evan@evanhitch.com

Another Day of Gains With Some Quarter-End Distortion Q1 was fairly eventful for the bond market with solid–sometimes puzzling–gains in February followed by a relative rout in March. Heavy quarter-end rebalancing flows are making for more volatility than normal at 4pm ET, but up until that point, 10yr yields had rallied roughly 8bps. Those gains […]

Mortgage rates moved lower for the second straight day as markets responded to potential de-escalation in the Iran war.  Rates are based on bonds and bonds improved overnight as The President said the war could end even if the Strait of Hormuz was not yet reopened. Additional improvement followed during domestic hours based on headlines

Appraisal methodology and analysis have changed over the years, and we’re about to undergo another major alteration with UAD 3.6. Some investors are ahead of the 11/2/26 curve. For example, Newrez is now accepting loans from clients who have adopted the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) 3.6 Appraisal and Forms Redesign and submitted via the Uniform

The focal point of the overnight news cycle was a report that administration officials said Trump is willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Markets rallied nearly as much just before the open when Trump said the hard part is essentially done on the Iran war (and that other

The bad news is that the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate remains over 6.5% after being under 6% just a month ago. The good news is that rates recovered nicely over the weekend.  By Friday afternoon, the average rate was 6.64%–the highest since August 2025–adding to a trend of rapid upward movement over the course

Do you remember when everyone was talking about the lack of housing inventory as a problem for buyers? Those days are long gone: There are now nearly 50 percent more home sellers than buyers as mismatch widens to a record 630,000. (Of course this is depending on price point and location.) And what they’re selling

There are three distinct reasons that could account for bonds paradoxically rallying overnight despite oil prices remaining high and an absence of meaningful de-escalation in the Iran war. The most notable development has been the correction in Fed Funds Futures that began on Friday morning and extended modestly into this morning. Less objectively quantifiable but

Some Resilience After AM Weakness 10yr yields are set to end the week at the highest levels since last July, but those were even higher highs earlier this morning. From roughly 9am-1130am ET, bonds recovered all of the day’s losses in a move that was led by adjustments to Fed rate hike expectations.  Yes, we can/should

There were mixed blessings in the mortgage rate world today. The bad news is that today’s rates are just a bit higher than yesterday’s, resulting in another 8 month high. The good news is that things were looking quite a bit worse earlier in the morning. Mortgage lenders prefer to set rates once per day

Mortgage application activity declined for the second consecutive week as rising interest rates continued to weigh on demand. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a decrease of 10.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending March 20. Both major components moved lower. The Refinance Index fell 15% from the previous week, though it