Housing Data: Some Highs, Some Lows, All Good

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

RealtyTrac's July U.S. Home Sales report is a tale of extremes . July sales of properties in foreclosure and all-cash transactions both dipped to multi-year lows while home sales for the first six month of 2015 and July home prices hit seven and eight year highs. There were 1.34 million single family homes and condos sold in the first six months of the year. This was the highest number of sales in the first half of any year since 2007. The median price of a home sold in July was $189,500 a 2 percent increase both from June and from July 2014. It was the highest median price since September 2008. Meanwhile the sale of properties sold while in the process of foreclosure (but not yet REO) fell to 6.4 percent of all single-family and condo sales from 6.6 percent in June and 8.0 percent a year earlier...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08272015_realtytrac_home_prices.asp

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MBS RECAP: Bond Correction Now at 2.5 Days; Mortgages Outperform

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

Longer duration bonds got hit hard today. Case in point, 30yr bonds are up nearly 13bps while 5's are only up 6bps. The better performances in the belly of the curve (3-5yr) helped MBS outperform the 10yr benchmark noticeably today. 10's are heading out the door near levels that are quite a bit higher than yesterday's highs. MBS, on the other hand, are right in line with yesterday's weakest levels. The broader theme continued to set the tone as bond markets "correct" after several days of market panic. The correction began on Monday, but only the past 2 days have seen weaker day-over-day levels. Today's installment included the first day in 5 sessions where the Shanghai Stock Exchange didn't close lower than the last session. Domestic equities also continued...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/505182.aspx

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Agency Updates; Spate of Housing Economic News

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

Wildfires in the west have already burned more than 7 million acres . (To put things in context, the entire state of California has about 101 million total acres.) Lenders and investors everywhere are attuned to the usual disaster policies with lists of hard-hit counties being distributed along with notes like, "If the property is located in one of the counties listed...with a completed appraisal dated prior to August 21, a 1004D re-inspection completed by the Appraiser is required to certify that 'the property is free from fire damage'. For appraisals in these counties dated on or after August 21, the Appraiser must comment on the condition of the property and any effects to the marketability and confirm that 'the property is free from fire damage' detailed in the body of the appraisal. If...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08262015-housing.aspx

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Mortgage Rates Bounce Higher as Global Panic Pauses

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates moved higher today as global markets managed to avoid the same sort of panicked volatility seen yesterday. The month-long trend toward lower rates was already looking tired as of late last week, and it took the extreme movements in other markets to drag rates only modestly lower yesterday. Nevertheless, those were the lowest offerings in more than 3 months. They brought the average conventional, 30yr fixed rate for top tier scenarios well into the 3's. 3.875% was widespread and some lenders were offering 3.75%. Today's bounce puts us back at 3.875% more squarely, with a few of the less aggressive lenders at 4.0%. With respect to the markets that underlie mortgage rate movement, today was more about consolidation and correction. That's market-speak for "taking a break and catching...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/504844.aspx

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Higher Volume, Larger Loans Boost Mortgage Profits

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Per loan profits increased in the second quarter the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said today, aided by purchase volume and loan size. MBA's quarterly survey of independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks showed increased production resulted in a net gain of $1,522 on each loan originated compared to a reported gain of $1,447 per loan in the first quarter of 2015. "Average company production volume was up in the second quarter, as purchase volume grew and mortgage pipelines from the first quarter's refinance boomlet closed," Marina Walsh, MBA's Vice President of Industry Analysis said. "The production volume increase resulted in a nominal decrease in per-loan production expenses, which offset a decrease in secondary marketing income . However, by historical...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08252015_mba_mortgage_profits.asp

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Mortgage Rates Little-Helped by Market Turmoil

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates did manage to move lower again today. And that move does bring them to the best levels in more than 3 months. But apart from that, the day was a bit of a let-down. Here's why. Mortgage rates are primarily dictated by the prices of Mortgage-Backed-Securities (MBS), a type of bond that's similar to US Treasuries in many ways. When economic data is bad or if financial markets are panicking, investors often buy bonds because they offer a safe haven relative to equities (stocks). More buyers result in higher prices and lower rates. It's not a 1:1 relationship, but over certain time frames, this is why we often see stocks and bond yields falling together. Investors are selling stocks and buying bonds (which makes yields fall). Since mid July, bonds (aka "rates") have already been improving...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/504133.aspx

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TRID Buyback Risk Webinar; Student Debt Figures; Richard Cordray on MSAs

