Mortgage News

MBS Day Ahead: It's Still a Correction Unless The Fed Says Otherwise

Posted To: MBS CommentaryIn the week just passed, the bond market sold off at the fastest pace since the June 2013 taper tantrum. That's a relatively impressive feat at first glance considering the taper tantrum provided a massively obvious, once in-a-lifetime selling cue whereas last week arguably only had a few moderately important negative indicators for bonds. But consider that yields had already risen 60bp from recent lows BEFORE the taper tantrum sell-off compared to roughly 10bps this time around and things make more sense. The more appropriate comparison would be with early 2015 where yields had been trending lower at a linear pace for more than a year before a last-minute acceleration of the rally and a subsequent corrective bounce in early February. Long story short: the nature of the 2019 rally and especially...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Broker Products; Vendor Developments; Rate Volatility Increase

Posted To: Pipeline PressMusic fans are saddened by the recent news of the deaths of Eddie Money and the Cars’ Rick Ocasek. In our industry, the news late last week that Black Knight, Inc. has acquired Compass Analytics, LLC , turned a lot of heads. There is no reason to believe that larger companies taking an interest in successful vendors, or vendors merging, will ever stop. Conference organizers carefully monitor the LTV (lender to vendor) ratio. For lenders, “vendor management” has been a discipline for a while, especially as liabilities typically rest with lenders, and companies consult on managing them as each vendor promises that it will cut costs, increase productivity & reliability, and “talk to” other vendors. Oh, and are fast and easy to rollout without too much cost. Yes...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

MBS RECAP: Does Oil Matter to Rates?

Posted To: MBS CommentaryToday's key development was over-the-weekend news of drone strikes on Saudi oil assets. Iran is getting the blame, but Trump says he's not in a rush to respond and that he wouldn't like to go to war with anybody. Oil prices logically surged while bond yields dropped. This provided an perfect opportunity to reflect on just how incorrect it is to view oil prices and bond yields as having a reliable correlation. Rather than re-invent the wheel in that regard, I'd just point you to THIS POST from April. In the bigger picture , the overnight gains were insignificant. The drop in yields did nothing to alter the trend toward higher yields ( see the chart here ) that began nearly 2 weeks ago. That said, the trend may be level-off anyway, simply due to the approach of the Fed announcement...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Rates Recover Modestly, But Uncertainty Remains

Posted To: Mortgage Rate WatchMortgage rates closed out their worst week since 2016 on Friday as the bond market underwent a classic correction after its best month since 2011. The bigger and more sustained a drop in rates, the bigger the potential correction. There were, however, some actual market fundamentals underpinning the rate spike. Some investors are worried that central banks (like the Fed) are starting to think about the current rate cut cycle as shallow and temporary. While that would bode well for the economy, it's not a pleasant thought for longer-term rates (which have already priced in at least 2 more Fed rate cuts in the next few months). In other words, mortgage rates won't care in the slightest when and if the Fed cuts rates this Wednesday. The Fed's outlook on future rate cuts and on its policy stance...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Tariffs are Creating a Perfect Storm for Builders

Posted To: MND NewsWireThe California Building Industry Association (CBIA) is calling the Trump Administration tariffs the "perfect storm" for the state's already troubled housing industry. The Association says tariffs, which have impacted the price of appliances, certain countertops, some items made of lumber, steel and aluminum, and miscellaneous other items, have driven up the cost of an average-size new home in California by $20,000 to $30,000. The concern of the California organization was echoed by David Logan, the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB's) director of Tax and Trade who said, "All the stars aligned for the worst outcome." He warns that the long-term effects of these tariffs could choke off new construction , and they're leading builders to focus on catering to people with higher incomes...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

DPA, HELOC, Non-QM Products; Lender Flood News; What's Driving Rates?

Posted To: Pipeline PressAny month that starts on a Sunday contains a Friday the 13th. The superstitious sufferers of “triskaidekaphobia” try to avoid bad luck by keeping away from anything numbered or labelled thirteen, while others, such as some attorneys for whatever reason, believe it to be lucky. But some companies and manufacturers often use another way of numbering or labelling to avoid the number: see if your airplane has a 13th row or your building a 13th floor. (Who says you don’t learn anything from reading this commentary?) Wells Fargo, which has managed to stay out of lawsuit headlines as of late, didn’t have any luck yesterday when California filed support for Oakland in a Wells Fargo mortgage suit for discriminating against, or giving higher cost mortgages to, minorities. Lawyer...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

MBS Day Ahead: As 1.80% Gives Way in 10yr Yields, What Would Be Next?

Posted To: MBS CommentaryIn the day just passed, bonds got our hopes up early with an initially positive reaction to the ECB announcement. We were even in the green for most of Draghi's press conference, but heading into 9:30am, the tone began to change. Ultimately, 10yr yields ran up to the highest point in what I would consider to be the new range established with August's big rally. I provided a recap of my thoughts on 1.80% as an important pivot point in yesterday's last post (click it to go there). In the day ahead, bonds will see if they can hold on to the broader range as they begin the day right in line with the highs. On a positive note, the pace of selling appears to be slowing over the past few days. On a negative note, there's really not much track record for yields above 1.80% recently...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Mortgage Rates' Week Goes From Bad to Worse

Posted To: Mortgage Rate WatchMortgage rates were already having their worst week since 2016 as of yesterday afternoon. Rather than help to heal some of the damage, today's bond market momentum only made things worse . Whether we're looking at 10yr Treasury yields a broad indicator of longer-term rates or average mortgage lender offerings, this week now ranks among the top 3 in the past decade in terms of the overall move higher. At this point, we'd have to go back to the trauma of 2013's 'taper tantrum' to see anything bigger. Few, if any, news articles or various mortgage rate indices have had a chance to catch up with the move. This is especially true of the widely cited Freddie Mac data that circulated yesterday. It indicated a 0.06% increase in rates from the previous week. It was already significantly outdated by...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Checklists Purchase Calculator Refinance Calculator Affordability Calculator Current Interest Rates Kevin's Smart Phone App Mortgage Repos

Mortgage Programs

Homeowners Insurance

Mortgage Calculators

Mortgage Team

Mortgage Terms

Apply Now

*SAVE $547.00 -- The average savings figure is a national average savings number from the previous 12 months of auto, homeowner and packaged policyholders’ savings when compared to the policyholders’ former premiums. Individual premiums and savings will vary. Insurance products which are available are not deposits of the Financial Institution and are not protected by any type of deposit insurance, are not obligations of or guaranteed by the Financial Institution, and may be subject to risk. Any insurance required as a condition of the extension of credit by the Financial Institution need not be purchased from our Agency but may, without affecting the approval of the application for an extension of credit, be purchased from an agent or insurance company of the customer’s choice.

Copyright ©2019 Union Square Credit Union | Privacy Disclosure | Wiring Instructions

Routing and Transit Number: 311989001
USCU NMLS ID: 421480

This credit union is federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration, NCUA, a U.S. Government agency. Your savings are federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith of the U.S. Government.
COMPLAINT NOTICE