The mortgage lender will also conduct its own independent audit to determine if any further instances of unlicensed activity occurred after 2022.

The average homebuyer who purchased a home below the asking price last year received a 7.9% discount, the largest since 2012, Redfin found.

The SEC named Demetrios “Jim” Logothetis as chairman of the PCAOB, and Mark Calabria, Kyle Hauptman and Steven Laughton as board members.

The Senate-approved bill that hadn’t yet cleared the House at the time of this writing would fund agencies like HUD through the end of the fiscal year.

Data-Driven Sell-Off Dominates The Day. No Jobs Report on Friday

Very little changed after this morning’s commentary. At the time, we were watching bonds sell-off somewhat sharply in response to an exceptionally strong ISM Manufacturing report. As is often the case with data-driven selling sprees, the worst was over in the first 10 minutes and the rest of the day was broadly sideways. That said, it wasn’t without its interesting updates. Chief among them was news that this Friday’s jobs report would be postponed due to the government shutdown (and same story with tomorrow’s JOLTS data). 

Econ Data / Events

ISM Manufacturing Employment (Jan)

48.1 vs — f’cast, 44.9 prev

ISM Manufacturing PMI (Jan)

52.6 vs 48.5 f’cast, 47.9 prev

ISM Mfg Prices Paid (Jan)

59.0 vs 60.5 f’cast, 58.5 prev

Market Movement Recap

08:41 AM roughly unchanged after bonds give up overnight gains in early trading. MBS down 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr up half a bp at 4.24

12:02 PM much weaker after ISM, but flat after initial reaction. MBS down 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr up 3.9bps at 3.828

03:28 PM Treading water near weakest levels. MBS down 6 ticks (.19) and 10yr yr up 4.2bps at 3.831

Some would say there were warning signs, such as last week’s Chicago PMI surging to the 2nd highest level since 2022, but that was generally dismissed as a noisy outlier in a data set that is volatility-prone. In this case, however, Chicago PMI was prescient. Today’s ISM Manufacturing data surged to the highest level since 2022, both in terms of the headline and new orders. Even though this report isn’t as much of a market mover as the non-manufacturing version, this is a big enough beat to make an exception. Bonds are clearly responding, and not in a rate-friendly way.

There are lots of rumors about more M&A. For example, Maxwell, a POS and mortgage origination services company, being acquired by Place, a real estate tech platform and real estate brokerage company. Place (with its Mortgage Calculator App) is rumored to be heavily involved (owns?) Envoy Mortgage. Word in the hallways that Place, and others, will continue to strive toward creating end-to-end platforms of real estate through mortgage origination. Sure enough, on today’s Now Next Later at 1PM ET, presented by Depth, Eric Lapin of Finfusion Consulting will join the conversation on emerging technology in mortgage, with a focus on blockchain and whether it is a friend or foe for lenders. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Truework, the one verification solution to replace in-house waterfalls. Verify any borrower with a VOIE solution that automates the entire process to quickly deliver the most accurate and complete reports with broad GSE coverage. Today’s features an interview with FundingShield’s Adam Chaudhary on why escalating fraud, regulatory scrutiny, and refinance activity are making proactive, real-time verification essential for lenders.) Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders Close more deals and open the door to more buyers with up to 75 BPS Price Improvement on February Specials from LendingPros! Non-QM Price Improvement (includes DSCR 5-8 Units and Jumbo), up to 75 BPS with Select or 25 BPS without. Plus 37.5 BPS Price Improvement on FHA DPA Pro loans (includes Streamlines; excludes Select, CalHFA) plus 12.5 BPS price improvement on FHA Select Loans (FHA and DPA Pro Specials cannot be combined with Select)! Learn More: Want to dive deeper on DPA Programs? Join LendingPros’ upcoming DPA webinar, where you’ll get the latest updates on new terms and options, plus a helpful refresher on the upcoming CalHFA Dream For All Program for California brokers so you’re fully prepared to guide your clients to the finish line. Register yourself or your team today and reserve your spot!

Weakness in the bond market generally means higher mortgage rates. Today was no exception. A key economic report on the manufacturing sector was much stronger than expected. Bonds lost ground as a result and mortgage lenders were forced to set rates higher than Friday’s latest levels. But the caveat is that the average lender was only marginally higher. The level of movement in the bond market suggested a bigger change. In other words, mortgage rates fared a bit better than the market suggested. When this happens, it’s most frequently due to timing. If bonds lose ground moderately, but those losses happen  after mortgage lenders announce the day’s rates, many lenders will simply wait until the following day to adjust rates accordingly. This could explain some of today’s resilience.

Preemption would hurt affordability for many, the Conference of State Banking Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators said.

Michael Strauss faces massive Sprout liabilities as his wife and a former associate launch a new mortgage firm, raising questions about ties to the fallen lender.