Rates
Serious Delinquencies Set Records as Early Rates Trend Down
Extremely serious delinquencies, those loans 150 days or more past due, reached historically high levels in August. Five months into the COVID-19 crisis, Corelogic said the rate of delinquencies among those loans spiked to 1.2 percent, the highest level since at least January 1999, which we assume is the limit of the company’s records. CoreLogic […]
Mortgage Rates Mostly Flat Despite Stronger Bond Market
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Mortgage rates are mostly determined by the trading levels of mortgage-backed bonds on the open market. When those bonds improve, mortgage rates move lower, all other things being equal. For a variety of reasons, that typical relationship has been hit and miss on any given day since the pandemic began. […]
Mortgage Rates Moving Higher
It began last week. It was subtle–so subtle as to pass largely unnoticed. But the gentle drift toward slightly higher rates has taken bigger steps so far this week. As of this afternoon, the average lender is quoting the highest rates since late September! That’s quite a realization when juxtaposed with last week’s (misleading) headlines […]
Rates Remain Steady as Market Volatility Dies Down
After rising at a medium-quick pace to begin the week, the past 3 days have been much calmer by comparison for mortgage rates . Today was the best example of that stability with the average lender effectively unchanged from yesterday’s latest levels. In addition, there were fewer mid-day price changes among lenders than on any […]
Rates Ignore Trump’s Covid Diagnosis. Has The Bond Market Gone Crazy?
After weeks of incredibly subdued volatility, the bond market (which dictates rates) is starting to show some signs of life, but not for the same old reasons. Inflation? Inflation is one of the oldest and most significant reasons to freak out about interest rates. It was by far and away the dominant source of drama […]
Forbearances Ending at a Faster Pace; Rates Drift Lower; Refi Market Still Hot
Black Knight said its weekly forbearance survey found the number of mortgages in active forbearance decreasing at an accelerated rate. Those mortgages fell by 2.6 percent or 95,000 loans over the last week, bring the decline over the last month to 357,000 loans. It was the fifth straight week of improvement and Black Knight noted […]
Construction Slows after Three Busy Months; Rates Vary Widely–Nothing To Do With Fed
Residential construction activity took a breather in August. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported this morning that all three measures, housing permits, starts, and completions, were lower than their unexpectedly high July rates. Permits for residential construction were issued during the month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate […]
BLS: July Unemployment rates down in 30 states; 3 States at New Series Highs
From the BLS: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary Unemployment rates were lower in July in 30 states, higher in 9 states, and stable in 11 states and the District of Columbia , the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. All 50 states and the District had jobless rate increases from a year […]
Still Reeling From Last Week, Mortgage Rates Tiptoe Lower
Mortgage rates managed to improve modestly for the average lender today, but they remain significantly higher than they were before last week’s regulatory drama . By the time we consider the size, scope, and the precipitous imposition of the new refi fee, we’ve never seen anything remotely similar. Lenders were definitely taken by surprise and […]
Forbearances Decline for Second Week; Rates Are Not 1.99%
Two entities, Black Knight and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) have been tracking loans in forbearance plans since the start of the pandemic. They have diverged a bit in their numbers over the last half year, but both agree, in their most recent reports, that there are now fewer than 4 million borrowers in plans. […]