MBS RECAP: "Totally Expected" Budget Bill Shocks Markets
Friday, October 20, 2017
Posted To: MBS Commentary There's a good video in the news stream with Austan Goolsbee going on a bit of rant about how the Senate's procedural vote on a budget resolution late last night was totally expected. Someone should have told financial markets ahead of time. Traders speak with do... .. read more..
Mortgage Rates Rocked (Relatively) By Tax Plan Optimism
Friday, October 20, 2017
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Mortgage rates moved higher today as financial markets grew more optimistic about the potential for tax reform. Late last night, the Senate passed a resolution that included language designed to make tax reform legislation easier to pass. In a nutshell, it means the... .. read more..
Consumers: On-Line Mortgage Info Convenient, not Trustworthy
Friday, October 20, 2017
Posted To: MND NewsWire While it sometimes seems as though Americans live online, there is still apparently one area where they still value human contact. A recent survey conducted by Fannie Mae found borrowers continue to put a lot of trust in their real estate agent and their mortgage lender. T... .. read more..
Existing Sales Beat Forecast Despite Taking a Hit From Hurricanes
Friday, October 20, 2017
Posted To: MND NewsWire It was only a small gain , albeit larger than analysts expected, but after three straight months of sliding sales, the existing home sales report for September is still good news. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR), said the month saw closed transactions for t... .. read more..
Refinancing Share at Early 2017 Levels
Friday, October 20, 2017
Posted To: MND NewsWire Refinancing increased its share of total originations in September, rising 3 percentage points from August to 38 percent of all closed loans. Ellie Mae, in its Originations Insight report says the refinance share was the highest since February and set forth two possible re... .. read more..
New Wholesaler, Lender/Vendor Tools; Capital Markets Product
Friday, October 20, 2017
Posted To: Pipeline Press Not only are houses becoming smaller, but the lots are smaller also. Trulia tells us that houses built since 2015 occupy, on average, 25 percent of the land they were built on. That figure was only 13.9 percent in 1975. And according to Capital Economics Ltd. , the size ... .. read more..
MBS Day Ahead: Bonds Back on The Ropes
Friday, October 20, 2017
Posted To: MBS Commentary It's a crappy day. Sorry to use such an esoteric analytical term, but it's the most accurate way to describe the outlook. So what changed? Long story short, we'd been in a narrow, consolidative range since late September. That range had a chance to be a strai... .. read more..
MBS RECAP: Catalonia (or China!) Helped Early; Powell Saved The Day
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Posted To: MBS Commentary It was a pretty interesting session for how narrow the range continues to be in bond markets--interesting both for bonds themselves and for the analysts scrambling to make sense of the movement. Apart from last Friday's CPI data, there hasn't been an unequivocal ... .. read more..
Mortgage Rates Hold Ground Amid Market Volatility
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Mortgage rates were unchanged to slightly lower today. Political drama in Europe pushed stocks lower overnight and sent investors toward safer haven assets like bonds. Higher demand for bonds pushes rates lower, all things being equal. All of the above meant a stron... .. read more..
Remodelers Report Backlogs, Labor Shortages as Market Grows
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Posted To: MND NewsWire Home remodeling activity reported by builders increased in the third quarter and remains above the benchmark 50 level for the 18 th consecutive quarter. The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI) rose 2 points to 57 as more builders rep... .. read more..
Freddie Changes Student Loan Debt Calculation
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Posted To: MND NewsWire A new Bulletin from Freddie Mac makes several changes to its Seller Guide . The most impactful changes relate to the way sellers can calculate student loan debt for inclusion in the monthly payment debt-to-income ratio. Under the current policy, when a seller cannot provid... .. read more..
New Vendor Creations; Jumbo and No MI Products
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Posted To: Pipeline Press Yesterday I had some interesting geographic involving the United States that prompted Tony H. to send a few more items. The closest state to Africa? It’s Maine! (Quoddy Head. The largest U.S. city closest to Africa is Boston.) And if one flew directly south from th... .. read more..
MBS Day Ahead: 2 Simple Lines Means Bonds Stay In The Game
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Posted To: MBS Commentary The past 3 days were disconcerting for bond markets--especially yesterday, which saw yields move higher at their quickest pace in two weeks. This threatened to reverse the positive trend that looked like it was confirmed by last Friday's CPI-driven rally. But as we d... .. read more..
MBS RECAP: Stronger Selling and Lighter Volume Raise Doubts
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Posted To: MBS Commentary Everything seemed so simple last Friday when bonds were surging past technical barriers in strong volume--ostensibly ringing the dinner bell for more bond buying. The fact that everything seemed so simple was also the biggest risk. Perhaps it was "too simple." ... .. read more..
Mortgage Rates Rise Only Modestly Despite Market Weakness
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Mortgage rates moved modestly higher today despite bigger movement in underlying bond markets. In part, this is a byproduct of the way rates behaved at the end of last week, when lenders didn't adjust rates lower as quickly as bond market strength would have suggest... .. read more..