Mon, Jan 14 2013, 7:21 AM
With backs against the wall on Friday, and very much at risk of triggering a negative technical signal, bond markets battled back for their 2nd best c...
Wed, Jan 2 2013, 11:17 AM
On this Wednesday that seems like a Monday, politicians in Washington celebrated after kind of averting a completely unnecessary crisis that was ent...
Mon, Dec 31 2012, 10:48 AM
As our nation prepares to begin the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau
today projected that on Jan. 1, 2013, the total United States population
will ...
Thu, Dec 27 2012, 9:57 AM
Okay, so here's something entirely un-mortgage related - productivity
this week stinks anyway. The kids are back from college, or on vacation from
s...
Wed, Dec 19 2012, 11:04 AM
Permits for privately owned residential construction
increased by 3.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in November compared to
October. Acco...
Wed, Dec 19 2012, 4:13 PM
On to something a little less fun. Uh oh. I can't weigh in on the
validity of this comment, but it comes from a reliable wholesale rep and if
true i...
Tue, Dec 18 2012, 11:39 AM
Low mortgage rates will continue to aid the housing and mortgage
markets in the New Year as the Federal Reserve continues to purchase $40
billion...
Mon, Dec 17 2012, 9:28 AM
Say what you want about Trulia, it just issued the results of a survey that has
Realtors and LO's cheering: 93% of renters between the ages of 18 a...
Thu, Dec 6 2012, 1:21 PM
The number of housing markets designated
as improving by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) took a huge
jump in December, increasin...
Tue, Dec 4 2012, 11:38 AM
As many lenders think back on record-breaking Novembers, and I head to
Pennsylvania for the rest of the week, here is a quick bit of trivia. James
P...
Mon, Dec 3 2012, 11:22 AM
It seems that Congress is once again tempted to come back to the "mortgage
well" since the House passed HR 1629, the STEM Jobs Act of 2012. The bil...
Tue, Nov 20 2012, 11:43 AM
Well, if you can't fix your brakes,
make your horn louder . Odd logic is somewhat humorous. But as any LO or
servicer knows, just because you modi...
Tue, Nov 20 2012, 11:04 AM
Permits for new residential construction
were issued at a lower rate in October than in September according to the
monthly report issued on Tuesday...
Mon, Nov 19 2012, 10:41 AM
"Be good to your neighbor - they know where you live!" The Pilgrims did
not have many neighbors, but in the in the fall of 1621 they held a three-day...
Wed, Nov 14 2012, 5:06 PM
Freddie Mac's economists today used the analogy of a patient with a high fever to talk about the recent course of the housing market. In the Novembe...
Fri, Nov 2 2012, 9:01 AM
"Spring ahead, fall back!" Sunday morning, folks in most states
will receive an extra hour of snooze time!
What's the difference between a hurri...
Thu, Nov 1 2012, 9:17 AM
Hey, it's November 1st! Just think: any 60 day rate lock (pretty
common place these days) expires in 2013! All those LO's with hefty incomes
in 20...
Tue, Oct 30 2012, 12:11 PM
Thank you to Julie F. from NJ on the FEMA declarations and re-inspections
normally required on properties in a disaster area . (A 2070, or 2075, wit...
Tue, Oct 30 2012, 10:20 AM
There is
continued good news about home prices from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price
Indices today. Both the 10-City and the
20-City Composites...
Mon, Oct 29 2012, 10:33 AM
Although the credit markets are open until noon EST, and thus rates are
moving, the Fannie Trading Desk spread the word to clients, " Due to
Hurrica...
Thu, Oct 25 2012, 10:21 AM
Pending home sales were flat in
September, inching up 0.3 percent on the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)
maintained by the National Association of ...
Mon, Oct 22 2012, 10:29 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau tells us that in many of the largest cities of the
most-populous metro areas, downtown is becoming a place not only to work b...
Thu, Oct 18 2012, 10:29 AM
The Harvard Joint Center for Housing
Studies is predicting strong gains in remodeling and home improvement activity
over the rest of 2012 and the ...
Thu, Oct 18 2012, 9:38 AM
Pay no attention to those stories about "Shadow Inventory"!
Apparently that has all been soaked up. Or, at least, builders and the NAR
would like to...
Wed, Oct 17 2012, 12:41 PM
Permits
for new single family houses jumped 11.6 percent in September. The seasonally adjusted annual rate rose from
a revised August estimate of ...
