Some things in life are fleeting, like a frosty glass of rose, enemy troops singing Christmas carols in the trenches during WWI, or the time when lenders couldn’t hire people fast enough because rates were at 3 percent. I mention this because Krispy Kreme’s Strawberry Glazed Donuts, a flavor not seen in two years, is back today but only through Monday, in participating Krispy Kreme shops nationwide. Fleeting for donut aficionados. (Who says this commentary never has anything newsworthy?) Also fleeting are some astronomical events. Some will tell you that NASA doesn’t have much else going on besides coming up with the names of moons every month or two. Along those lines, thank you to Eric D. who pointed out that the common definition of a “blue moon” (the second full moon in any month) is wrong. It is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons per NASA. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Black
Dang there’s a lot going on in Texas. One week it’s raining “hail the size of goat balls” (not my term; it was the phrase used by the woman mortgage banker who wrote me), the next week the state is experiencing a heat “dome” while malaria is in the headlines and a San Antonio airport ramp worker was sucked into a jet engine (ruled a suicide). Meanwhile, per the latest report from the Dallas Fed, “Texas home prices have headed steadily higher, a byproduct of rising housing demand and pandemic-related supply shortages.” For any originator interested in demographics like that, on a national scale, in doing some work for The STRATMOR Group I came across the article, “The Racial Segregation of American Cities Was Anything but Accidental.” And in the capital markets, mortgage rates have gone up faster than the 10-year. The spread between the 30-year fixed rate mortgage and the 10-year bond yield has surpassed the highs of
“When I was young, I was poor. But after decades of hard work, I am no longer young.” The quip about “The greatest cause of death is birth” aside, we’re all going to die. The question is, “How?” It takes a while for statistics to catch up, but in 2019 the biggest killers of Americans were heart disease, cancer, and being poor. “There were at least 180,000 poverty-related deaths in 2019, new research estimates, surpassing deaths from causes like homicide and drug overdoses.” Unclean air, water, lack of access to good health care are listed. But we, in the residential lending industry, are in a good place to help better people’s housing situation… every day! Loan officers are in a very good position to do so, and today is the last day for them to comment on NMLS Modernization. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Richey May, a recognized leader in providing specialized