Third-quarter mortgage earnings revealed swings in profitability, but the real story, according to the Chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, is that hedging MSRs is unnecessary for well-managed lenders.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.