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

"In the physical sciences, knowledge is cumulative. In the financial markets, it is cyclical." I was reminded of this by Brent Nyitray, CFA and a director of capital markets - especially relevant to remember whenever the government continues to try to push lenders and the Agencies to extend credit to "underserved" groups. To be blunt, ask any industry vet and they'll tell you that from a credit perspective not everyone deserves to be able to borrow money to buy a home. As reported in this commentary Saturday Stearns Holdings, LLC (parent company of Stearns Lending, LLC) saw a majority stake in the company being purchased by a private equity group of Blackstone (with over $300 billion in assets under management). It is important to note that Stearns will not fall under the "Finance of America...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08242015-msa-controversy.aspx

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Vendor Management; Current Foci of Capital Markets; A Lender Worth $4 billion?

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

What does the CFPB think of residential lenders? One indication might be the videos of borrower horror stories posted on its website. I, for one, would sure like to see some car loan stories - having the CFPB continue to suggest that the public shouldn't trust mortgage lenders, while we all wait for the next enforcement action to figure out rules, is misleading and entirely counter-productive to the entire industry. SoFi , a San Francisco-based "market place" lender, received some very favorable press this week from Forbes Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. It is nice to see a company that has a growing mortgage division receive that kind of news, although critics are left scratching their heads about companies where "The funding would give SoFi a $4 billion valuation , a sum good enough...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08212015-capital-markets.aspx

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Mortgage Rates on Year's Longest Winning Streak

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates moved moderately lower yet again. This extends a winning streak that began on July 14th, making it the longest positive trend in 2015. If this seems paradoxical in light of everything you may have heard about the Fed hiking rates this year, that's normal. Market participants and pundits have a long history of getting too attached to a certain idea only to be punished by markets for the imbalance. In other words, the notion that rates would continue rising was too prevalent . But that's only part of the motivation for rates to be doing so well recently. At the heart of the matter are concerns that the global economic growth outlook may be dimming. That's a scary thought considering Europe is in the midst of ongoing quantitative easing and that China has taken somewhat desperate...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/502546.aspx

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MBS RECAP: Massive Stock Selling Results in Modest Bond Market Gains

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

About 10 days into July's bond market rally, I posed the question: What if 2015 doesn't turn out to be the big bounce ? It started out with the following thought: What if it's all not enough--the multiple iterations of QE at home, ongoing QE abroad, ultra low rates for longer than they've ever been ultra low, and a generally consumer-friendly inflation environment, among other things? What if this is not enough to get the engine of global growth firing on all cylinders? What if early 2015 has just been a pause for reflection and the decades-long bull market in bonds actually gets back on track in the second half of the year? This is a question that has increasingly been on investors' minds as they ponder the Fed's rate-hike rhetoric. Is 2015 really the best time? I was...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/502545.aspx

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A First Look at July Performance Data

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Black Knight Financial Services released its "First Look" at its July loan level performance data which continues to show a decline in most measures of mortgage distress . Delinquencies, foreclosure starts, and the foreclosure inventory all declined for the month although actual foreclosures did increase. The monthly prepayment rate also fell; this metric is closely tied to the incidence of refinancing. The national delinquency rate, loans 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure, stood at 4.71 percent in July, a 2.22 percent decline from June and down 16.46 percent year-over-year. The number of delinquent mortgages numbered 2.39 million, down 55,000 from the previous month and 460,000 from July 2014. Of those delinquencies 886,000 were considered serious, that is 90 or more days past...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08212015_black_knight_first_look.asp

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Mortgage Rates Hit 3 Month Lows

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates continued lower today, bringing most lenders to their best levels in more than 3 months. The average conventional 30yr fixed rate for top tier scenarios is now edging closer to 3.875%, though 4.0% is nearly as prevalent. By a small margin, today's rates are the lowest since late May. Some borrowers will see the improvement in the form of slightly lower closing costs for the same rates quoted yesterday. Over the past two days, many scenarios will now be looking at an eighth of a point lower in rates. So what gives? Isn't the Fed supposed to raise rates soon and aren't rates just supposed to get higher in 2015? Yes and no. While it's true that the consensus in the media is for higher rates in 2015, markets have a funny way of punishing viewpoints that are out of balance. The higher...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/502317.aspx

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FDIC Goes After BNY Mellon; Agency Affordable Housing Goals Little Changed; Investor Updates

