Calabria as Director of the Federal Housing Fina...
Thu, Jun 24 2021, 10:59 AM
In case you haven’t heard, the Supreme Court ruled that a U.S. president can remove the head of Federal Housing Finance Agency, in this case, Mark Cal...
Thu, Jun 24 2021, 10:22 AM
This week's supply of economic data is rapidly dwindling and we've yet to see a bond market reaction worth writing home about. This morning's crop pr...
Wed, Jun 23 2021, 3:58 PM
Sideways Grind Means More Focus on Next Jobs Report
As bonds continue to distance themselves from last week'...
Wed, Jun 23 2021, 2:51 PM
New home sales dropped for the second month in May, falling below an 800,000 unit pace for the first time in a year. The U.S. Census Bureau and the De...
Wed, Jun 23 2021, 2:49 PM
On Wednesday morning the Supreme Court ruled that the statutory restrictions on the president's ability to remove the chairman of the Federal Housing ...
Wed, Jun 23 2021, 11:04 AM
Folks are talking about how in-person mortgage conferences are coming back strong. For example, here in Florida that MBAF conference is approaching 30...
Wed, Jun 23 2021, 9:25 AM
If Yesterday's big to-do was Fed Chair Powell's testimony, today's will be the 5yr Treasury auction. Notably, Powell didn't have a big impact. His c...
Tue, Jun 22 2021, 5:05 PM
No Whammies From Powell. Bonds Like It
Today's only notable calendar item was the congressional testimony fr...
Tue, Jun 22 2021, 1:03 PM
Existing home sales experienced their fourth consecutive decline in May . The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said sales of previously owned s...
Tue, Jun 22 2021, 1:01 PM
Well, that turned on a dime. Lumber prices, which had risen more than exponentially during the pandemic and were a problem even before, have started d...
Tue, Jun 22 2021, 11:03 AM
Is office work returning? Some watch traffic patterns, and, sure ‘nuff, cars on the freeways of Los Angeles are traveling slower indicating that the c...
Tue, Jun 22 2021, 10:50 AM
The Fed's messaging is in a state of flux to some extent, as they move away from the "full speed ahead until further notice" and toward an evolving co...
Mon, Jun 21 2021, 4:29 PM
In 2010 it was viewed as a quick way to make a buck, but Wall Street's investment in single-family rental housing soon became a distinct asset class a...
Mon, Jun 21 2021, 4:29 PM
10yr yields may have hit their lowest levels in months in the wee hours of the morning and people may always perceive a bit too much correlation betwe...
Mon, Jun 21 2021, 4:23 PM
Treasury Trading Trends Coming and Going
Way back in early 2021, steepening was all the rage. That refers t...
Mon, Jun 21 2021, 11:24 AM
Last week was volatile for bonds with trepidation heading into (and out of) the Fed Announcement. A surprisingly strong reversal on Thu/Fri brought y...
Mon, Jun 21 2021, 11:03 AM
Today I head to Orlando for the Mortgage Bankers Association of Florida 2021 Secondary and Convention (approaching 250 registrants!) The live and in-p...
Fri, Jun 18 2021, 3:52 PM
MBS Only Slightly Better While 10yr Shines
As discussed in the day ahead, the bond market is in the midst of...
Fri, Jun 18 2021, 11:04 AM
Our typical definition of "repricing" has to do with mortgage lender reprices, but the term has always existed beyond our little corner of the market....
Fri, Jun 18 2021, 10:21 AM
When my Dad retired from the navy in 1962 after 20 years, he found a job through the Want Ads in the newspaper. I post jobs here, through the wonders ...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 4:44 PM
Fannie Mae's economists have revised a lot of their forecast from last month as new data has come in. The outlook for the 2021 GDP has been revised mo...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 4:31 PM
Strong Showing For Longer-Dated Bonds
With the Fed's dot plot in focus yesterday, the associated drama was h...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 4:23 PM
It's Thursday on a volatile week for the bond market and thus time, once again, to play our favorite game: "no, rates didn't really do that." Sometime...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 11:05 AM
Fortunately for much of the rest of the United States, lumber prices have been falling since May, hopefully cutting the money required for new constru...
Thu, Jun 17 2021, 10:55 AM
After Wednesday's Fed-inspired rout, bond yields have done a great job finding support in the 1.56-1.59% area overnight amid high volume trading. All...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 4:42 PM
Mortgage rates were already drifting higher in the first half of the week, but that was nothing compared to today. This afternoon's Fed Announcement w...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 4:18 PM
Fed's Salty Dots Rock Bonds
As feared/anticipated, today was all about the "dots" (the dot plot that shows F...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 2:00 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, Jun 16 2021, 10:31 AM
Broker and Lender Services and Products Faster applications = happier borrowers = loyal customers. VOE+VOIs are an unnecessary pain in the you know wh...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 10:22 AM
Housing starts recovered in May after falling more than 9 percent in April but permitting had another lackluster month. The U.S. Census Bureau and Dep...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 9:52 AM
There are 8 Fed announcements per year (barring emergencies). Today's announcement is one of the 4 that include updated economic projections (the "do...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:13 AM
The latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) dropped 2 points in June. The Index, a measure of home ...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:10 AM
A new report from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) says that the demand for and sale of vacation homes soared during the pandemic. While th...
Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:07 AM
Mortgage application activity bounced back from the Memorial Day holiday week with a seasonally adjusted increase of 4.2 percent in the Mortgage Banke...
Tue, Jun 15 2021, 4:15 PM
Mortgage rates had a great week last week, ultimately getting very close to the lowest levels since March. One of the main sources of motivation was t...
Tue, Jun 15 2021, 4:10 PM
Pre-Fed Paralysis Despite Some Interesting Data
Retail Sales down 1.3% and last month revised up to 0.9%? C...
Tue, Jun 15 2021, 11:40 AM
I was spending a little time yesterday evening at the local cannabis club with my favorite bud-tender (an ombudsman!), and she was telling me about ho...
