Intermountain Mortgage Company

Posted To: MBS CommentaryGovernment shutdowns make good news. When risks of a shutdown flare up (especially with today's sort of political theater) it tends to dominate the news coverage. This creates the risk that shutdown news is perceived to impact bonds in a way that isn't really accurate. This was the case today, to some extent. Shutdown headlines dominated the afternoon news cycle right at a time when bonds were weakening. So was it the shutdown headlines causing the issues? Not hardly. In fact, the shutdown headlines would have arguably been good for bonds. Instead, bonds were simply backtracking after having been led into stronger territory by European markets. The latter were on the move due to the latest round of Brexit-related headlines, which basically conveyed "no additional negotiations"...(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it. […]

Posted To: Mortgage Rate WatchMortgage rates rose almost imperceptibly today, with a few lenders not showing any detectable changes from yesterday. Still, it was the first time since November 30th that rates were higher than the previous day (on average). Today's move was so small that most lenders accounted for it in the form of upfront costs. This means that borrowers would be quoted the same rate as yesterday, but with a small increase in upfront costs. For those who read yesterday's commentary (which said we may have just seen temporary lows in rates as the current move was running out of steam), none of this should come as a surprise. In fact, given the pace of the improvements in recent weeks, it's arguably a good thing to take a break because it could help rates hold in stronger territory for longer. The most obvious...(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it. […]

Posted To: MND NewsWireCoreLogic reports that mortgage delinquency rates were little changed in September. The percentage of mortgage loans that were 30 or more days delinquent and including those in the process of foreclosure declined by 0.6 percentage point on an annual basis, to a national rate of 4.4 percent. Early delinquencies, those 30 to 59 days past due were down from 2.4 percent in September 2017 to 2.2 percent. Other delinquency rates are reflected in the graphic below. Serious delinquencies, those more than 90 days past due or in foreclosure were either down or unchanged in every state. Rates however increased in 10 metro areas. The improvements were despite the considerable disruption along the southern Atlantic Coast caused by Hurricane Florence in September. Seven of the eight metropolitan areas that...(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it. […]

Posted To: Pipeline PressI’m a capital markets guy. “Bespoke luxury” isn’t in my vocabulary. First-time home buyer prices and floorplans aren’t in the cards at the new Aston Martin apartment building in Miami . If you buy one of the 47 most expensive apartments, they come with a new DB11. And, not to be outdone, Porsche also has a residential building – thanks to Jim P. for passing that along. (But owners won’t be building any sculptures to flip off town officials in the name of “art” or “expressionism” like a fellow did in Vermont.) You can bet those developers are hoping the market doesn’t sag – but it appears that the market is sagging in some areas already, or at least not going up as fast. Is that a surprise? “No tree grows to...(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it. […]

Posted To: MBS CommentaryConsolidation ... That's that word we use to refer to sideways and frequently narrower trading ranges that follow a period of more directional movement (you can click on the word to go to a full definition). Consolidation is the best case scenario right now, when it comes to defining the modest weakness seen yesterday and so far this morning. In other words, we would hope that we're merely seeing a consolidation of the strong rally of the past 5 weeks as opposed to a reversal. Would a consolidation be better than a continuation of the rally? In my mind, yes! We don't want the rally to progress too far too quickly for a variety of reasons. As with most things in the natural world, slower and steadier is more sustainable. Next week's Fed announcement would be an ideal finish line...(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it. […]