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

I continue to hear about the overkill in paperwork as lenders attempt to cover their collective "assets" against potential liabilities. But that is only on factor, and MetaSource came out with a White Paper titled, "Guide to Gaining a Competitive Advantage through Mortgage Document Management". Did someone say "overkill"? Hey, that rhymes with Buffalo Bill - as in "Silence of the Lambs." And check this out: the house where Buffalo ("Precious! Put the lotion in the basket!") Bill lived in the movie is up for sale at $300k . Rural housing folks know that recently the RHS/USDA proposed some changes in the program to reduce financial reporting burden on owners. Here is a write-up worth a gander. As a reminder, Walter Investment Management Corp. spread the word that Ditech Mortgage will be merging...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08202015-affordable-housing-goals.aspx

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Ellie Mae says Loan Closing Rate Highest in Four Years

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Ellie Mae said this week that the closing rate for purchase mortgages reached 70.7 percent in July up from 69.0 in June. This is the highest rate since the company started tracking this data in August 2011 and is calculated based on a sampling of loan applications initiated 90 days earlier. The closing rate for all loans was 66.2 percent. The highest rate was for VA purchase loans at 72.5 percent and the lowest was for FHA refinances at 42.5 percent. Those loans were the only ones for which the closing rate did not improve over June. The share of purchase loans rose to 63 percent, up 22 percent since February. The refi share for all loan types was below the corresponding average share for all of 2014. The purchase share of conventional loans rose 3 percentage points from June to 54 percent...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08192015_ellie_mae_loan_metrics.asp

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Agency Updates; HELOC Interest Among Borrowers

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

Yesterday the commentary noted how jumbo lending was alive and well, at least for depository banks. Zillow recently analyzed what areas would be more likely to require a jumbo mortgage and created an interactive map showing jumbo business . In their analysis, Zillow assumed that each home is purchased with a 25 percent down payment and looked at each zip code within the major metro areas. For example, in zip code 98039 encompassing Medina, a city just outside of Seattle, more than 99 percent of homes are likely to require a jumbo loan, whereas in zip code 98108 covering Beacon Hill and Georgetown - the more modest Seattle neighborhoods- only 1.3 percent would require a jumbo mortgage. Fannie Mae has announced DU changes for government loans beginning the weekend of September 12 th to include...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08192015-helocs.aspx

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MBS RECAP: Bonds Continue Pre-FOMC Consolidation With Modest Weakness

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

The fun thing about FOMC Minutes releases is that we can never be sure if they're going to cause drama for rates until we see how markets react. Whether or not that happens, rates have been trading a classic low-volume consolidation pattern leading up to the day itself. Every bit of trading for the past 4 sessions has taken place within the range established on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. Today's trading never really came close to testing the boundaries of that range. That's a good thing considering rates were heading higher during the the two instances of more active trading. The first followed this morning's Housing Starts data. Although Building Permits were weaker than expected, investors were able to overlook the implications due to the typically large month-to...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/501471.aspx

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MBS Day Ahead: Rate Rally Keeps Knocking, but is Anyone Home?

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

It's a very interesting time for interest rates in the US. Once again, what had been broad consensus on the long-term direction of rates is turning out to look like something less than a sure thing. But unlike 2014, there's no great reason (like European QE) to dismiss the risks that the consensus is correct just yet. We're getting close though. Rates reached the top of 2015's uptrend for the second time in June, and have since battled back all the way to the other side of the trend. They're now colliding not only with the lower bound of the uptrend, but also with a few moving averages (most notably, the 200-day) and the important 2.14 inflection point. Support is only 4 small bps away, meaning a break above 2.20 would threaten the more recent downtrend in rates (intact...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/501282.aspx

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Mortgage Rates Fall After Weak Economic Data

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates improved just slightly today, but for most lenders, it was enough to erase the weakness seen last Friday. Behind the move was much weaker-than-expected manufacturing data out of New York. Weak economic data tends to encourage investors to buy bonds. Among those bonds are the mortgage-backed-securities that dictate mortgage rates. As more are bought, prices rise and rates fall. All that having been said, the move was small, with most lenders continuing to quote conventional 30yr fixed rates of 4.0% for top tier scenarios. Today's improvement (like most) would be seen in the form of slightly lower closing costs for the same old rates. There are still a few lenders on either side of that by an eighth (3.875% or 4.125%). Loan Originator Perspective "It seems we are in the midst of...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/501100.aspx

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MBS MID-DAY: No More Gains For Bonds as Yuan Exits Free-Fall Pattern

