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Eerily Calm and Strong For 2nd Straight Day | ||
4/25/2025 4:09 PM | ||
Eerily Calm and Strong For 2nd Straight Day After being heavily conditioned to expect elevated volatility with unpredictable timing, the past two trading sessions have been tremendous departures from the norm. Both days featured linear, reasonably big improvements without any singular flashpoints that...Read More | ||
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Lowest Mortgage Rates in Nearly 3 Weeks | ||
4/25/2025 3:06 PM | ||
The news on mortgage rates has been frustratingly mixed recently, depending on the source. This is a factor of the various time frames and methodologies employed by different purveyors of rate data. If you"re reading this, however, none of that matters because the following is as timely as it gets: the average mortgage lender is now at the lowest l...Read More | ||
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Existing Home Sales at 5 Month Lows | ||
4/25/2025 2:54 PM | ||
As is the case for the monthly data on New Home Sales from the Census Bureau, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Existing Home Sales report does not make for exciting news these days. It"s not that the news is tragic or alarming either. It just sort of... is. Whereas New Home Sales have been able to hold sideways near their pre-covid...Read More | ||
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New Home Sales Running Near Highest Pace Since 2022 | ||
4/25/2025 2:19 PM | ||
The Census Bureau released March New Home Sales data this week, and it was near the best levels seen since early 2022. Before you get too excited about that, a caveat is in order. Simply put, when it comes to housing market data, nothing has been more uneventful than new home sales over the past few years. The chart tells th...Read More | ||
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Mortgage Applications Dropped Sharply in Response to The Recent Rate Spike | ||
4/25/2025 2:01 PM | ||
...Read More | ||
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Maryland Changes Licensing; Upcoming Conferences; Perspective on the CFPB; Title and Flood Products | ||
4/25/2025 10:52 AM | ||
What if your client called the CFPB about a servicing issue, or any issue, and no one answered? Things are changing, but for a thorough write up on the current situation, check out Debra Gaveglio & Donna Schmidt’s “Harmonizing Regulatory Compliance and Industry Perspectives: Leveraging Consumer Protection and Mortgage Servicing Loss Mitigation....Read More | ||
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Data Free Friday. Heavy Data Next Week | ||
4/25/2025 9:34 AM | ||
Today"s only scheduled economic report is Consumer Sentiment. Nonetheless, we would classify today as being "data free" because this is simply the final reading of the preliminary release 2 weeks ago. It"s the preliminary release that tends to move markets. Case in point, there was no reaction to this morning"s installment, nor would we have ...Read More | ||
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Solid Bond Rally For Debatable Reasons | ||
4/24/2025 3:26 PM | ||
Solid Bond Rally For Debatable Reasons Bonds improved moderately well overnight and added to those gains steadily during the domestic session. Ask 10 traders why and you might not get 10 different answers, but it would be at least 5. Improvement in the tariff outlook is a common refrain, but forex mar...Read More | ||
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Mortgage Rates Continue Lower | ||
4/24/2025 2:47 PM | ||
Mortgage rates continue the slow, bumpy process of healing from the rapid rise seen 2 weeks ago. Last week was a solid victory in that sense with rates moving steadily and meaningfully lower without any major rebounds. The present week started out on shakier footing as rates lurched higher on Monday. Fortunately, the sailing has been smoother since...Read More | ||
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Bigger Picture Starting to Look More Normal | ||
4/24/2025 11:19 AM | ||
What"s "normal" for the bond market? That depends how far back you want to look. Starting in late February, we had about a month of mostly sideways movement in a relatively narrow range as we waited for clarity on new fiscal policies and economic data. The tariff roll-out shook things up, to be sure, but for more than a week now, yields have ...Read More | ||