The Department of Justice is seeking court approval to immediately fire more than 600 employees, slashing the CFPB’s workforce by 53%.

Nearly 18 million homeowners in the 100 largest U.S. metros paid HOA or condo fees in 2024, with 2.6 million paying $500 or more monthly, according to a new LendingTree report.

Calyx Path’s integration with Friday Harbor clears paperwork for underwriters, while Dark Matter’s Ask Aiva quick verifiable answers to LO questions.

The lender claims an originator ambushed executives in a negotiation with the confidential company financials and claimed to have shared them with competitors.

The artificial intelligence-based technology automates manual processes associated with the financing, including draws, for homes under construction.

Surprisingly Light Volatility

Bonds digested several big ticket economic reports as well as a host of war-related headlines that probably would have caused a much bigger reaction a few weeks ago. But the net effect was an almost perfectly flat day by the 3pm CME close. If anything, the data caused some weakness and we can say bonds would have rallied more noticeably otherwise. The weak response is no surprise considering all 3 reports were stronger than expected. This also serves as a reminder that Friday’s jobs report is still a relevant market mover despite a general focus on the war and energy prices. 

Econ Data / Events

ADP Employment

62k vs 40k f’cast, 63k prev

Retail Sales

0.6 vs 0.5 f’cast, -0.2 prev

Core Retail Sales

0.5 vs 0.3 f’cast, 0.2 prev

ISM Manufacturing

52.7 vs 52.5 f’cast

ISM Prices Paid

78.3 vs 73.0 f’cast, 70.5 prev

Market Movement Recap

08:24 AM slightly stronger overnight with a bit of selling after ADP. MBS still up an eighth and 10yr down 1.3bps at 4.301

08:38 AM Giving up gains after Retail Sales. MBS unchanged and 10yr up half a bp at 4.317

11:04 AM Recovering some ground now. No particular reason. MBS up an eighth and 10yr down 1.2bps at 4.301

01:43 PM MBS up about an eighth and 10yr roughly unchanged at 4.313

03:23 PM MBS up only 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr up 1.6bps at 4.33

The increase in 10-year yields this month has had the effect of arresting what had been an encouraging decline in US mortgage rates for lenders.

Home prices increased 0.9% year-over-year and 0.1% month-over-month in January, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller national home price index.

The real estate fintech touted Doma’s role in Fannie Mae’s title-acceptance pilot as key to the deal, which follows Opendoor’s recent mortgage product rollout.

While San Francisco had the biggest improvement in affordability for prices today versus 2019, Hartford remains in a very deep freeze, First American said.