Category: Mortgage News Daily

Posted To: MBS CommentaryBonds have either trying to position themselves in a relatively defensive, pessimistic stance heading into upcoming key events, or their staging on the edge of some important technical levels and daring those events to push them into weaker territory. Don’t worry about trying to understand that sentence until we take a look at charts. The notion of ” staging on the edge of important technical levels” has to do with the consolidation created by the collision of September’s decisive uptrend in rates with October’s corrective downtrend. In other words, we’re talking about the diagonal lines in the following chart. Yields have bounced on the ceiling several times. They’ll need to find a reason to rally today if they’re to avoid breaking above it. Now let’s…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: Pipeline PressFor me October included time in Washington (State and DC), California, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Nevada. Lenders are talking about technology, the rate of change, and the overwhelming options available to LOs. And for home buyers, the process & economics are changing. Thanks to Amy R. who sent along this new company site . The buyer pays nothing, the seller pays 1.95 points to Ribbon, and the company ushers the buyer through the process . If the buyer is delayed in financing, “We will resell/convey the home back to you at the same price we purchased it for on the official purchase agreement.” And don’t forget OpenDoor or Redfin’s 1% commission . Do you think real estate agents are welcoming this? Lender Products and Services JMAC Lending is extending its $500…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: MND NewsWireSingle family home prices increased during the third quarter of 2018 in 93 percent or 166 of the 178 metropolitan areas tracked by the National Association of Realtors ® (NAR). NAR’s quarterly report on existing home sales and metro area prices again faults the low level of moderately priced homes for stifling home sales and continuing to drive prices higher. None-the-less, there was a tiny bit of deceleration noted in the third quarter report. NAR says the national median price for an existing single-family home was $266,900, an increase of 4.8 percent from the third quarter 2017 median of $254,700. This is a 0.1 point smaller rate of increase than in second quarter. The number of metro areas with double digit increases also declined, from 24 in the second quarter to 18 in the third. Lawrence…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: MBS CommentaryThe title of this commentary is not a Halloween pun . I don’t do Halloween puns anymore. No, there is some legitimate cause for concern–even a bit of fear–in the bond market movement seen so far this week. This movement wouldn’t be much to look at in and of itself, but it’s when we compare it to moves in equities markets that the fear starts to set in. What am I talking about? Really, the same thing I’ve brought up a few times since Monday morning when I noted that bond yields were unwilling to move to new lows on Monday despite stocks making new lows for the month. That’s highlighted in the chart below (“bounce clues”), as well as two subsequent examples of bonds’ willingness to sell despite an absence of obvious justification from stocks (highlighted as…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: Mortgage Rate WatchMortgage rates were higher by a fairly small margin once again today. Interest rates in general (which are determined by the bond market) have been taking most of their cues from recent stock market volatility. That’s not always the way it works, but it’s the way things have been in the wake of the big stock losses seen on several occasions in recent weeks. Now, as stocks begin to stabilize and move higher, rates have felt some pressure to do the same. Unfortunately, in relative terms, the recent drop in rates hasn’t even come close to matching the move in stocks. Simply put, the bond market is reluctant to improve too much without more substantial justification. Such justification could take the shape of even bigger stock losses, or more realistically, weaker economic data. To that end, the…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: MBS CommentaryBonds ended the day in weaker territory with 10yr yields rising roughly 3bps and Fannie 4.0 MBS losing nearly a quarter of a point. Much like yesterday, bonds lost most of their ground in the overnight session. Much like yesterday, an absence of drama in equities markets gave way to bond losses. Taken together with the last 4 trading sessions, bonds look as though they’re bouncing at 10yr yield levels near 3.06. In that sense, today’s modest weakness offers another bit of confirmation for that bounce. The counterpoint is that yields seemed similarly unwilling to break up above 3.16% today. The general unwillingness to extend a rally or to spike to higher yields is consistent with indecision . Perhaps bonds are waiting for input from the upcoming economic data or from next week’s…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: MND NewsWireWhile they are talking apples and oranges, both the U.S. Census Bureau and ATTOM Data Solutions each took a recent look at residential vacancies . The Census Bureau’s quarterly report on Residential Vacancies and Homeownership noted a decline in the incidence of rental property vacancies and a stable situation among owned properties while ATTOM was concerned primarily with what they call “zombie” foreclosures, homes that fall vacant during the foreclosure process. The Census Bureau puts the vacancy rate for rental housing at 7.1 percent in the third quarter of this year, down from 7.5 percent last year, while the homeowner vacancy rate, at 1.6 percent was identical year-over-year. The report estimates a total of 138.6 million housing units nationwide, 121.354 million or 87.6 percent of which…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: MND NewsWireAfter posting the first across-the-board volume increases in almost a month during the week ended October 19, activity reversed last week, and the seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index declined 2.5 percent. The index, produced by the Mortgage Bankers Association, lost 3 percent on an unadjusted basis. The MBA’s Refinance Index was down by 4 percent during the week ended October 26, the fourth negative report in the last five weeks, and the share of applications that were for refinancing decreased to 39.4 percent from 39.8 percent. Both the seasonally adjusted and the unadjusted Purchase Indices declined by 2 percent from the previous week and the unadjusted version was 0.4 percent below the level during the same week in 2017, the first year-over-year loss since August. The average size…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: Pipeline Press“The best part about Halloween is that the cobwebs in my house look like decorations.” For perhaps a morning, the focus for lenders has shifted away from cash flow and recruiting to who will win the yearly Halloween costume contest. The usual favorite (IT – Minions) or the long-shot shipping department (Ninja Turtles)? Perhaps accounting (The Pricing is Right!) or underwriting (Game of Thrones)? Compliance and QC departments have been gutted, but their Baywatch entries turned heads in the past. Or perhaps the dark horse: Capital Markets as One Direction. So much intrigue! Lender Products and Services Advantage Credit, Inc ., a leading provider of credit reporting and verification services to the mortgage industry is pleased to announce its merger with Clear Choice Credit based in…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Posted To: MND NewsWireThe S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index for August showed an annual appreciation rate that was lower than 6.0 percent for the first time in a year. The rate fell from 6.0 percent in July to 5.8 percent in the index which covers all nine U.S. census districts. On a month-over-month basis the National Index was up 0.2 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis and was 0.6 percent higher than in July when seasonally adjusted. The 10-City Composite Index dropped from an annual gain of 5.5 percent in July to 5.1 percent in August while the 20-City Composite declined to 5.5 percent from 5.9 percent. On a monthly basis both indices were unchanged from their July readings on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, but each rose 0.1 percent after adjustment. Twelve of the 20 cities…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.