It's with no great pleasure (none of any kind, for that matter) that we find ourselves in a position to report, yet again, that mortgage rates have sailed decisively to another new multi-decade high. Today's installment is fairly unpleasant given that the average lender actually began the day in slightly stronger territory only to be […]
What is "Repricing" in The Broader Context, And How is it Moving Markets? We've been here before and we'll be here again, but each time feels like a surprising new twist on what we think we know about bond market motivations. The key word is "repricing," and we're not talking about lender rate sheets. In […]
Normally, when the bond market is in a pervasive selling trend, we'll see a day or two of reprieve amidst the carnage. Frequently, such days are friendly enough to lead to questions about whether they're evidence of a bounce. At the very least, when trading levels are much stronger on the morning after several days of big […]
Today I head to Phoenix area for the AzAMP annual conference, and am reminded that, “Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.” The mortgage industry is constantly changing, although Freddie and Fannie have been a somewhat stabilizing influence. But explaining to someone not in the mortgage business what they, the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) […]
The highest mortgage rates in 20+ years drove another decline in mortgage applications during the week ended September 22. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier and fell by 2.0 percent on an […]
In terms of day-over-day changes, today's mortgage rate movement was forgettable. The average borrower wouldn't see much of a difference from yesterday's rates at the average lender. In both cases, those rates would be at or near the highest levels since 2001. The underlying bond market experienced a bit more drama. The early morning hours […]