Mortgage News

Good morning! Today is Thursday, March 4. Google will stop using browsing histories to sell ads. A Senate bill will narrow income eligibility for Covid $1,400 stimulus checks. Amazon is in talks to carry many NFL games exclusively on Amazon Prime.   And in mortgage and housing news … PREDICTED SURGE: Interest rates jumped to 2.97 percent last week, the highest they’ve been in six months. On its own, the increase is not significant—but it may actually be monumental if it is the beginning of a rate surge that has been long predicted. MORTGAGE APPS: Total mortgage application volume was essentially flat for the week, rising just 0.5 percent. CFPB NOMINEE: President Biden’s CFPB nominee puts loan servicers, and credit bureaus on notice.  COVID-DEFERRAL TRENDS: Who is taking advantage of…

Good morning! Today is Wednesday, March 3. Texas and Mississippi lift mask mandates and say all businesses can open at 100 percent capacity, as health officials warn not to ease restrictions to that degree. After more vaccines came online, President Biden said there will be enough vaccines to vaccinate every adult by the end of May. Six Dr. Suess books will no longer be published over “hurtful” imagery.  And in mortgage and housing news … FORBEARANCE REPORT: The number of mortgages in forbearance remained at 2.6 million for the week ending February 21. FORBEARANCE WORKED: New data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that forbearance did its job. Roughly 30,000 individuals had a new foreclosure notation added to their credit reports during…

Good morning! Today is Tuesday, March 2. Moderna, Pfizer and now Johnson & Johnson say they will deliver enough doses to fully vaccinate 130 million people — more than one-third of the US population — by the end of March. The Los Angeles superintendent wants elementary schools open by mid-April, but he has yet to reach a deal with the teachers union. The U.S. Senate confirmed former teacher and principal Miguel Cardona to be the next Secretary of Education. And in mortgage and housing news … CRISIS LOOMING: Millions of Americans face foreclosure and eviction from their homes once housing pandemic protections come to an end, according to a report released Monday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. MONEY COMING: Fannie Mae…

Good morning! Today is Monday, March 1. New York Gov. Cuomo apologized over interactions with staff and agreed to the state attorney general’s plan to set up a sex-harassment probe. The CDC recommends Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine, enabling inoculations to start this week. Toyota started building a “smart city” with self-driving cars, robots and Artificial Intelligence homes. And in mortgage and housing news … LENDER IPO’S: Between July and December, eight of the 30 largest U.S. mortgage lenders announced plans to go public. It hasn’t worked out quite the way all the companies were hoping.   RENTAL SCAM: New York’s rental market has been turned upside down by the pandemic, making it hard to tell a good deal from one that’s too good to be true.…

Good morning! Today is Friday, February 26. The United States has conducted airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia facilities in eastern Syria in response to recent attacks against American targets in Iraq. Senate rules will block consideration of $15 minimum wage legislation. Jeep is resisting the Cherokee Nation’s request to stop using the tribe’s name.  And in mortgage and housing news … MORTGAGE RATES: Mortgage rates climbed again this week, inching ever closer to 3 percent as confidence in the economy begins to climb. FORBEARANCE EXTENSION: The FHFA announced an extension of Covid-19-related mortgage relief.  PENDING SALES: The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales fell 2.8 percent to 122.8, which was still a record high for the month.  ROCKET PROFIT: Quicken Loans parent Rocket Companies announced a record $9…

Good morning! Today is Thursday, February 25. The Food and Drug Administration said Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine works safely, paving the way for the approval of a third vaccine in the U.S. as early as this weekend. New York City is set to reopen public middle schools for in-person learning today for the first time since November. A new more infectious Covid variant in California makes up more than half of the infections in 44 counties. And in mortgage and housing news … MORTGAGE APPS: The Texas snow storm deflated mortgage application numbers. LUXURY RENTALS: Landlords continue to see prices rise for luxury single-family rentals as the pandemic-fueled recession impacts socioeconomic groups unevenly.  MARKET WORRIES: Two big reasons investors are worried about the housing market. QM…

Good morning! Today is Wednesday, February 24. Tiger Woods is stable and recovering, following surgery to stabilize his leg injured in a car crash. Illinois became the first state to sign a law eliminating cash bail. Twitter is adding a new warning label to tweets believed to contain information obtained through hacking.   And in mortgage and housing news … HOUSING STIMULUS: The Mortgage Note reports that unprecedented liquidity in the proposed stimulus bill is poised to support continued gains in house prices, which have boomed in recent months thanks to low interest rates.  RECORD PRICES: Home prices in the United States surged 10.8 percent in 2020 – the largest annual increase on record.  OWN VS. RENT: Redfin is courting first-time homebuyers with a $608 million deal to buy…

Good morning! Today is Tuesday, February 23. President Biden held a memorial service to honor the more than 500,000 lives lost to Covid-19. Facebook reversed its ban on news pages in Australia after amendments to a law requiring the social media company to demonstrate a “significant contribution” to local journalism. New York City will reopen its movie theaters for the first time in nearly a year.  And in mortgage and housing news … FORBEARANCE: The number of mortgages in forbearance dropped for the third straight week.  HOME SALES: Existing-home sales ticked up slightly in January and increased 23.7 percent from a year ago. IPO PEAK: Investors fueling an initial public offering bonanza are snubbing many U.S. mortgage providers’ stock market debuts over concerns that the sector might…

Good morning! Today is Monday, February 22. Airlines were told to stop flying Boeing’s wide-body 777 aircraft equipped with a type of engine that broke apart during a flight over the weekend. The pace of U.S. Covid-19 vaccinations has drastically slowed, hampered by snow and power outages. A Chicago restaurant owner bought out street vendors’ tamales so they could come in from record low temperatures. And in mortgage and housing news … AIRBNB TENSIONS: Hurt by refunds, some are trying to cut Airbnb out of bookings or taking legal action. The company says it is working to reduce tensions. BROKER COMMISSIONS: Online home buyers do much of the work involved in acquiring a house. So why are brokers’ fees still calculated under the old system? RETIREMENT…

Good morning! Today is Friday, February 19. Power is restored for most of Texas, following a devastating winter storm, but two-thirds of residents still don’t have drinking water. Facebook is blocking the collection of sensitive data via apps after a probe into reports of unauthorized sharing of personal information. One out of 10 U.S. workers will have to switch jobs by 2030 as Covid-19 increases e-commerce, deliveries and the use of artificial intelligence and robots. And in mortgage and housing news … MORTGAGE RATES: Mortgage rates climbed for the first time in weeks but remain near historically low levels, according to the weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac. LOANDEPOT RESULTS: loanDepot reported lower quarterly net income for the fourth quarter – but…