Thu, Nov 12 2009, 2:01 PM
Mortgages continued to hold firm with average rates below 5 percent for both long and short term loans. The 30-year FRM has now been below 5 percent ...
Tue, Nov 10 2009, 10:01 AM
The Federal Reserve's Senior Loan Officer Survey for October shows that banks are still tightening their lending standards, although not with the freq...
Tue, Nov 10 2009, 8:09 AM
Investors look hesitant to keep the rally going. The S&P 500 has climbed 5.5% on six straight days of gains and the Dow hit a 13-month yesterday at 10...
Tue, Nov 10 2009, 4:42 PM
The Treasury Department announced Tuesday morning that its Making Home Affordable Program (HAMP) now has more than 650,000 mortgage modifications unde...
Tue, Nov 10 2009, 2:02 PM
We've been getting a lot of questions about the particulars of the Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension. While I wish we could take credit for the abundanc...
Mon, Nov 9 2009, 8:11 AM
The week ahead is extremely light on new data, with virtually nothing from the US hitting markets until the jobless claims report on Thursday morning....
Fri, Nov 6 2009, 12:31 PM
Fannie Mae reported a loss of nearly $19 billion in the third quarter due largely to credit-related expenses. The resulting deficit has prompted FHFA...
Fri, Nov 6 2009, 7:59 AM
Trading is cautious ahead of the month’s most important indicator. Equities jumped more than 2% on Thursday on optimism for the labor market and posit...
Fri, Nov 6 2009, 1:43 PM
President Barack Obama signed into law this morning legislation extending the $8,000 tax credit beyond its current November 30 expiration date. The b...
Thu, Nov 5 2009, 10:25 AM
In the week ending October 31, 2009, jobless claims fell to 512,000 from 532,000 in the previous week, which was revised higher from 530,000. Economis...
Thu, Nov 5 2009, 8:08 AM
The US Senate OK’d an extension of the first-time home-buyer tax credit that was to expire at the end of this month. The incentive will now expire six...
Thu, Nov 5 2009, 5:04 PM
In the five trading days between October 29 and November 4, the Federal Reserve purchased a total of $16.00 billion agency MBS. A gradual slowdown in ...
Thu, Nov 5 2009, 2:57 PM
The House of Representatives has voted to pass legislation extending the first time home tax credit until April 30, 2010.
Last night the Senate vot...
Thu, Nov 5 2009, 2:02 PM
Both long and short term interest rates declined during the week ended November 5 according to data released by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. All rates...
Thu, Nov 5 2009, 1:36 PM
Fannie Mae announced on Thursday that some borrowers who cannot otherwise qualify for loan modifications may be able to remain in their homes for a ye...
Wed, Nov 4 2009, 7:53 AM
In last week's release, which reported data for the week ending October 23, mortgage application activity fell 12.3% even as mortgage rates dropped fr...
Wed, Nov 4 2009, 7:48 AM
Risk is back on the table. As investors await labor data, a key survey on the services sector, and of course the policy announcement from the central ...
Wed, Nov 4 2009, 7:39 PM
The Senate today voted unanimously Wednesday night to extend the $8,000 tax credit for home buyers beyond its scheduled November 30, 2009 expiration d...
Wed, Nov 4 2009, 3:43 PM
Although this may not be necessary, I am going to over-analyze the FOMC statement and relate it to mortgage rates.
Tue, Nov 3 2009, 7:46 AM
For a packed week Tuesday is pretty light, but that hasn’t stopped equity futures from dropping sharply lower. Markets in Europe are the likely culpri...
Mon, Nov 2 2009, 11:01 AM
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in September, rose 6.1 percent to 110.1 from a reading of 103.8 in...
Mon, Nov 2 2009, 10:16 AM
The institute for supply management released the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business this morning. "Economic activity in the manufacturing sector exp...
Mon, Nov 2 2009, 8:15 AM
Volatility in the stock market left equities in a state of pessimism last week. The S&P 500 lost 4.02% in the five trading sessions, including a 2.81%...
Mon, Nov 2 2009, 1:12 PM
Mortgage bankers reported a substantial increase in per-loans profits during the second quarter of 2009 and an increase in loans, especially refinanci...
Fri, Oct 30 2009, 12:56 PM
The resolution would extend the present conventional loan limits for Fannie and Freddie through the 2010 calendar year at 125 percent of local median ...
