The two main agencies that purchase mortgage debt in America have the nicknames of Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.   These agencies purchase well over half of all mortgages made by banks coast to coast, and the guidelines they use drive the loan types, and pricing for residential mortgages.  One important restriction that these agencies place [...]

The mortgage market continues its Yo-Yo pattern and we saw a full .5% in rate come off the 30 year fixed mortgage this week.  Looks like we’re settling down at 6% after a week or two of rates closer to 6.625%.

I’m starting to notice that the normal market relationship between equities [...]

Mortgage Rates ended up on the week and are trending higher.  But with volatility reigning supreme on Wall St and in the bond market, who knows what Monday will bring!  I’m beginning to feel like we have a yo-yo like pattern of rates swinging between 6% and 6.5% week over week.  [...]

The bond market finally capitulated slightly this week giving mortgage rates a little relief after 4 weeks of extreme volatility.  Rates lowered by about .25% overall.  One thing that seems to have happened in the last 2 weeks is the shrinking of available loan programs.  In the conforming or “agency” loan universe (loans purchased by [...]

This week I had the pleasure of attending a Rotary Club of Portland meeting that featured a presentation by local economist Dr. Randall Pozdena from QuantEcon inc.
In this presentation, Dr. Pozdena recounted the factors that led us to where we are presently regarding our mortgage/credit crisis situation. He had some great insights, and I left [...]

There have been a lot of changes afoot in the mortgage industry, as anyone who watches television or uses the internet already knows. As the demand for Mortgage Backed securities shrinks, the industry at large is attempting to bring a higher level of quality to their pools of loans. What this means to [...]