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

So far, the trading day has gone as you would expect it to go if you agreed with the premise in the morning commentary . Namely, without Chinese currency freely falling at an indeterminate pace, the safe haven of US bond markets is in less demand. Chinese Yuan have essentially been recovering ever since the wee hours of yesterday morning. A brief dip at the start of today's Asian market hours saw US Treasuries make just as brief a move into positive territory. Once Yuan stabilized, Treasuries continued weakening. The morning's domestic economic data didn't help at first. Retail Sales were slightly stronger than expected and bond markets sold a bit more as a result. But the selling was short-lived, and very small in the context of the past few days of movement. Treasury trading levels...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/499632.aspx

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MBS RECAP: Weakness Continues For Bonds as China Fears Subside

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

The headline is the recap. There's not much more to it than that. Ever since China stepped in to stem the tide of currency weakness yesterday afternoon, bond markets have been selling-off. It was good while it lasted, but as far as surprisingly potent market-movers go, this particular iteration of this particular market mover has run its course. If we want to stretch the boundaries of correlation and causality, we could discuss the fact that Retail Sales numbers were slightly stronger than expected this morning and that the previous month of data was revised better by a less-than-insignificant amount. But in reality, there just wasn't much market movement surrounding this morning's data. The better place to look for supporting actors in today's drama would be the corporate bond...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/499991.aspx

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Goldman's Settlement; CFPB and Mortgage Insurance; IRS' W-2 Proposal

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

The fact that outstanding auto loans have passed the $1 trillion mark is garnering headlines, as well as Ohio's vote on legalizing marijuana and Warren Harding's "love child", but the MBA recently released its Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations for the second quarter of 2015. Commercial real estate lending realized growth in every major property type during the second quarter of 2015. Second quarter commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 29 percent higher than during the same period last year and a 58 percent YoY increase was seen in dollar volume for multifamily properties along with a 32 percent YoY increase for industrial properties. The dollar volume of loans originated in the second quarter of 2015 increased 45 percent for commercial...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08142015-mortgage-insurance.aspx

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US Housing Affordability is Decent, Just Not in California

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

The affordability of homeownership dipped modestly in the second quarter according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The index edged down by 3.3 percentage points from the first quarter to 63.2. The HOI is based on the percentage of homes sold during the relevant period that are affordable to median-income earners . The current reading indicates that between the beginning of April and the end of June 63.2 percent of new and existing homes that sold could be considered affordable. The national median home price rose from $210,000 in the first quarter to $230,000 in the second while mortgage rates edged down from 4.03 percent to 3.99 percent. The U.S. median income was $65,800. "Though affordability edged slightly lower in the second quarter...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08142015_nahb_housing_affordability.asp

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Mortgage Rates Slightly Higher

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates were just slightly higher on average for a third straight day. Much of this week was spent focusing on the effects of China's decision to (sort of) stop manipulating its currency. That was good for rates on Tuesday. As soon as China (sort of) started manipulating its currency again, rates began moving higher. If you need to catch up on that, we discussed it in more detail yesterday . Long story short: there was some drama that resulted in low rates, and once the drama ebbed, rates moved back up. Today was less about China and more about domestic economic data. In general, it continues to argue against some of the weaker data seen last week. Both of this morning's key reports were stronger than expected--one of them suggesting stronger inflation, the other, stronger manufacturing...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/500350.aspx

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Distressed Loans back to 2007 Level

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

The Mortgage Bankers Associations National Delinquency Survey provides another measure of the declining rate of distress in residential mortgages. The second quarter report shows the delinquency rate for mortgages on one-to-four unit properties at the lowest level since the second quarter of 2007 , 5.30 percent. This is a drop of 24 basis points (bps) from the first quarter of 2015 and 74 bps from the second quarter of 2014. MBA measures delinquency based on loans that are 30 or more days past due but not yet in the foreclosure process. The percentage of loans in foreclosure during the quarter was 2.09, down 13 bps quarter-over-quarter and 40 from a year earlier. This was also the lowest rate since 2007, in this case the fourth quarter of that year. Serious delinquencies, those more than 90...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08132015_mbc_national_delinquency_surve.asp

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Mortgage Rates Pull Back as Overseas Drama Subsides

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates continued higher today as the recent volatility in global markets subsided. Treasury yields and mortgage rates both benefited from the uncertainty caused by Tuesday's big news out of China . They continued to improve until China stepped back in to buoy its currency (Yuan). Long story short, when China said Yuan would no longer be artificially propped up by state-owned banks, global markets freaked out. Money rushed into safe havens like US Treasuries (which in turn benefited mortgage-backed securities). More demand for bonds in the US meant lower rates (think: investors clamoring for your mortgage business). Then when China recanted on Tuesday's announcement, things started calming down and the demand for US bond markets ebbed (which means mortgage rates moved back up). If that...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/499968.aspx

