|  |  |  | | | | | Mortgage News Daily | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: MBS Commentary Phew. We made it through yesterday afternoon. And then we made it all the way through today! Rally intact!! Additional gains secured!!! Reprices for the better awarded!!!! REPEATEDLY !!!!! IT FEELS GREAT TO GO INTO THE WEEKEND ON A HIGH NOTE DOESN'T IT? Oh wait. wait. wait.wait.... I misspoke. Not a high note. But close to one! I circled the weekly high. It was on Monday. That feels like forever ago to me though. Oh. That's probably because parnertia pulled the FNCL 4.5 underwater yesterday morning and the best execution 30 year fixed mortgage rate touched 5.25%. Ugghghghhh....gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about how fast we went from 4.00% to 5.25%. Don't ever ever forget this experience. Loan pricing CLEARLY worsens much faster than it improves.... Remember this post: Bargain Buyers...(read more) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Volatility has not been a friend to mortgage rates over the last 30 days, but in the last 36 hours, we've been good buddies! Today put a nice bookend on a bond market correction that began yesterday around noon. This follows a painstaking selloff that played out relentlessly through the end of November all the way into Wednesday morning. Phew. It's about time! The mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that dictate your loan pricing gained much ground today. This allowed lenders to reprice for the better which helped mortgage rates move lower into the weekend. To illustrate the volatility we have created a mortgage rate chart using our loan pricing model. On this graph you will see five different colored lines. Each line represents a different 30 year fixed mortgage note rate. The numbers on the...(read more) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: MBS Commentary The Live Chat on our MBSonMND dashboard is blowing up as reprices continue to come across from lenders. AQ is in the process of updating our loan pricing model so we should soon be able to offer you a fair gauge of the latest best execution 30 yr fixed quote. But for now, we can at least tell you that MBS and treasuries have broken their intraday resistance levels after earlier stability prompted fast$ bond "vigilantes" to cover their short positions which led to snowball buying. Although the TSY rally largely reflects a short squeeze in the long end of the yield curve, we are seeing real$ buyers doing some duration grabs in "rate sheet influential" MBS coupons. This is a good sign as it implies, although the bid in TSYs does not reflect outright optimism, MBS investors are scratching the bargain...(read more) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: MND NewsWire One appraisal two appraisals three appraisals...where's the floor???? This statement sums up the home valuation experience for many borrowers in the current lending environment.... "They switched lenders and got another appraisal that, at $290,000, would have allowed the deal to go through. Their new lender was skeptical, and ordered up another appraisal. At the same time, the home they were selling was appraised three times, with each subsequent valuation falling." Obviously this story doesn't apply to every homeowner because not every housing market is under the same amount of downward pressure (from a cluster of distressed properties), but the general frustrations these borrowers face really hit the nail on the head on just how tough it can be to qualify for a loan nowadays. It also paints...(read more) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: MBS Commentary We stand a reasonable chance of confirming the rally that began around mid-day yesterday. Bonds have added to those gains this morning but positive progress isn't getting far ahead of itself just yet.... Rather than a simple directional reversal, MBS prices and treasury yields are holding just above support levels that were crested overnight. In fact there are several layers of support ranging from super short to super long-term which we'll look at momentarily. If demand is strong enough from real money accounts to overwhelm the expected push from fast$ short sellers, we could see the opposite of "snowball selling" to some extent, as those with actual short positions are forced to cover (short-covering rally). Until then, fast money is likely to keep the battle active within narrow ranges....(read more) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: Pipeline Press Fannie and Freddie announced updates to the implementation dates and requirements for loan delivery and appraisal data under the Uniform Mortgage Data Program (UMDP) . The UMDP is a joint effort by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) at the direction of Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to standardize and drive data quality that benefits the entire mortgage industry. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac understand the magnitude of the change required to achieve this important goal and its impact on a number of industry players. To facilitate its successful adoption, the GSEs have collected extensive feedback from a wide array of customers, lenders, appraisers, and other industry participants. Any company, whether or not it sells to the agencies, can pretty much use this for a template for future...(read more) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: MND NewsWire The MBA agrees with us, the mortgage industry is no where near ready to implement new originator compensation regs. Originator Compensation Reform: Putting the Cart Before the Horse From the MBA.... On Thursday, December 16, 2010, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) sent the attached letter to Ben Bernanke, Chairman, and Saundra Bernstein, Director, Consumer and Community Affairs Division, of the Federal Reserve, requesting written guidance to help the industry implement the Board’s final rule on loan originator compensation and steering published on September 24, 2010. In the letter, MBA President and CEO John Courson asks for written guidance confirming previous direction that the Board staff has graciously provided MBA and its members either verbally or in person. MBA, on behalf...(read more) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: MBS Commentary The House of Representatives last night voted 277 to 148 to approve an $858 billion tax package extending the Bush-era tax cuts. After the news S&P futures are 1.50 points lower at 1,237 and benchmark interest rates have fallen. The 10 year Treasury note is +8/32 at 93-19 yielding 3.392%. The Fannie Mae 4.5 MBS coupon is +8/32 at 101-14 “As we close in on year end, the Santa Claus rally in stocks has lifted sentiment well above normal levels — more than a full standard deviation when measured by the bull-bear ratio in the Investors’ Intelligence Survey,” said economists at BMO Capital Markets. “This looks very similar to last year, when stocks and sentiment gathered steam into year end, giving way to a modest correction by mid-January.” Overseas, credit...(read more) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch This may be what you've been waiting for! Over the course of the past few days and weeks, we've been increasingly trying to convey the same message: mortgage rate movements are quite volatile and the best course of action is to look for a rate and fee structure that you can live with and get out of the waiting game now. This can fell hard to do in a falling market as the natural reaction is to hope for a bit of correction before resigning ourselves to lock in at the worst rates we've seen in a while. But that has changed somewhat this afternoon and here's why... Sure enough, the day started poorly and rates continued to rise in the morning, but just before the noon hour, the market for MBS (the mortgage backed securities that are constantly trading hands and dictating your loan pricing) started...(read more) | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
