The title proposal is part of a broader housing cost reduction proposal being discussed in the State of the Union speech.

Fannie Mae’s home price sentiment index grew to 72.8 in February, up 2.1 points from the month prior.

The New York bank has deployed generative artificial intelligence from Greenlite to help analysts do enhanced due diligence on clients with higher risk ratings.

During a contentious exchange on his second day of congressional testimony this week, the Federal Reserve chair drew a line between the central bank’s response to last year’s bank failures and its current capital proposal.

Bonds Definitely Daring Jobs Report to Surge

10yr yields are now decisively below the levels seen BEFORE the last CPI report (the one that caused a jump from the 4.1’s to the 4.3’s).  This has been accomplished without any shockingly downbeat econ data, and without the market ramping up bets on a friendlier rate trajectory from the Fed.  In other words, it’s some combination of supply/demand technicals (Treasury auction composition and Fed QT tapering effects) and, more importantly, a legitimate belief that economy is not at risk of reigniting inflation concerns. On that note, Friday’s jobs report is in a position to undo much of the recent improvement if it makes a strong counterargument.  The recent data and the bond market response are essentially daring the jobs report to surge.  

Econ Data / Events

Jobless Claims 

217k vs 215k f’cast, 217k prev

Continued Claims

1906k vs 1889k f’cast, 1898k prev

Market Movement Recap

08:37 AM Stronger on data and ECB announcement.  10yr down 3.9bps at 4.069.  MBS up 5 ticks (.16) before accounting for roughly 2 ticks (.06) of illiquidity.

11:49 AM Gains erased in moderate, steady volume, and before Powell testimony.  MBS up only 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr unchanged at 4.108.

02:37 PM Weakest levels just before 1pm and holding modest gains since then.  10yr down half a bp at 4.104.  MBS up 3 ticks (.09).

03:30 PM Near best levels in MBS, up an eighth of a point.  10yr down 1.6bps at 4.092.  Shorter-term Treasuries are doing even better.

Apart from Monday, which had no meaningful econ data, today was the best candidate for an uneventful day on what is otherwise an important data week.  The scheduled econ data was light and of lesser importance compared to surrounding days.  Powell’s congressional testimony was on “day 2” (thus lowering surprise potential).  The only real wildcard risk was the ECB announcement, mostly due to any forward guidance clues in the press conference.  While bonds did enjoy a brief, positive reaction to ECB and 8:30am econ data, it was erased fairly quickly, and well before Powell began speaking.  That means today is fulfilling its “placeholder” destiny perfectly so far.

“I saw a woman at Walmart with March Madness teeth… She was down to the final four.” No one is talking about 30-year mortgage interest rates heading down into the 4’s; many would be happy if they came down into the 5’s. Heck, forget about mortgage interest rates because they’re going to do what they’re going to do. Originators are equally interested in potential or existing borrowers. New data reveals that Americans are spending nearly as much on interest payments for credit cards and other kinds of consumer debt as they are on mortgage interest. But hey, if your client has their debt under control, LOs can help them by passing along Home Facts so that they can do an analysis of where they might like to live. (Found here, this week’s podcast is sponsored by Richey May, a recognized leader in providing specialized advisory, audit, tax, technology and other services to the mortgage industry for almost four decades. Hear an interview with Lending Tree’s Jacob Channel on the rent-versus-buy debate and just how far people should stretch their finances to achieve the dream of homeownership.) Lender and Broker Services, Products, and Software Collecting interim servicing payments is a pain, but not with Fee Chaser. With its seamless integration into Encompass® by ICE Mortgage Technology™, Fee Chaser automates upfront fee collection and can handle those pesky interim servicing payments as well. Check out Fee Chaser by LenderLogix here. Today’s mortgage landscape demands greater efficiency. Xactus, a leading verification innovator, makes it easy to obtain all the verifications lenders need to be more efficient and advance the modern mortgage. For example, with its ICE Mortgage Technology Encompass Partner Connect™ integration, you can streamline your consumer verifications. Encompass Partner Connect provides direct access to Xactus verification products including Credit ReportX, Flood ReportX, Undisclosed Debt VerificationX, Tax TranscriptX, Employment VerificationX, Income VerificationX, Fraud ReportX, and Social Security VerificationX. In fact, Xactus was the first third-party service provider to integrate credit with Encompass Partner Connect, and won the 2023 ICE Innovation Award for Lenders’ Choice for Innovative Service Provider. Heading to the ICE Experience in Las Vegas? Experience Xactus’ award-winning innovation. Stop by Xactus’ booth or email sales@xactus.com to schedule a meeting. For the latest updates and news about important industry innovations, follow Xactus on LinkedIn.

The Securities and Exchange Commission finalized a pared-down version of rules governing climate-risk disclosure by public companies first proposed in March 2022. Experts say even the weakened rule will likely face challenges in Congress and the courtroom.

Reverse mortgage lender Finance of America posted a quarterly profit to end 2023, as it completed post-merger integrations and faced warnings of delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

In congressional testimony, the Federal Reserve chair said the Board of Governors is processing the comments on its capital reform proposal. Putting forth an entirely new proposal is “very plausible.”