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Mortgage Rates Hold Ground at Multi Month Lows

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates were lower at first today, but most lenders sent out negative reprices in the afternoon, bringing rates back to unchanged levels. The bond markets that underlie mortgage rate movement continued taking cues from global volatility surrounding yesterday's big news out of China . Whereas yesterday was more of a free-fall for all manner of interest rates, today saw them find a bottom and reverse course. Whether the bottom is temporary remains to be seen. Either way, it leaves us in a slightly less optimistic position. We're still in the early stages of determining what the lasting effects will be from the China news. There's no great way to account for the potential effects in lock/float strategy. On the one hand, rates were as low as they've been in more than 2 months today. Locking...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/499072.aspx

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MI Update; Upcoming Events; Company Earnings Speak to Housing/Mortgage Market Health

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

”Rob, I've heard that the fines that a company pays to the CFPB are tax deductible. So therefore the money is just transferred from one government agency to another. True?" Fines are never deductible , like a traffic citation or a penalty paid due to late taxes. But monies paid back to borrowers from prior years do indeed reduce income, and are deductible in the current year. Speaking of penalties, remember Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp.? Disgraced former chairman Lee Farkas has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction and 30-year sentence over an alleged $2.9 billion fraud scheme, blaming his plight on error-prone trial and appeals court lawyers. Before moving on, my note yesterday about Lenders One providing a $4,000 credit for its members to join the Community...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08122015-mortgage-insurance.aspx

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Mortgage Rates Back Into High 3's After China's Policy Change

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates dropped quickly today, bringing many lenders back to quoting conventional 30yr fixed rates of 3.875% for top tier scenarios. The motivation came from China. What's up with that? It is not at all common to see China mentioned as a source of low mortgage rates in the US. It is more common for China to be mentioned as a part of big global economic picture, and it's that big picture that brought mortgage rates along for the ride today. The big picture took cues from the fact that China moved to substantially devalue its currency. On the surface, we might wonder why cheaper goods coming out of China would be a bad thing for the global economy, but the effect on international trade wasn't the market's primary concern today. Rather, it was the underlying message that China is concerned...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/498465.aspx

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Employment, Home Price Gains Improving Foreclosure Picture

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Completed foreclosures in June were down 63.3 percent from the peak reached in September 2010. That month, just before the robo-signing scandal forced a temporary moratorium on foreclosures and slowed the pace going forward, there were 117,119 foreclosure actions completed. This past June there were 43,000 down 14.8 percent from the previous June's 50,000 actions, however it was an increase of 2,000 properties or 4.8 percent from May. The June National Foreclosure Report published by CoreLogic on Tuesday said there have been 5.8 million foreclosures since September 2008 and 7.8 million since homeownership reached an all-time peak in the second quarter of 2004. Before the decline in the housing market in 2007 there were typically about 21,000 foreclosures each month. The national foreclosure...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08112015_corelogic_foreclosures.asp

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Gentle Rise in Rates Provides Opportunity

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates moved slightly higher today, erasing the modest improvements seen on Friday. There wasn't much movement in the secondary mortgage market (which drives rate sheet changes) during the day, though a few lenders raised rates slightly in the early afternoon. Most continue to quote conventional 30yr fixed rates of 4.0% for top tier scenarios. There are still plenty of lenders at 3.875% and far fewer at 4.125%. As we discussed last week, rates had improved for 3 straight weeks as of Friday, and that chances of a bounce back increase exponentially after that. In other words, it's not common to see 4 weeks in a row of lower rates. Even if the longer term trend were to remain pointed lower, there would still be periodic corrections. On the chance that this proves to be one of those weeks...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/498090.aspx

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Outstanding June Sales nudge California Closer to Normalcy

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

The drought and raging wildfires appear not to be dampening the enthusiasm of people who wish to live in California. CoreLogic reports that the state had the highest number of home sales in nine years in June and that sales jumped more from May to June than in any month in nearly three years. Andrew LePage, writing in the CoreLogic Insights blog says home sales, both new and existing, totaled 46,095 in June, a 10.8 percent increase from May and up 16.8 percent from June 2014. The last time June sales were higher was in June 2006 when 59,018 homes sold. June 2015 bested sales in every month since September 2006 when 46,464 transactions closed. In past years, CoreLogic's records go back to 1988, the May to June increase has averaged about 5 percent, roughly half the month-over-month gain this...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08102015_california_real_estate_sales.asp

