Posted To: MBS Commentary

MBS Live : MBS RECAP Open MBS Live Dashboard FNMA 3.5 103-14 : +0-13 FNMA 4.0 105-14 : +0-08 FNMA 4.5 106-23 : +0-06 FNMA 5.0 107-31 : +0-06 GNMA 3.5 104-29 : +0-15 GNMA 4.0 107-20 : +0-10 GNMA 4.5 109-08 : +0-08 GNMA 5.0 110-32 : +0-08 FHLMC 3.5 103-08 : +0-13 FHLMC 4.0 105-07 : +0-09 FHLMC 4.5 106-07 : +0-07 FHLMC 5.0 107-15 : +0-06 Pricing as of 4:03 PM EST Afternoon Market Updates A recap of MBS Market Updates provided by MND Analysts and streamed live to the MBS Live Dashboard . 1:37PM : ALERT: MBS, Treasuries Settling -In Around Best Levels After 7 Yr Auction Although MBS aren't making any new highs, it's not uncommon to see a few lenders offer positive reprices when prices simply hold steady, especially when that steadiness is at the highs of the day (also highs of the past 3…(read more)

Posted To: MND NewsWire

Like their home-building counterparts, remodelers who are members of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) are displaying more confidence in their industry than they have in years. The NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the fourth quarter of 2011 which measures remodelers’ sentiments about their business climate rose to 46.6 its highest level in five year. In the third quarter the Index was 41.7. Like the Home Builders Index (HMI) the measures responses from home builders, the RMI surveys NAHB members who are involved in remodeling about current market conditions and about indicators of future conditions. Scores above 50 for the HMI, the RMI or their component indices indicate that more respondents view the market as good than view it as fair. In January the HMI hit a 54 month…(read more)

Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgages Rates over the past two days have done much to make ground lost leading up to Yesterday’s FOMC Announcement. After further improvements today, rates further solidified their reentry into 3.875% 30yr Fixed Best Execution levels. (for detail on what that means, READ THIS POST from a few days ago). The rounded average of various lenders’ Best-Ex rates had moved up to 4.0%, and more than a few lenders are still well-priced there, but a majority are once again offering 3.875% with attractive borrowing costs. Yesterday’s FOMC Announcement (Federal Open Market Committee or simply “The Fed”) which surprised some market participants with it’s inclusion of new verbiage describing how long the Fed anticipated that it would keep its “Fed Funds Rate” at so-called “exceptionally low levels,” continues…(read more)

Posted To: MBS Commentary

The “flatness” of MBS prices is simply uncanny considering that Fannie 3.5′s are currently right at their highest levels since late September, and considering the volatility earlier in the week. While it’s true that the volatility was definitely expected ahead of the FOMC announcement, the extent to which it has subsided has been nothing short of astonishing. Now… I don’t do a perfect job of keeping day-to-day and hour-to-hour tabs on implied volatility, but I do try to glance at 3-month floating vs 10yr fixed swaption straddles (which is one of more popular proxies for volatility in MBS markets). These are measured in basis points (BP), and essentially, the currently quoted BP value is “at the money,” meaning the swaption contract makes money for the buyer if the spread between 3-month floating…(read more)

Posted To: MND NewsWire

New home sales declined by 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 units in December according to data jointly released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. November sales were revised down from the original estimate of 315,000 to 314,000. The recent sale pace was 7.3 percent lower than the 331,000 reported in December 2010. The non-seasonally adjusted median home price in December was $210,300 and the average price was $266,000. One year earlier the respective prices were $241,200 and $291,700. There were 157,000 new homes for sale at the end of December compared to 158,000 at the end of November and 190,000 in December 2010. The median time the homes have been on the market is 6.7 months, down from 7.3 months in November and 7…(read more)

Posted To: MBS Commentary

MBS Live : MBS MID-DAY Open MBS Live Dashboard FNMA 3.5 103-15 : +0-14 FNMA 4.0 105-15 : +0-09 FNMA 4.5 106-24 : +0-07 FNMA 5.0 107-30 : +0-05 GNMA 3.5 104-28 : +0-14 GNMA 4.0 107-20 : +0-10 GNMA 4.5 109-09 : +0-10 GNMA 5.0 110-30 : +0-06 FHLMC 3.5 103-09 : +0-14 FHLMC 4.0 105-08 : +0-10 FHLMC 4.5 106-05 : +0-05 FHLMC 5.0 107-14 : +0-05 Pricing as of 11:03 AM EST Morning Market Updates A recap of MBS Market Updates provided by MND Analysts and streamed live to the MBS Live Dashboard . 10:18AM : NAHB: Remodeling Market Index Rises to Five-Year High Remodeling sentiment rose to the highest level in five years, according to the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the fourth quarter of 2011. Released today, the RMI increased to 46.6 in the fourth…(read more)

Posted To: Pipeline Press

I was speaking to my 88-year old dad the other day on the way to Costco for a hot dog lunch. (No, this is not elder-abuse – he actually likes them.) I told him, “Dad, I am helping a company with a HUD license” and he replied, “How could a whole company have head lice?” Ah, to be 88… PERL Mortgage, already a nationwide lender, is expanding – particularly in Illinois and the Midwest. Currently licensed in 14 states (including AZ, CA, CT, FL, MA, and MI), PERL is seeking individuals, and/or teams of professionals, “who have the desire to excel and be the best at what they do.” PERL Mortgage has been around for 18 years, and has 140 employees including a sales team of over 60 Mortgage Advisors who consistently originate greater than 1 billion dollars in mortgages annually. The company has recently…(read more)

Mortgage rates have been improving since the Fed’s mid-day meeting Wednesday.

Posted To: MBS Commentary

Although the important economic releases this morning were either in-line with expectations or better (Home Sales missed expectations, but it’s not an “important economic release” as far as being a market-mover), bond markets have bucked the historical tendency toward weakness in such scenarios. Reason being: this scenario happens to include events from the previous day still exerting plenty of influence–in this case, the FOMC Announcement and surrounding events (Forecasts, Press Conference, and even the strong 5yr auction to a lesser extent). The bottom line though is the same as that which was discussed this morning: As much data as there is on tap, Wednesday’s unprecedented low-rates through late-2014 forecast from the FOMC trumps all. It’s chief argument from a market reaction standpoint…(read more)

Posted To: MND NewsWire

Sales of distressed homes, those in some stage of foreclosure or bank owned (REO), accounted to 20 percent of all U.S. home sales during the third quarter of 2011 compared to 22 percent of sales in the second quarter according to information released Thursday by RealtyTrac . One year earlier such distressed sales represented 30 percent of the housing market. There were 221,536 such distressed property sales to third parties, 11 percent fewer than revised second quarter figures and 5 percent fewer than in the third quarter of 2010. Pre-foreclosure sales (generally referred to as short sales) totaled 92,824 sales or 9 percent of all sales, down 9 percent from the second quarter and nearly identical to the number one year earlier when pre-foreclosure sales represented 12 percent of the market…(read more)