Wed, Oct 17 2012, 10:03 AM
"Rob, in the old days, I'd go to conferences and secondary marketing
people would compare their status by comparing guarantee and guarantor fees.
Th...
Wed, Oct 17 2012, 2:09 PM
Even though bond markets clearly reacted to Housing Starts
data, the sharp movement still fell within the broader pattern of
movement stretching...
Mon, Oct 15 2012, 10:35 AM
Will Basel III be delayed? Maybe! Here is the latest: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-11/eu-said-to-weigh-delaying-basel-bank-rules-for-up-to-a-...
Wed, Oct 10 2012, 5:00 PM
The Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District or the so-called Beige Book was released on Wednesday. The doc...
Fri, Oct 5 2012, 3:11 PM
Bill Dudley, president and CEO of the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York and vice chair of the Federal Open Market
Committee (FOMC) told a conference ...
Tue, Oct 2 2012, 10:54 AM
Funders and government workers (not the same!) know that next Monday
is a holiday for many. October - it has Halloween! Wasn't it just the 4th
of ...
Mon, Oct 1 2012, 12:31 PM
While overall construction spending fell
in August, both public and private spending on residential construction increased
during the month. The Ce...
Mon, Oct 1 2012, 9:43 AM
This one from an AE in a "red state": Q: Do you know what the
difference is between conservatives and progressives? A: About $16
trillion! Trillion...
Tue, Sep 25 2012, 11:07 AM
Home prices as measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller
Home Price Indices rose across the board in July with both the 10- and 20-City
Composites and all...
Thu, Sep 20 2012, 10:22 AM
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Here's a loan officer in
Washington facing 10-14 years for falsifying documents .
Will those in the ...
Wed, Sep 19 2012, 11:27 AM
"Rob , how the heck are we supposed to know what any financial asset is
worth? For many years the government has given farm subsidies, sugar cane
s...
Wed, Sep 19 2012, 10:09 AM
Permits for construction of privately-owned
housing dipped slightly in August, down 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 803,000 unit...
Wed, Sep 19 2012, 4:10 PM
Building permits for residential
remodeling were issued at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.14 million in
July, an increase of 6 percent fro...
Mon, Sep 17 2012, 11:57 AM
We, including my old college roommate "Slugbreath," find
ourselves in "Unmarried and Single
Americans Week." The Buckeye Singles Council "National...
Mon, Sep 10 2012, 10:03 AM
One of Coke's slogans several years ago was, "Always
Coca-Cola." Unfortunately for SunTrust, who invested in the company almost
a hundred years ago,...
Wed, Sep 5 2012, 10:40 AM
Yes, most kids are back to school. How many is that? The Census Bureau
reports that there are about 80 million
children and adults enrolled in scho...
Tue, Sep 4 2012, 11:08 AM
Yes, it's Tuesday already - and football season. Wasn't it just Memorial
Day? Here's a quick one told to me by a college football referee in Ohio:
"...
Tue, Sep 4 2012, 4:07 PM
Construction spending was $834.39 billion in July compared
to $842.22 billion in June and $763.47 in July 2011, a decrease of 0.9 percent
from the ...
Thu, Aug 30 2012, 10:18 AM
I can't walk by a magazine stand in a grocery store or an airport without
seeing a bunch of folks on the covers who are either in better shape than I...
Wed, Aug 29 2012, 10:47 AM
Pending home sales rose to the highest
level in over two years last month according to the Pending Home Sales Index
for July released by the Nationa...
Thu, Aug 16 2012, 10:55 AM
Who doesn't like to have a little exercise when they travel? But this
might make some nervous .
This morning we had the weekly Initial Jobless ...
Thu, Aug 16 2012, 10:39 AM
Overall, residential construction
continued to improve in July, although the component numbers on permits,
starts, and completions continue to more ...
Mon, Aug 13 2012, 10:25 AM
I love it when regulators and politicians become upset about the
environment which they've helped create - unintended consequences. One
suggestion l...
Tue, Jul 31 2012, 10:45 AM
The home price picture showed further improvement
with the release this morning of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices
(HPI) for May. Both th...
Mon, Jul 30 2012, 10:17 AM
"Rob, with the Wells news earlier this month, and FAMC's comp change
last week, I am hearing rumors of all kinds of price and investor changes .
On...