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MBS Day Ahead: NFP Day: All You Can Do Is Watch And React

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

NFP day is fun. It's one of those days where things can change so much and so quickly in its immediate wake, that it really doesn't make much sense to lay out specific strategy or assess the lay of the land ahead of time. That said, let's discuss the lay of the land and some specific strategy. We'll do this in 10yr yields, as is the custom for lo these many years. As a reminder for folks who may be newer to the commentary, this isn't because 10yr Treasuries dictate mortgage rates. Rather, they are simply the best barometer we have for the broader bond market. And it's the long-term trends in the broader bond market that are of the most importance to broader trends in MBS. The other major problem is the roll. If we lose 8-12 ticks in prices on the chart once a month,...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/497023.aspx

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Conventional, Jumbo Loan Availability Accelerating

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Credit availability increased in July, resuming an almost continuous rise that started last fall. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Mortgage Credit Access Index (MCAI) rose 3.5 points or 2.9 percent from June to 125.5. The index had risen every month since last October but suffered a slight setback in June, declining by 0.6 points. The Index is nearly 10 points higher than at the beginning of this year. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of a loosening of credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012. All four of the MCAI's component indices increased in July as well with the Conventional MCAI showing the greatest loosening, up 5.2 percent. The jumbo mortgage index also jumped up sharply, gaining...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08062015_mba_mcai.asp

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eSignature Progress; Agency News in Primary Markets; Fannie Earnings

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

Yesterday I attended the California Association of Mortgage Professionals conference in Southern California, and was talking to a buddy who works at a vendor shop where he had attended a "topless meeting" earlier this week. Of course my pulse quickened a little until he explained that it was "a meeting in which participants are not allowed to use laptops. A topless meeting organizer can also ban the use of smartphones, cellphones and other electronic devices. The purpose of this is to create an environment free from distraction, to foster enhanced focus and to generate more discussions." Drats! Talking about confusion, I don't know if this story is more for the HR staff or the CFO, but any story involving the IRS and employer-sponsored health coverage is going to turn some heads. Congrats to...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08072015-topless-meetings.aspx

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CFPB Report Hints at Future Role of eClosings

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Over a year ago consumers pointed out, in a report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) the "pain points" they encountered in the mortgage closing processing. The volume, complexity and lack of accuracy of the required documents were major complaints and appeared amplified by a lack of time to thorough review those documents. At that time CFPB identified electronic closings , also known as eClosings , as one way to alleviate some of these pain points. These closings rely on technology to permit borrowers to view and sign closing documents electronically. Under such a system documents can be delivered to the consumer faster and contain embedded links to help them understand specific terms as they encounter them. eClosing transactions are already available but their utilization...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08052015_cfpb_mortgage_closings.asp

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Mortgage Rates Surprisingly Calm After Jobs Report

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates were surprisingly calm today , especially in light of the fact that the big jobs report was released this morning. This report has more potential to move rates than any other piece of economic data, though you wouldn't know it by today's reaction. Part of this--even most of this, perhaps--is due to how close the numbers were to the median forecast (215k nonfarm payrolls created vs expectations for 223k). Had the number been over 250k or under 200k (both very much within the realm of previous results) we would likely have seen a bigger move higher or lower. As it stands, the slightly weaker economic data is consistent with slight improvements for the bonds that underlie mortgage rates. Most lenders continue to quote conventional 30yr fixed rates of 4.0% on top tier scenarios,...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/497225.aspx

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Housing Attitudes Reverse Course in Fannie Mae Survey

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Negativity was pervasive in the results of Fannie Mae's July National Housing Survey (NHS). Respondents indicated falling expectations about the economy, housing, and their own personal financial situation. They did however feel that home prices would continue to rise - which could be either positive or negative depending on the perspective - as well as interest rates. After climbing fairly steadily earlier in the year, July saw a huge 7 percentage point drop in the percentage of respondents who believe now is a good time to sell a house. Those who believe it is a good time to buy dropped to 61 percent-an all-time survey low. Forty-nine percent of respondents expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months, 2 percentage points more than in June, with an average expectation of a 3 percent...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08072015_national_housing_survey.asp

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Housing Bubble or Recession? You Might Have to Pick One

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

There are two conflicting theories on how or even if monetary policy should play a role in stabilizing asset price booms and busts. If central banks use interest rate hikes sufficient to curb leverage and curb booms it might also boost unemployment and lower inflation, deviating from the central bank's goals of full employment and price stability. The alternative is to concentrate on those dual goals and allow financial regulation and supervision to deal separately with threats to financial stability. A new Economic Letter, Interest Rates and House Prices: Pill or Poison? from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and written by Òscar Jordà, vice president in the banks Economic Research Department, Moritz Schularick, and Alan M. Taylor professors of economics at the University...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08032015_fed_monetary_policy.asp

