Steve Mader Mortgage Consultant

01/12/2026

11/16/2023

Builder Confidence Lowest in Nearly a Year, But Lower Rates Could Change Things. The National Association of Homebuilders and Wells Fargo releases the results of a survey of NAHB members each month regarding the health of the homebuilding sector. While officially referred to as the Housing Market Index (or HMI), the headline number is essentially "builder confidence." After rising steadily from the... More here - https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/11162023-builder-confidence-nahb-hmi

11/03/2023

Why Are Bonds Still Rallying?. Bonds improved significantly yesterday after the Treasury refunding announcement, economic data, and Fed press conference. Most reports attribute the gains to the Fed either "holding rates steady," or "hinting at no further rate hikes." This is debatable considering the Fed did much more than hint at such things in the 2... More here - https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-morning-11022023

Why Are Bonds Still Rallying?. Bonds improved significantly yesterday after the Treasury refunding announcement, economic data, and Fed press conference. Most reports attribute the gains to the Fed either

10/18/2023

Mortgage Volume Index at 28-Year Low. Mortgage applications fell again last week as interest rates rose into the high 7 percent range. The Mortgage Brokers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier and was down 7.0... More here - https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/10182023-mortgage-application-volume

Mortgage Volume Index at 28-Year Low. Mortgage applications fell again last week as interest rates rose into the high 7 percent range. The Mortgage Brokers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted...

10/10/2023

Bonds Reacting to Israel-Gaza Conflict. News of the Hamas bombing of Israel dominated headlines after markets closed last week. As the situation escalated over the weekend, financial market had motivation for volatility as the new week began. Bond market gains were relegated to the futures market, and while that trading implied lower yields, those sorts... More here - https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mbs-morning-10102023

Bonds Reacting to Israel-Gaza Conflict. News of the Hamas bombing of Israel dominated headlines after markets closed last week. As the situation escalated over the weekend, financial market had motivation for volatility as the new week began. Bond market gains were relegated to the futures market, a...

09/27/2023

Relentless Surge in Mortgage Rates . It's with no great pleasure (none of any kind, for that matter) that we find ourselves in a position to report, yet again, that mortgage rates have sailed decisively to another new multi-decade high. Today's installment is fairly unpleasant given that the average lender actually began the day in slightly... More here - https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mortgage-rates-09272023

Relentless Surge in Mortgage Rates . It's with no great pleasure (none of any kind, for that matter) that we find ourselves in a position to report, yet again, that mortgage rates have sailed decisively to another new multi-decade high. Today's installment is fairly unpleasant given that the average...

08/16/2023

A federal jury has awarded shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $612 million saying the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) acted improperly when it transferred ownership of shares to the United States for the public benefit. See below for the full article

https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/shareholders-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-awarded-612-million

A federal jury has awarded shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $612 million saying the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) acted improperly when it transferred ownership of shares to the United States for the public benefit. See below for the full article https://nationalmortgageprofessi...