Instant Reaction: Consumer Price Index, August 11, 2021
Inflation continued to rise quickly in July. Over the last 12 months the inflation rate rose 5.4%, the same annual rate as in June. www.nar.realtor – Research
Rates at 3-Week Highs, More Volatility Ahead
Rates were excellent at the beginning of the week, but that began to change on Wednesday. We were already well on our way to 3-week highs on Thursday, and Friday made it official. Notably, these 3-week highs are still historically low. Friday’s main source of drama was the strong jobs report from the Labor Department. […]
4 Ways Brokers Can Become Fair Housing Leaders
For brokers who wish to go beyond compliance and embrace advocacy, a host of new fair housing groups, experiences, and courses are available. www.nar.realtor – Fair Housing
Refinancing Numbers Responded Quickly to Adverse Fee Removal
In its latest Mortgage Monitor, Black Knight analyzes the impact the elimination of the 50 basis point adverse market fee from the cost of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) refinances. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) removed the fee, originally scheduled to go into effect on September 1, 2020 to cover some of […]
Mortgage Rates Near Long-Term Despite Taper Talk
“Taper talk” refers to comments, speeches, or official policy communications from the Federal Reserve (aka “the Fed”) that speak to the timing and nature of a reduction in the Fed’s bond buying activities. Wow! What a boring and potentially confusing sentence! Let’s try again… The Fed buys bonds –US Treasuries and mortgage backed bonds (which, […]
COVID Concerns Drive Rates Lower, Refi Volume Rises
Refinancing continues to support mortgage application activity while purchase applications continued to weaken during the week ended July 23. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 5.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the prior week and the unadjusted index was up 6 […]