Category: Mortgage News Daily

Posted To: MND NewsWireLesson learned? Whether they saw their credit decimated by the housing crisis and the Great Recession or merely watched loan standards tightened beyond their ability to qualify, Americans seem to have taken to heart the importance of their credit scores. The result, FICO says, is that consumer credit scores have reached a new high, an average of 704 points. Kenneth Harney, in an article for the Washington Post’s Writers’ Group, quotes FICO Vice President of Scores and Analytics Ethan Dornhelm that Americans are “making more judicious use of credit.” This means higher scores on the FICO model that weights them not only in terms of on-time payments but on the length of the credit history, the amount and type of credit a consumer has available, and how much of that available credit is being used…(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 availability of mortgage credit at least as measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA’s) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) pulled back in September, with the government component of the index falling to the lowest level in four years . The MCAI registered 182.1 at month’s end, an 0.8 percent decline. An increase in the index indicates a loosening of credit, a lower number indicates standards have tightened . The components, representing different loan programs, largely offset each other, making substantial moves in both directions. The Conventional MCAI rose 1.2 percent and one of its components, the Jumbo Index increased by 2.7 percent. The Conforming MCAI, the second part of the Conventional Index, decreased by 0.7 percent and the Government MCAI lost 2.5 percent. “Credit…(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 WatchIf you don’t happen to make it past this first sentence, just know that anyone telling you rates are much higher today is NOT lying to you. Anyone telling you the opposite is wrong, even though they may not understand why they’re wrong. Coming to such an understanding is no harder than reading the next few paragraphs. Mortgage rates can be tricky to follow, at first glance. They’re not quite like other rates that move frequently throughout the day and that are published in a standardized format in multiple obvious locations. I’m thinking of something like the 10yr Treasury yield for the sake of comparison. In fairly short order, it would be easy to find multiple sources on the web that are telling you the same story on 10yr yields. But when it comes to mortgage rates, you’re likely to get several…(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 CommentaryIf you’re looking for today’s recap, check out the Huddle . Or just know that we sold-off a bit more and then settled sideways, fairly close to yesterday’s highest rates. Mortgage lenders dinged rate sheets just a bit more and we’re now waiting to see the effects from tomorrow morning’s jobs data. If you’re looking for what some might call wisdom and what others might call food for thought, the rest of this might be interesting. There was one time in my life where I was sure that rates were going lower in fairly short order. That was almost exactly 10 years ago this week when the financial crisis was just about to pop. I felt super smart as 10yr yields plummeted from 3.8 to 2.04% in less than 1 month. Just over 1 month after that, I was surprised to see 10yr yields moving…(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 PressIn bad news, mortgage rates went up about .25% yesterday. In good news, more homes are going up for sale. According to realtor.com there was a September jump of 8% year over year, that’s the biggest jump since 2013. Between less deductions and higher rates, anxious sellers may have no other choice but to lower prices. “The Labor Department’s data on wages for US workers showed gains higher than expected for hourly wages, and the department’s forthcoming consumer-price index is expected to show growth. Some analysts have expressed concerns that the data could indicate accelerating inflation.” Are “analysts” ever happy? Most would say we need wage growth to outpace housing appreciation. There is a lot of economic news pointing to higher rates ahead – more below….(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 NewsWireNearly two years ago the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) approved Underserved Market Plans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These plans, part of FHFA’s Duty to Serve mandate to the two GSEs, set forth their plans for serving three specific markets, manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing, by increasing the liquidity of mortgage investments and improving the distribution of capital available for mortgage financing for very low-, low-, and moderate-income families in the three markets. The plans went into effect at the first of the year, and the GSEs have used them to set several programs in motion. Most recent was last week’s announcement from Freddie Mac of an intent to expand mortgages available to shared equity housing arrangements. FHFA is now requesting…(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 CommentaryIn terms of outright movement toward higher rates, you’d have to go back to the days following the election in November 2016 to find anything worse than today. It was like a handful of other snowball selling sprees seen over the years in that it seemed unnecessarily relentless while it was in process, but will end up making sense in the bigger picture. Whether or not it will make sense to you depends a lot on how closely you’ve been following along (either with the realities facing rates over the past few years or simply with this commentary). It would seem quite complicated if you’re not already drinking my kool-aid , so I’ll attempt to share an abbreviated recipe below. Incidentally, I say “my kool aid,” but in reality, I think there’s only one kool-aid when…(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 CommentaryZen practitioners are an odd lot. One of their hallmark koans–the one about whether or not a tree falling in the woods makes a sound–is nonsense. I can only imagine that the person who came up with that one had never actually seen a tree. Perhaps he or she thought it was made of feathers. Or perhaps there really is some merit to the question inasmuch as how one defines “sound.” Does the falling tree still disturb surrounding particles of air and create soundwaves that COULD be heard if someone were within earshot? Of course. Does that count as “sound?” I don’t really care. Physics tells us the soundwaves are there, and that if anyone is close enough, they would hear them. A far more relevant question is as follows. If you hear a tree falling in the woods, do you give…(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 NewsWireAs mortgage interest rates moved higher during the week ended September 28, with small increases carrying most to new seven year highs, application activity almost froze in place. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of application volume, was unchanged from the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis and lost 0.2 percent on an unadjusted basis. The Refinancing Index decreased 0.1 percent from the previous week. The share of applications that were for refinancing was unchanged from the week ended September 21 at 39.4 percent. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index eked out a 0.1 percent increase , extending to five weeks its streak of mainly tiny gains. On an unadjusted basis the measure declined 0.2 percent from the previous week’s level and was…(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 PressBetween 2001 and 2016, 97 percent of total job growth in the Unites States happened in urban counties. And while rural America is absolutely struggling, all rural America isn’t all struggling. In the top 10% for job growth, the U.S. counties, 34% are large metros/urban, 14% medium metros, 11% small metros, 18% were rural and adjacent to a metro, but there are plenty of remote rural counties doing great : 16% of the counties in the top 10 percent for job growth are small and rural and not adjacent to a metro. Typically, it’s because the factory fairy recently visited: Storey County in Nevada got the Tesla factory, Love County, Oklahoma got a casino, Sumter County, Florida got a retirement community. Lender Products and Services With just 2 short weeks until our industry ascends on…(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.