When I was growing up, no one that I knew of wanted to be a “purchasing manager”. (Or, for that matter, a mortgage banker, but look where that got us!) Anyway, purchasing managers are surveyed, and the results can make the financial markets move. What exactly is a purchasing manager? Whether for use by their
August 2009
RATE/MARKET UPDATE Rates on conforming loans up to $417k and super-conforming loans up to $729k are net even for the second week in a row, which is rather shocking given the volatility of the last 18 months. Rates for jumbo loans above $729k remain steady because those rates don’t trade all day every day like
Overall Personal Consumption Expenditures, the Fed’s favorite measure of consumer inflation, were even in July and -0.8% year-over-year through July. Excluding volatile oil and food costs from the readings, “Core” PCE price index for July was +0.1% and +1.4% YOY through July. The Fed looks closely at Core PCE excluding food and energy prices because
This week was the 34th week of a mortgage bond purchase program by the Federal Reserve—here’s week 33. Beginning on August 20 and ending on August 26, the Fed bought $25.4b net of mortgage bonds—below is a table breaking down the amounts for each coupon and maturity across the three agencies that issue these securities:
My father used to say, “It’s OK to kiss a nun, but don’t get into the habit.” Speaking of habits, the bond market has become accustomed to the Fed buying mortgages. What if they stopped? Federal Reserve President Lacker suggested the Fed may not need to spend the full amount it pledged ($1.25 trillion, for
In news that is sure to “spook the herd”, the New York Times reports that “Google plans to begin offering loan quotes online as early as this month, a lawsuit filed in federal court this week claims. The suit was filed by LendingTree, which offers consumers mortgage quotes and conditional loan offers online, against Mortech,
From MarketWatch: The board of the FDIC voted 4-1 Wednesday to require private-equity firms with no history of bank management to maintain a 10% capital-asset ratio and to submit to strong restrictions on lending to their affiliates. The rules also require private-equity firms that bid on banks to commit to owning and operating them for
Do mortgage originators consider the future when they are speaking with a client and processing the loan? Perhaps: certainly between 2002 and 2007 originators “appeared” willing to lend to anyone since values were increasing, and any problems might be covered up with appreciation. They weren’t necessarily forcing the borrower to borrow, and investors weren’t being
Do you tend to buy stocks or real estate when the market is improving? And sell when the market is worsening? If so, join the crowd. This action, of course, creates its own “feedback loop”, also called “price-to-price feedback”. When the feedback stops, markets often turn around, or a speculative bubble bursts. Astute traders include
The S&P Case Shiller June 2009 report of existing home salesshowed year-over-year -15.4% price declines averaged across 20 major metropolitan areas (see table below). Notable declines for the year-over-year period were Las Vegas -32.4%, Phoenix -31.6%, and San Francisco -22.0%. From May to June, only Las Vegas and Detroit metro areas were down, prices in
I guess that the economy is not doing that badly if someone wants to pay $4.5 million for a gravesite. You can check it out on eBay, but the bidding started at $500k and has skyrocketed. The lady is selling the crypt out from under her dead husband, who is resting in peace above Marilyn
Banking is stabilizing but strict loan approvals continue in this back-to-basics era. Nimble monetary policy helps navigate volatile markets and sets the precedent going forward. After two years of turmoil, how do you act on cautious optimism? It’s all covered in this QuarterlyBasis report. If you’d like to discuss anything, I’m at your service. Bank
Banking is stabilizing but strict loan approvals continue in this back-to-basics era. Nimble monetary policy helps navigate volatile markets and sets the precedent going forward. After two years of turmoil, how do you act on cautious optimism? It’s all covered in this QuarterlyBasis report. If you’d like to discuss anything, I’m at your service. Bank
Rate/Market Update Rates on conforming loans up to $417k and super-conforming loans up to $729k are net even this week after building on last week’s .25% gains then giving up ground today. Rates for jumbo loans above $729k remain steady because those rates don’t trade all day every day like conforming loan rates do. Tame
Where is the ICBA sending ex-Taylor Bean clients? Check out: http://www.icbamortgage.com/news/index.cfm?ItemNumber=61467#faqs. What is AMI? It stands for “area median income”. In the old days, HUD issued the median income estimates, but now the Federal Housing Finance Agency does them. What good are they? Well, for starters, anyone who specializes in low and moderate income borrowers
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