Fri, Oct 30 2009, 8:20 AM
Upbeat earnings and the +3.5% GDP report helped US stocks jump around 2% yesterday, though the gains weren’t enough to wipe out losses from earlier in...
Thu, Oct 29 2009, 7:52 AM
quities were slashed yesterday after the new home sales report posted an unexpected 3.6% decline for September. The S&P 500 fell 1.95%, the Nasdaq she...
Thu, Oct 29 2009, 3:00 PM
The Federal Reserve today reported on their weekly purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). In the five trading days between October 22 a...
Thu, Oct 29 2009, 2:59 PM
Mortgage rates for the last week have remained relatively unchanged according to information released by Freddie Mac from its weekly Primary Mortgage ...
Thu, Oct 29 2009, 1:15 PM
While we generally try to avoid getting caught up in political poo throwing, we know many are anxiously awaiting news from Capitol Hill regarding the ...
Wed, Oct 28 2009, 8:09 AM
Shares in the S&P 500 have fallen for three consecutive days and on Wednesday futures are extending those losses ahead of fresh data and more Q3 earni...
Wed, Oct 28 2009, 7:26 AM
In last week's release, which reported data for the week ending October 16, mortgage application activity fell 13.7% as mortgage rates rose from 5.02%...
Wed, Oct 28 2009, 3:42 PM
This month single family new home sales fell for the first time since March. The annual pace of new homes sales was 402,000 sales per year, well below...
Tue, Oct 27 2009, 12:12 PM
This month, the S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index continued to improve as prices in 17 of 20 metro cities increased in August, albeit at a slower pace...
Tue, Oct 27 2009, 7:44 AM
US equities are mixed in this morning’s future session after shares fell more than 1% on Monday. S&P 500 and Dow futures are each looking slightly up,...
Mon, Oct 26 2009, 7:55 AM
Eight trading days have passed since the Dow crossed 10,000 for the first time in over a year. Yet mixed data and third-quarter earnings since then ha...
Fri, Oct 23 2009, 11:14 AM
The House Financial Services Committee passed the Consumer Financial Protection Act on Thursday. The legislation will consolidate regulation of finan...
Fri, Oct 23 2009, 8:02 AM
Equity futures are flat to slightly lower this morning after shares in the S&P 500 jumped 1.06% yesterday. Today markets will received fresh data for ...
Fri, Oct 23 2009, 4:44 PM
Freddie Mac released their activity summary today. This data reports on monthly and year-to-date activity for Freddie Mac's Total Mortgage, Retained a...
Fri, Oct 23 2009, 2:08 PM
Existing-home sales jumped 9.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a level of 5.10 million in August, and are 9.2 percen...
Thu, Oct 22 2009, 10:11 AM
This data set tracks new filings for unemployment insurance benefits and the number of Americans who continue to receive state unemployment benefits (...
Thu, Oct 22 2009, 8:07 AM
Equity markets in the US have been falling for two consecutive days. Ahead of several data reports, speeches from Federal Reserve officials, and a del...
Thu, Oct 22 2009, 5:02 PM
The goal of the Federal Reserve's agency MBS program is to provide support to mortgage and housing markets and to foster improved conditions in financ...
Wed, Oct 21 2009, 10:38 AM
The Mortgage Banker's application survey covers over 50% of all US residential mortgage loan applications taken by mortgage bankers, commercial banks,...
Wed, Oct 21 2009, 7:31 AM
Equities are looking to extend yesterday’s losses in this morning’s pre-trading session. The data schedule is light today with no major releases sched...
Wed, Oct 21 2009, 4:05 PM
The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on Tuesday as part of its consideration of a proposal to extend the November 30 end date of the homebuyers...
Wed, Oct 21 2009, 3:30 PM
The Beige Book is a summary of economic conditions around the country. About a month before the upcoming FOMC meeting, each of the 12 regional Federa...
Tue, Oct 20 2009, 11:20 AM
New housing starts rose less than expected to 590,000 annualized units, economists were expecting a rise of 610,000 units after a read of 598,000 in A...
Tue, Oct 20 2009, 9:22 AM
The Departments of Treasury and HUD announced a new two-prong program to keep Housing Finance Agencies in the lending business. One part of the progr...
Tue, Oct 20 2009, 7:19 AM
US equities are poised to open at fresh one-year highs on Tuesday morning. Sentiment is higher owing to Apple’s post-closing bell announcement that it...