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Mortgage Rates Battle Back; Volatility Ahead

Hot news from AZ Home Help:

Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates made up some of their recently lost ground today, moving slightly lower in concert with falling stock prices. Bonds (which include the mortgage-backed securities that dictate mortgage rates) don't always follow movements in stocks, but the two can often be sending the same message regarding investors' view of risk. When investors favor risk, they tend to seek the higher potential returns associated with stocks. When investors seek stability, they tend to favor bonds. Now, there are plenty of days where both can be moving the same direction for a variety of reasons, but today wasn't one of them. Bonds got the nod, meaning more investors wanted to front the cash in exchange for fixed payments over time. Think of it like "lenders competing for your business." More competition =...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/496996.aspx

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Smallest Share of Distressed Sales since 2007

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Sales of lender-owned real estate (REO) in May represented the smallest share of home sales in nine years. CoreLogic said that the overall share of distressed properties sold during the month, including short sales as well as REO, fell to 9.9 percent. This was 1.7 percentage points lower than the April share and 2.8 percentage points lower than a year earlier. CoreLogic said distressed sales typically decline as a share of sales in May but this May had the lowest since 2007 when it was 5 percent and was the lowest for any month since October 2007's 6 percent. Short sales have remained fairly stable at less than a 4 percent share - in was 3.5 percent in May - since mid-2014 but REO has fallen steadily - in May it accounted for a 6.4 percent share. At the peak of market distress in January 2009...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08062015_corelogic_distressed_sales.asp

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MBS RECAP: Early Weakness Moderates; MBS Outperform Despite Losses

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

Yesterday afternoon's weak momentum (inspired by comments from Fed's Lockhart) carried over into the overnight session. Additional losses were contained in the Asian market hours with Treasuries then holding fairly steady despite European bond market weakness. Perhaps Treasuries were waiting to see how the morning's important data would come out before continuing in the selling trend. First up was ADP Employment, and while it was weaker than expected, the underlying message was that it wasn't weak enough to stave off selling. On the other hand, we could just as easily dismiss ADP and instead chalk the next 105 minutes of movement up to European bond market weakness and tradeflows at the NYSE open (9:30am). After all, even though Treasuries would go on to lose more ground on...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/496483.aspx

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Housing Slowdown - Healthy Signal or Coal Mine Canary?

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Redfin, a multi-state real estate firm based in Seattle, says it is seeing "signs of an enduring slowdown" in the housing market. This isn't necessarily bad the company says, citing anecdotal information about bidding wars and mammoth profits rung up by short term owners. Slowing could mean a normalization of the housing market. Or it could be another indication that the economy is slowing as well. Redfin's Housing Demand Index tracks home tours and purchase offers in 15 metropolitan areas served by the company. It showed a 6.7 percent drop in June, a far steeper decline (albeit from a far higher level) than at the same time last year. The company says it expect prices to grow at a modest 2.2 percent in August (we assume that is an annual projection.) Redfin noted that June's Pending Home Sales...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08042015_housing_market_health.asp

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Mortgage Rates Higher After Fed Comments

Hot news from AZ Home Help:

Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

After hitting the best levels in just over 2 months yesterday, mortgage rates bounced moderately higher today. The move brings them back above Friday's levels, but not quite as high as Thursday's. Most lenders are still quoting conventional 30yr fixed rates of 4.0% on top tier scenarios. The smattering of lenders that had moved down to 3.875% is somewhat smaller today, but not extinct. The day actually began well enough, with rates roughly in line with yesterday's. It wasn't until Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart commented on the likelihood of a September rate hike that trading levels shifted, forcing lenders to adjust rate sheets in the afternoon. What does this mean? Lockhart isn't saying the Fed will necessarily hike in September, but by holding it out as one viable option, he's pushing...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/496060.aspx

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Tight Inventories Continue to Spur Price Gains

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

The numbers of homes for sale in a few areas of the country have now dropped below a two month supply CoreLogic said today. Prices in cities with these tight inventories have appreciated faster than the rest of the country, but supplies are limited through much of the nation. The company said that its Home Price Index (HPI) for June, shows that nationwide home prices, including distressed sales, were up 6.5 percent compared to June 2014 , the 40 th consecutive month of annual price gains. The index increased by 1.7 percent from May to June. Including distressed sales the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to June 2015) was -7.4 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change for the same period was -4 percent. Thirty-five states and the District...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/08042015_corelogic_hpi.asp

