It ended up being a fairly uneventful day for mortgage rates despite scattered speculation about the impact of foreign monetary policy decisions. The average lender nudged just a hair higher, resulting in the 2nd lowest reading of the week. Apart from yesterday, the last day with lower rates was more than 2 weeks ago on […]
Mortgage Rates Just Off 2-Week Lows Read More »
Bond Market in Holiday Mode 2 Hours, 5 Min ago Bond Market in Holiday Mode Holiday mode is impossible to clearly define when it comes to its impact on the bond market. We know it when we see it, and we saw it today. Bonds paid no attention to econ data no
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Existing-home sales extended their recent stabilization in November, rising 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is the 3rd straight increase and annualized sales are at their highest level in 8 months. The catch is that–much like several other housing metrics–Existing Sales have
Highest Existing Home Sales in 8 Months But Don’t Get Excited Read More »
Officially, there were 2 days at the end of November where the average lender’s 30yr fixed rates were just a hair lower (0.02% difference). Otherwise, today’s rates would be the lowest since late October. The improvement follows this morning’s release of November’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). Inflation was so far below expectations that it raised
Mortgage Rates Near Lowest Levels Since October Read More »
Limited Follow-Through After Shockingly Big Miss Thu, Dec 18 2025, 4:53 PM Limited Follow-Through After Shockingly Big Miss If you told the average trader that today’s core CPI would come in at 2.6% vs 3.0% year over year, they would have expected a much bigger reaction than we saw today. Ironically, the
Limited Follow-Through After Shockingly Big Miss Read More »
Lender and Broker Services, Products, and Software “The federal quality control standards under Dodd Frank for automated valuation models (AVMs) require valuation professionals to provide greater transparency in how AVMs determine credible, consistent, and objective property values. That’s why it’s important (and required) to regularly test, monitor and validate your AVMs. ICE’s advanced AVMs and
Jumbo, Hedging, HELOC, Custom Newsletter Products; STRATMOR the UWM/TWO Deal Read More »
Great news for bonds on the inflation front this morning: Core annual inflation came in at 2.6% compared to a 3.0% forecast and 3.0% last time. It’s the lowest reading of the cycle and the first attempt to break below the stagnant sideways/elevated levels that have prevented more aggressive Fed rate cuts. Despite those facts,
Big Drop in Annual CPI, But Only a Cautious Rally So Far Read More »
Mortgage rates were perfectly unchanged compared to yesterday’s levels for the average lender. This wasn’t a huge surprise considering the absence of any high stakes economic data, but tomorrow could be a different story. Rates are driven by bonds and the economy is one of the primary sources of motivation for the bond market. In
Mortgage Rates Unchanged Ahead of Important Inflation Data Read More »
Slightly More Focus Than Normal on Thursday’s CPI Wed, Dec 17 2025, 4:17 PM Slightly More Focus Than Normal on Thursday’s CPI Wednesday ended up being an uneventful trading day with bonds mostly sideways and well within the recent trading range. This isn’t hard to believe given the absence of any relevant
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Sometimes, a borrower may owe back taxes to the IRS; having an IRS installment agreement (or one that’s still pending approval) doesn’t automatically disqualify you from getting a mortgage. However, it does require specific underwriting calculations that we must apply to ensure accurate debt-to-income (DTI) ratios. Here’s How It Works When a borrower has applied
Managing A Pending IRS Installment Agreement When Applying For A Mortgage Read More »