A 50-year mortgage on a median-priced US home could reduce borrower’s monthly repayment, but also double the amount of interest the owner pays over the life of the loan, according to UBS Group AG analysts.

The Department of Justice told a court that the bureau cannot legally request funding from the Federal Reserve System, arguing that the Fed has not turned a profit since 2022 and thus cannot fund the CFPB.

Rate-and-term refinances dropped 14% month over month in October, but were still up 143% from last year.

Congressmen introduced the Retroactive Renewal and Reauthorization Act to the House Monday, with hopes to backdate the reauthorization of the insurance program.

Mortgage credit availability increased 2.3% to 106.8 last month, marking the fourth consecutive month of growth.

The number of highly qualified refinance candidates rose to 1.7 million, the most in three and a half years, as mortgage rates ease.

All five publicly traded title insurance companies reported a year-over-year increase in earnings during the third quarter, but only two had higher orders.

“6-7!” has swept the nation for youngsters of indeterminant age, and for no real reason. Other numbers have meaning, as do dates. For example, today is November 10th and on this day in 1975, the freighter S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior during a massive storm, killing all 29 of the crew. (Gordon Lightfoot memorialized the tragedy in a hit song the following year.) What’s in a number? Today, let’s look at “50” or “100.” Through some social media software, the president has brought up the 50- or 100-year mortgage as a way of improving affordability. Most people in this country would prefer to pay off their mortgage sooner than later. Does anyone admire the Japanese economy, or grandkids paying off their grandparent’s mortgage? “Through the use of simulation, the conclusion is reached that the 100-year mortgage has failed to increase the affordability of homes. Instead, affluent homeowners are more likely to employ long-term mortgages as an estate-planning tool to reduce inheritance taxes.” (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by TransUnion. Mortgage lenders choose TransUnion for their identity-focused, data-driven mortgage insights and solutions, enabling them to achieve more desirable lending outcomes in a volatile housing market. Hear an interview with TRUE’s Steve Butler on the challenges of income analysis in lending, particularly the delays caused by manual data entry and underwriting processes, and how technological advancements are solving this.)

Mortgage rates went into the weekend with a small cushion thanks to movement in the bond market on Friday. Specifically, bonds improved after mortgage rates came out for the day. If the improvement had been sharper, mortgage lenders likely would have made a mid-day adjustment to slightly lower levels. The implication was that rates would have been slightly lower this morning if bonds managed to hold the same levels over the weekend. Unfortunately, bonds lost enough ground to overshadow Friday’s cushion, just slightly. The net effect is an average top-tier 30yr fixed rate that is 0.02% higher versus Friday morning–a minimal change considering the day-over-day losses in the bond market. With that, the average lender remains well inside the the 0.10 range that’s been in place since October 29th.  Bond markets are closed tomorrow for Veterans Day. When markets reopen on Wednesday, the prospects for ending the government shutdown may be coming into clearer view and that could cause enough market volatility to spill over into rates. If today’s trading was any clue, a “reopening” event is more likely to put upward pressure on rates, but today’s rate increase could already be reflecting those expectations. 

Counting Down to Ending The Shutdown After Tuesday’s Holiday Closure

Bonds were weaker in the overnight session with at least some of the blame presumably going to a sudden improvement in the prospects for reopening the government. To whatever extent that blame is merited, the rest of the week is increasingly interesting. Tuesday is fully closed due to the Veterans Day holiday. A House vote on a shutdown resolution could happen as early as Wednesday. Even if the vote is looking more like Thu/Fri, any headlines that clarify the timeline or the details could be tradeable events.

Market Movement Recap

10:21 AM Moderately weaker overnight, but rallying back a bit now.  MBS down an eighth and 10yr up less than 1bp at 4.100

02:04 PM A hair weaker vs AM levels despite well-received 3yr TSY auction.  MBS down 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr up 1.8bps at 4.111