Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, traditionally associated with love. But on the opposite side of the spectrum, an Ohio animal shelter is offering to write your ex’s name in a litterbox, and let its adoptable cats “go to town.” Someone there knows good PR. Did you know that some countries never know who won the Super Bowl? As the pre-printed “Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl 2023 Champs” t-shirts are shipped off to places like Guatemala or El Salvador, in this country bond market traders and investors are focused on inflation. The Consumer Price Index report for January is tomorrow and forecast to show a 0.5 percent month-over-month rise with energy prices higher again. The headline year-over-year inflation reading is expected to drop to +6.2 percent from +6.5 percent in December. We probably won’t see inflation back in the 2 percent range unless the labor market softens considerably, and that is not evident. Too much inflation will k
As Florida’s homeowners, insurance companies, and companies that service loans in Hurricane Ian’s path, brace for the storm, lenders nationwide continue to grapple with a very, very difficult environment. Everyone wants a decent HELOC. Servicing sales have dropped. Buydown loans are back in vogue. (Ask your investor if they buy them, but Planet Home, AmeriHome, and Northpointe jump to mind.) Everyone wants a viable ARM product, at a fixed rate program with some points back. There are many asking if the days of paying 125-150 basis points to IMB LOs are numbered. There is a lot going on as we wrap up September. In fact, some would say it’s pumpkin spice season again, which can only mean one thing: it's time for the 2022 MBA Annual Conference. I spotted Garth Graham and David Hrobon from STRATMOR on the attendee list, who told me their schedule is quickly filling up. Any lenders considering their options as a seller in the current market should reach out to l
The mortgage industry has come a long way from March of 2020, when the Federal Reserve pledged to buy “unlimited” amounts of Treasuries and MBS to stabilize the credit markets. The Fed started to shrink its balance sheet earlier this summer, and at the start of this month ramped up to a reduction rate of $95 billion per month ($60 billion of Treasuries and $35 billion of MBS) with plans to end its purchases of MBS from early payoff proceeds next week. The Fed’s actions in March of 2020 helped stave off margin calls for many lenders, though several European countries are now providing billions of euros in margin call support to European energy companies that need at least $1.5 trillion to cover the cost of their exposure to soaring gas prices. Margin calls eat into companies’ capital, and mortgage companies need all the cash they can get in this higher interest rate environment that has shocked borrower demand and subdued sales. Time on the market for homes i