mortgage finance – The Daily Tearsheet

Morning Report: Tariff threats push the 10 year to 2.15% overnight

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2761	-29
Oil (WTI)	55.56	-0.6
10 year government bond yield		2.16%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.25%

Stocks are lower this morning after Trump threatened Mexico with 5% tariffs over illegal immigration. Bonds and MBS are up.

The 10 year bond is trading at 2.16 this morning, the lowest level in almost 2 years. We are seeing some action in the TBAs as the 3% FN coupons are all trading above par. We should see more pain in the servicing space as marks have to come in. If you were hoping for a good MSR mark to paper over an aggressive cut in margins, you are about to get a double-whammy.

Personal Incomes rose 0.5% in April versus Street expectations of a 0.3% increase. Personal Consumption rose 0.3%, again topping estimates. March’s consumption numbers were revised upward as well. The core PCE price index (the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) rose 1.6% YOY, which is well below their target. For those keeping score at home, the market is now pricing in a 90% probability of a rate cut this year. with a better-than 50% chance of 2 or more!

Regardless of the strength in the economy, pending home sales dropped 1.5% in April. YOY contract signings fell 2%, making this the 16 consecutive month of YOY declines. Lawrence Yun highlighted the problem: a glut of expensive homes and a shortgage of low priced homes: “Home price appreciation has been the strongest on the lower-end as inventory conditions have been consistently tight on homes priced under $250,000. Price conditions are soft on the upper-end, especially in high tax states like Connecticut, New York and Illinois.” The supply of inventory for homes priced under $250,000 stood at 3.3 months in April, and homes priced $1 million and above recorded an inventory of 8.9 months in April.” Given that a balanced market is usually around six and a half months, you can see the extremes of 3.3 months at the low end and 8.9 months at the high end.

Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida gave some support to the bond market yesterday in a speech at the Economic Club of New York. “If the incoming data were to show a persistent shortfall in inflation below our 2 percent objective or were it to indicate that global economic and financial developments present a material downside risk to our baseline outlook, then these are developments that the [Federal Open Market Committee] would take into account in assessing the appropriate stance for monetary policy…..Midway through the second quarter of 2019, the U.S. economy is in a good place…By most estimates, fiscal policy played an important role in boosting growth in 2018, and I expect that fiscal policies will continue to support growth in 2019.”

Morning Report: Fed decision day

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2851	-1.25
Eurostoxx index	382.92	2.82
Oil (WTI)	58.48	0.39
10 year government bond yield		2.60%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.27%

Stocks are higher this morning as we begin the FOMC meeting. Bonds and MBS are flat.

The FOMC decision is set to be announced at 2:00 pm EST. Be careful locking around that time. They aren’t going to raise interest rates, but the focus will be on the dot plot and their interest rate forecast for 2019. There will also be interest in the size of the balance sheet, but it won’t be market moving.

The stock market has been rallying on hopes that the Fed will be taking 2019 off. Note that FedEx reported disappointing numbers, which is a canary in the coal mine for the global economy. The stock and bond markets have been sending different signals about the economy, with the stock market rising (signalling strength) and interest rates falling (signalling weakness). Part of this has been due to global growth concerns – especially in Europe and China. Global weakness doesn’t necessarily translate into a recession for the US, but it is a reach to think it won’t affect us at all.

Mortgage Applications rose 1.6% last week as purchases rose 0.3% and refis increased 4%. Mortgage rates drifted lower and are at the cheapest in a year.

The NAHB / Wells Fargo Housing Market Index was flat at 62 as we kick off the Spring Selling Season. Sales ticked up, but traffic is way down. Overall, the new home sales market is similar to where we left off in fall. We will get a read on existing home sales this Friday. We are seeing some evidence of cooling in housing markets, especially in the Northeast. According to the Redfin competitive numbers, places like Greenwich CT are at 9 on a scale of 1 – 100. Even erstwhile hot markets like San Diego have been cooling. The heat is in the laggard markets, with places like Harrisburg PA and Indianapolis doing very well.