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Mortgage Rates Moving Into High 3's

Hot news from AZ Home Help:

Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates continued lower today , adding to an already impressive streak of improvement that began in mid-July. Much of that improvement has come courtesy of increasing concerns over the trajectory of global growth and inflation. When investors downgrade their growth outlook, they often move more money into bonds. Greater demand for bonds brings bond prices higher and rates lower. This was the case today as several pieces of economic data suggested weaker growth and inflation this morning. Markets responded by moving money out of stocks and into bonds. Among the bonds that benefit are the mortgage-backed-securities (MBS) that dictate mortgage rates. With rates already at 2-month lows on Friday, this means the winning streak is simply extended. You'd now have to go back to May 28th to see...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/495705.aspx

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CFPB's Latest Fines; Upcoming Events and Training

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

A big topic at last week's MBA Hawaii annual conference was change in the industry. As if residential lending doesn't have enough changes all the time, law firm Morrison & Foerster spread the word that, "The Department of Defense published sweeping changes to its rules that implement the Military Lending Act (MLA). The amended rules significantly expand the scope of the MLA provisions by covering both new types of creditors and new credit products, including installment loans and other closed-end credit products and credit cards and other open-end credit accounts. The rules become effective on October 1, 2015, with compliance required by October 3, 2016. Don't look now, but the IRS has a new spin on mortgage interest . New mortgage reporting requirements are now imposed on banks and servicers...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/08032015-cfpb-fines.aspx

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Wells Fargo pulls out of Marketing Agreements with Agents, Builders

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Well Fargo Bank announced today that it will immediately begin winding down its marketing services and desk rental agreements with real estate firms, builders, and some other referral sources. Franklin Codel, executive vice president for mortgage production said the company was exploring a number of new options for enhancing and strengthening those relationships over the long term. A press release issued by the company said that the withdrawal decision was made as a result of increasing uncertainty surrounding regulatory oversight of these types of arrangements "and as part of Wells Fargo's ongoing efforts to simplify the process that customers experience as they weigh all of their choices when shopping for a mortgage." The decision is presumed to arise out of a series of enforcement decisions...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/07302015_wells_fargo_cfpb.asp

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Mortgage Rates Stay Steady After GDP

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates were very close to unchanged despite market volatility surrounding the release of today's GDP figures. GDP can occasionally cause a significant response in mortgage rates, and that's especially true of the "advance" release. That's due to the fact that the "advance" release is the first look at GDP for any given quarter. Subsequent releases merely revise the previous quarter's result. Moreover, the Commerce Department implements revisions once a year that greatly affect past GDP reports. So not only are we getting the first look at last quarter's GDP, but also a potentially significant revision to GDP numbers over the past 2+ years. Today's revisions painted a generally weaker picture of economic growth since 2012. But the most recent quarter showed slightly stronger inflation...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/493128.aspx

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MBS RECAP: Longer Term Rates Fare Well, as Low Short-Term Rates Say Farewell

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Posted To: MBS Commentary

As of mid-July bond markets seem to have put their foot down with respect to the relationship between long and short term rates. With the economic recovery and global growth outlook still open to debate--not to mention with global QE efforts ongoing--it makes sense for longer term rates to maintain a reasonable level of sponsorship. This is in line with the cries we often here for the economy being unable to sustain much of a run higher in rates. Such a run would seemingly be in contradiction to the Fed's stated intention of raising rates, but trading levels continue to show us how both can live in harmony. Let's not forget that earlier this year, 2yr yields and 10yr yields were as close together as 120bps. Today they're only 153bps apart after being closer to 180bps earlier this...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/493155.aspx

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CFPB Hits Servicer for Creating "Loan Modification Purgatory"

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

A Texas mortgage servicer has run badly afoul of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for repeated violations of servicing rules . Residential Credit Solutions has agreed to pay $1.5 million in restitution to its victims and a $100,000 civil money penalty under a consent agreement announced on Thursday. CFPB has a laundry list of complaints against the company which bills itself as specializing in servicing delinquent and "credit sensitive" mortgages loans. Since 2009 approximately 75,000 borrowers have had loans transferred from other servicers to the company which has about $95 million in assets. This enforcement action covers Residential Credit Solutions' illegal practices prior to the January 2014 effective date of the CFPB's new mortgage servicing rules. CFPB said the company...(read more)

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Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/07302015_loan_servicing_enforcement.asp

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