Thu, Feb 4 2021, 11:33 AM
The homeownership rate fell in the fourth quarter down 1.6 percentage points from its third quarter level but remained higher than in the same quarter...
Thu, Feb 4 2021, 10:45 AM
Making headlines is United Wholesale averaging $15 billion a month in production and earning total net income of $3.4 billion for 2020 , quite a chang...
Thu, Feb 4 2021, 10:05 AM
This is a bit of a paradoxical outlook. In short, things have been consistently downbeat enough for the bond market that we're due to see a friendly d...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 4:20 PM
Bad Vibes Persist For Bonds and Rates
Bonds began the day in weaker shape, thus keeping the threat of an ong...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 9:52 AM
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but the bond market is in the midst of a big-picture correction from the all-time lows seen in the middle of ...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 9:31 AM
Companies and organizations around the nation are wondering about when in-person conferences will become the norm again. While they’re wondering about...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 8:16 AM
CoreLogic reports that December saw yet another acceleration in home price increases. The company's Home Price Index (HPI) rose 9.2 percent on an annu...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 3:44 PM
Mortgage Rates were steady to slightly lower yesterday even though prevailing trends in the bond market suggested caution. Today's trading is a differ...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 3:39 PM
Mid-Day Recovery, But Broader Risks Remain
Bonds did well enough yesterday to suggest yields might not be in...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 11:18 AM
The Urban Institute (UI) has looked at a final mortgage rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in late 2020 which would provid...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 11:06 AM
Public and privately funded construction spending ended 2020 with a 4.7 percent increase over spending in 2019. The U.S. Census Bureau said the combin...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 10:49 AM
Okay boys and girls, besides it being a snow day in the Northeast, and Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil's 135th prognostication, here is today’s sh...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 9:47 AM
Between Friday and Monday, it looked like the bond market might try to hold at slightly better levels than those implied by the recent bounce at 1.0% ...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 3:42 PM
Fairly Balanced Day For Bonds and Fairly Balanced Outlook For Now
This morning's commentary discusses the tw...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 3:40 PM
Mortgage Rates did well last week, with the average lender getting very close to long-term lows by Wednesday. After that, however, volatility in the b...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 1:36 PM
The current Mortgage Monitor from Black Knight looks at the recent small increases in mortgage rates and their potential impact on home sales. The com...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 11:08 AM
Freddie Mac reported this week that its total mortgage portfolio increased at an annualized rate of 22.4 percent in December compared to a 29.5 percen...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 11:01 AM
January’s already in the rearview mirror and our industry is keeping an eye on all kinds of things. Like silent movies moving into “the Talkies” in 19...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 9:14 AM
Bonds find themselves in an interesting position heading into February. On the one hand, there's a well-established tepid recovery narrative that coi...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 5:35 PM
Decent Recovery After Scary Start But Risks Remain
10yr yields were as high as 1.105% at one point today, bu...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 4:52 PM
After spiking in early January, interest rates returned to near-all-time-low levels by the middle of the week. By the end, however, the market began t...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 11:11 AM
Pending home sales retreated for the fourth straight month in December. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said its Pending Home Sales Index,...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 10:20 AM
One should never stop learning. For example, I just began reading a great book: “How to Cook Crack and Clean a Crab.” Step One: Use commas. I learned ...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 9:40 AM
Yesterday's bond market weakness ran the risk of signalling an end to the winning streak enjoyed since January 12th. Those gains were fairly steady a...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 8:15 AM
While the number of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE) loans in forbearance continued to decline last week, that 4,000 loan improvement was more than of...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 3:52 PM
Why Are We Losing Ground Today and What's The Implication?
Due to its timing and size, today's bond market w...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 11:08 AM
New homes sales managed a small increase in December following three months of losses including a substantial downturn in November. The U.S. Census Bu...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 10:33 AM
The stock price of American Airlines back to February 2020 levels. Investors seem to be “buying hope.” In Mortgage Land, though I am beginning to hear...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 8:31 AM
Bonds have rallied or held steady every day this week and the net effect is a visit to the 1.0% psychological floor for 10yr yields. Psychology aside...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 4:59 PM
Very Tame Reaction to The Fed Despite Bond-Friendly Message
Bonds took a bit of a lead-off heading into toda...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 2:02 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, Jan 27 2021, 9:42 AM
With 10yr yields breaking the 1.075% technical floor on Monday, the bond market added evidence to the case for a move back to 1.0%. Today's early gai...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 9:21 AM
The Acting Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced an extension of the deadline for borrowers with FHA mortga...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 9:18 AM
Just a couple more weeks until my uncle sends me a text asking if I’ve seen these funny photos of Bernie Sanders , of which there are no shortage. The...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 4:03 PM
It probably wasn't on your COVID Bingo card, but the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is finding more and more evidence that the pandemic ...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 4:03 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed to slightly higher today, depending on the lender. "Higher" is a relative term, in this case as the average loan seeker is u...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 3:58 PM
MBS Outperform Treasuries Thank to Light Supply at Fed Buying Operation
Treasuries didn't gain any new groun...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 12:12 PM
The annual increases in U.S. home prices is nearing dizzying levels. The November data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) crossed into dou...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 9:55 AM
While the Biden Administration waits for the Trump staff to tell them the Wi-Fi password in the White House, the government continues to occupy our th...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 9:44 AM
10yr yields broke below 1.075% yesterday--a level that had proven tough to break despite multiple attempts in the past 2 weeks. The move followed sev...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 4:24 PM
What's a bond market rally and why should mortgage rates care? There are all kinds of bonds. US Treasuries would be the quintessential example, but th...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 4:17 PM
Strong Move in Treasuries But MBS Underperform (Significantly)
While much of the world of finance and instit...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 11:44 AM
The interest rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages originated in December reached an all-time low in ICE Mortgage Technology's (formerly Ellie Mae's) ...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 10:35 AM
There’s always “stuff” going on in residential lending, right? Capital markets folks have noticed that the big banks are re-entering buying jumbo loan...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 9:31 AM
Another week, another chance to see if bonds will continue to avoid confrontation with the boundaries of the recent range. 1.075% emerged as the floo...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 4:24 PM
Calm Week Ends on an Even Calmer Note
It's rare to see non-holidays Fridays in January be quite as underwhel...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 4:23 PM
While it wasn't quite the biggest surprise of 2020, the strength of the housing market was one of the best. The just-released numbers for December kee...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 1:09 PM
Existing home sales resumed an upward trajectory in December. After drifting lower by 2.5 percent in November, breaking a five-month streak of gains ,...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 1:00 PM
Optimism is running high in Fannie Mae's first Economic and Housing Outlook of the year. The company's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) team says...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 11:37 AM
Mortgage performance understandably deteriorated over the course of 2020. Black Knight, in its "first look" at December data, noted that the year ende...
