Kevin Rhine
Assistant Vice PresidentMortgage Loan Officer
NMLS# 763454 (940) 720-8031 kevin.rhine@unionsquare.org
Mortgage News
Existing Home Sales Reach Highest Levels Since 2006
Posted To: MND NewsWireExisting home sales resumed an upward trajectory in December. After drifting lower by 2.5 percent in November, breaking a five-month streak of gains , the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said sales in the last month of the year rose 0.7 percent. Sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.76 million during the month, compared to 6.69 million units in November. This represented a 22.2 percent increase over the 5.53 million unit rate a year earlier. The numbers were above the 6.40 million to 6.62 million range of forecasts by analysts polled by Econoday. Their consensus was for an annual rate of 6.55 million units. Single-family home sales were also 0.7 percent higher than the previous month at an annual rate of...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Read MoreUpbeat 2021 Econ Forecast From Fannie Mae
Posted To: MND NewsWireOptimism is running high in Fannie Mae's first Economic and Housing Outlook of the year. The company's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) team says expanding vaccination efforts, the potential of greater than previously expected fiscal stimulus, and the end of winter all "point to an economy ready to take off once COVID-19-related effects begin to subside." The company says that economic growth probably flatlined in November and December and it revised its final GDP estimate for the year down to a negative 2.7 percent. The economy is now poised to expand, although probably not before late spring. The ESR team has raised its expectations for 2121 from 4.5 percent growth in last month's report to 5.3 percent and by 0.4 points for 2022 to 3.6 percent. The Federal Reserve has stated it intends...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Read MoreEnd-of-Year Delinquencies a Challenge for 2021
Posted To: MND NewsWireMortgage performance understandably deteriorated over the course of 2020. Black Knight, in its "first look" at December data, noted that the year ended with 1.54 million more delinquent mortgages and 1.7 million more that were seriously delinquent than at the start, calling it "a looming reminder of the challenges facing the market in 2021 ." The situation did continue to improve as the year ended. The national delinquency rate fell 3.9 percent from November to December and the resulting rate of 6.08 percent of all active loans was the lowest since April 2020 when the financial effects of the pandemic kicked in. It is however, nearly 79 percent higher than the rate at the end of 2019. Serious delinquencies, loans 90 or more days past due but not in foreclosure, also declined, dropping by 47...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Read MoreMLO Jobs; Broker, Recruiting, HELOC Products; Freddie and Fannie Compliance Reminders
Posted To: Pipeline PressThis week Joe Exotic did not receive a presidential pardon, nor did mortgage rates move much versus last week, but there are still over 16 million refinance candidates who meet broad-based eligibility criteria and could also cut their first mortgage rate by 0.75 percent or more, per Black Knight. But last night the world saw, at 21:21, the 21 st second of the 21 st minute of the 21 st hour of the 21 st day of the 21 st year of the 21 st century. How cool is that!? Instructor: “Welcome to salsa class! Who’s ready to learn how to dance?” Me, hiding a bag of tortilla chips: “Uh, there’s been a misunderstanding.” There’s no misunderstanding between CNN , Axios , the White House , the Federal Times , and the ABA Banking Journal . They concur that Dave Uejio...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Read MoreMBS Day Ahead: Bonds Should Give Their Next Technical Signal Any Day Now
Posted To: MBS CommentaryThe nature of the pandemic has made for some very mechanical and orderly market movement. The best example of this in the bond market is the "trend channel" (parallel lines marking the highs and lows, yellow lines in today's chart) we've been following in 10yr yields since the beginning of November. Smaller scale examples include several consolidation patterns (converging lines marking highs and lows, teal lines in today's chart), just like the one that's been taking shape over the past 2 weeks. This one's a bit different than the last two. On a negative note, this consolidation pattern is occurring at much higher yields, but on a plus note , it's also resting near the top of the aforementioned trend channel. The implication is that IF we can manage to get...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Read MoreMBS RECAP: Calm Week Ends on an Even Calmer Note
Posted To: MBS CommentaryCalm Week Ends on an Even Calmer Note It's rare to see non-holidays Fridays in January be quite as underwhelming as today turned out to be. Bonds remained locked perfectly inside prevailing trends. That's a good thing in this case as it meant moderate gains for both MBS and Treasuries. Volatility risks increase next week with a bigger slate of economic data, but we'll wait to get too excited about that until it actually proves capable of moving the needle. Today's video discusses what might be required for 10yr yields to break below 1.0%. Econ Data / Events 20min of Fed 30yr UMBS Buying 10am, 1130am (M-F) and 1pm (T-Th) Existing Home Sales 6.76m vs 6.55m f'cast, 6.71m prev Markit Composite PMI 58.0 vs 55.3 prev Market Movement Recap 08:35 AM Markets trading ' risk-off...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Read MoreHow Long Can The Good Times Last For Housing and Rates?
Posted To: Mortgage Rate WatchWhile it wasn't quite the biggest surprise of 2020, the strength of the housing market was one of the best. The just-released numbers for December keep the good times rolling. Leading the charge was December's Existing Home Sales report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The annual pace wasn't quite at the recent 15-year high seen 2 months ago, but it hasn't really fallen since then. No complaints. If you want to see more 15-year records broken, you'll have to rely on The Census Bureau's New Residential Construction numbers. While not a direct measure of New Home Sales, the correlation is high (we'll get the official sales numbers next Thursday). For now, we can bask in the warm glow of another long-term high in Housing Starts. With sales and construction numbers like this, it...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Read MoreRetail, Correspondent Jobs; Performance, Non-QM, Sales Tools; STRATMOR Strategy Paper; DACA and FHA
Posted To: Pipeline Press“Do y’all remember, before the internet, that people thought the cause of stupidity was the lack of access to information? Yeah, it wasn’t that.” The internet has brought a lot of change to the world, and to our industry. But we don’t need the internet to drive changes, and potential changes, in our biz. HUD has declared that it will once again back DACA mortgages. Huntington’s Rob B. asks, “Is a CRA Mandate coming for independent mortgage banks (IMBs)?” (Prompting his question is the perception that President Biden will look for opportunities to boost homebuyers and builders . Of course, if there is little inventory, or land to build on, or people to build them…) CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger, who's term would not have ended until 2023...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Read More
