Intermountain Mortgage Company

Posted To: MBS CommentaryThe bond market took a pass today as traders generally let supply considerations and positioning rule the day. Supply considerations came courtesy of the 7yr Treasury auction (also the last of the week's auctions). The auction itself had fairly average stats, but primary dealers (who are forced to submit bids) were left holding a bigger piece of the bag than normal. Thus, they had more bonds to sell (or opportunistic traders assumed they'd have more bonds to sell in the near future and thus tried to get ahead of the trade by selling). Either way, the 1pm time frame (when the auction happened) saw a bit of additional selling pressure. This was largely confined to Treasuries, however, as MBS were able to maintain a mostly sideways grind on the day. Incidentally, the stronger Durable Goods...(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 held fairly steady today with the average lender unchanged to just slightly higher on the day. That's fairly good news considering yesterday marked the lowest rates in more than a week. Despite these facts, anyone searching the internet for mortgage rate news today is likely to encounter convincingly-worded articles claiming that rates are HIGHER this week. So which one of us is lying to you? In fact, no one is lying. This is something that runs the risk of happening on any given Thursday when Freddie Mac releases its weekly mortgage rate survey. For whatever reason, their survey methodology only solicits responses on Monday-Wednesday. Moreover, based on years of review of Freddie's surveys and actual lender rate sheets, the heaviest weight is given to Monday and almost no weight...(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 NewsWireHome flipping, buying a property with the intent to sell it in a short period of time at a profit, is more popular than almost ever , but a study by CoreLogic finds it has morphed into a different kind of business. Flippers are tending to hold on to property longer, and to add value rather than relying only on rates of appreciation. For the purposes of its study on the subject, CoreLogic used a two-year period to define a flip rather than the 12-months commonly employed. It did this to match the Internal Revenue Service's threshold for when real estate holdings can be considered owner-occupied and thus eligible for those capital gains exceptions. The longer holding period also makes a property eligible for the long-term rather than the higher short-term capital gains tax rate. Flipping has...(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 CommentaryHere's a quick recap of the past year or so. Bond yields were near long-term highs in the first part of 2018 following the passage of the tax bill and generally strong economic data. Rates surged to even higher long term highs in October and November (ongoing improvement in US econ data, hawkish Fed, rotation into stocks). At that point, a combination of European/Chinese weakness, a potentially overly-hawkish Fed, and high rates sent the stock market into a tailspin. Bonds benefited in a big way. After dropping 70bps in less than 2 months , 10yr yields took a breather in the 2.55-2.80 range for the next two months. We turned our attention to the March 20th Fed announcement to cause the next big move. It did. In not so many words, the Fed was surprisingly helpful to bonds. They also mentioned...(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 PressIn low down payment and HFA news, HUD, dba the FHA, has agreed to a 90-day stay in implementation of Mortgagee Letter 19-06 (regarding down payment assistance) to have a 90 day comment period. The flurry reminded the industry that there are lots of options out there for low down payment loans. For example, Wells Fargo’s retail arm offers its 3% down “ yourFirst Mortgage® .” Over in conventional land, there is something interesting as well. Anyone interested in lending to borrowers in that industry should read, “ Fannie’s HomeReady Program Allows for Cannabis Industry Financing .” Lots more conventional conforming news below. Lender Products and Services From industry-leading technology to professional expertise and convenient education opportunities,...(read more)Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it. […]