Real Estate

Even though there were doubts about their scope and impact, yesterday morning’s headlines introduced the prospect of some sort of ceasefire in the Iran war. Markets traded accordingly, including the “doubts” part (i.e. there was an initial rebound yesterday and an additional rebound this morning). 10yr yields have now fully erased yesterday morning’s gains even […]

Sometimes life comes down to a coin toss. Here in Virginia Beach, at the Southern Trust Mortgage Sales Summit, a conversation topic is originators not leaving their business to chance. Pricing practices are rarely left to chance, and Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to the CEO of Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), to inform

Mortgage rates are dictated by bonds and bonds had a volatile day. During overnight trading hours, bonds suggested we should brace for the impact of even higher rates. Things changed just after 7am ET following headlines that suggested progress on the Iran war.  Although volatility continued in the ensuing hours, bonds ultimately settled in stronger

Decent Gains Amid De-Escalation Headlines Don’t worry about what actually happened, who actually spoke to whom, and the details of the conversations that may or may not have happened. Today’s simplest fact is that the President said things that can be filed under the heading of “de-escalation” of the Iran war and markets were obviously and

Up until roughly 7am ET, it was a rough night for the bond market. 10yr yields had been selling off steadily throughout, hitting 4.443% by 6:45am. Then at 7:04am, newswires indicated “talks” between the US and Iran, and a 5 day ceasefire of sorts. Yields and oil plunged instantly. Stocks rallied. The 10yr dipped as

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NOTE: the rates discussed in this article are from MBA’s weekly survey and pertain to last week.  This week’s rates have already moved significantly higher according to our daily data. Mortgage application activity fell sharply last week as rising rates weighed on demand. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a decrease of 10.9% on a

New home sales took a notable step back in January, reversing much of the prior month’s strength and highlighting the volatility that often defines this data series. The Census Bureau reported a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 587,000 , down sharply from December’s 712,000 and 11.3% lower than January 2025. For-sale inventory moved slightly higher

After hitting 5.99% as recently as February 27th, top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rates are back over 6.5% for the average lender today–the highest they’ve been since September 3rd, 2025.  The entire month of March has been painful for many corners of the financial market and mortgage rates are not immune. The Iran war is

Global Bond Market in Reprice Mode Around here, “reprice” typically refers to mid-day rate changes from mortgage lenders, but infrequently, a big picture repricing occurs in the bond market. That’s what’s going on in March and especially over the last 2.5 days. Wednesday’s Fed comments and Thursday’s ECB/BOE comments confirmed that there’s a floor under