Morning Report: Gap between appraisals and homeowner perception widens slightly

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2802	5
Eurostoxx index	374.06	0.81
Oil (WTI)	57.27	0.47
10 year government bond yield		2.62%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.28%

Stocks are higher this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are flat.

Inflation at the wholesale level came in below expectations, mirroring the consumer price index. The headline PPI rose 0.1% MOM / 1.9% YOY. Ex-food and energy the index rose 0.1% / 2.5% YOY.

Mortgage Applications rose 2.3% last week as purchases rose 4% and refis fell 0.2%. The MBA noted an uptick in FHA activity. “Purchase applications have now increased year-over-year for four weeks, which signals healthy demand entering the busy spring buying season. However, the pick-up in the average loan size continues, with the average balance reaching another record high. With more inventory in their price range compared to first-time buyers, move-up and higher-end buyers continue to have strong success finding a home.” said Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

The gap between a homeowner’s perception of their home’s value and the number that the appraiser comes up with is starting to widen a touch. The Quicken Home Price Perception Index fell slightly in February, although the difference between perception and appraisal is pretty tight historically. For most MSAs, appraisals are coming in higher than homeowners expect, which is good news for the cash-out refi business. Given the direction in interest rates, home price appreciation is going to drive refi activity going forward.

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloane appeared before the House yesterday to get called on the carpet for aggressive sales practices. “We have gone above and beyond what is required in disclosing these issues in our public filings, we have worked to remedy these issues, and, most importantly, we have worked to address root causes that allowed them to occur in the first place,” Sloan said in his written testimony to the House Financial Services Committee. “As a result, Wells Fargo is a better bank than it was three years ago, and we are working every day to become even better.” he said in a written statement.

Morning Report: REO-to-Rental exit time?

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change
S&P futures	2706	1
Eurostoxx index	359.39	-0.56
Oil (WTI)	55.07	0.02
10 year government bond yield		2.70%
30 year fixed rate mortgage		4.40%

Stocks are flattish this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are flat as well.

The upcoming week will be data-light, as is typical the first week of every month. Jerome Powell speaks on Wednesday, and that is about it. Productivity and costs on Wed could be interesting, but there just isn’t going to be much to move bonds.

The money for the government runs out on Feb 15 and we are back to a possible shutdown. Judging by the jobs report, it doesn’t appear the government shutdown had much (if any) effect on the overall economy. If we have another shutdown, we should probably see the same old situation of the inability to process VOEs for Federal employees, but that is it.

Rental prices for 1 bedroom apartments fell a couple of percent last year. Not sure about the methodology for the study, but it does comport with several other studies that show rental prices falling, at least in luxury areas. For the real estate sector, this is probably good news. One of the best post-crisis trades has been the REO-to-Rental trade, where professional investors and hedge funds purchased distressed foreclosures, fixed them up and rented them out. Cap rates in the aftermath of the crisis were high single digits, which were super attractive given the 0% interest rate environment. Tack on home price appreciation and you have a phenomenal trade. Unfortunately, phenomenal trades rarely stay that way, and between rising mortgage rates and falling rents, cap rates are getting squeezed, and it might be time for some of these investors to exit the trade. Ultimately that means we should see a lot more starter homes for sale which will alleviate the inventory problem we are currently experiencing.

Bill Gross is retiring from money management. The Bond King ruled the Great Bond Bull Market of 1982 – 2016 and is stepping out as we head into what should be a decades-long secular bear market in bonds.

Fannie and Fred will be released from Federal conservatorship subject to tight market-share restrictions under a new plan released by Senate Republicans. Fan and Fred would retain their role as mortgage guarantors, and would be subject to competition. “We must expeditiously fix our flawed housing finance system,” Crapo, an Idaho Republican, said in a statement. “My priorities are to establish stronger levels of taxpayer protection, preserve the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, increase competition among mortgage guarantors and promote access to affordable housing.” That is a tall order and pretty much forecloses any sort of radical change of the housing finance system. If the social engineering aspect (affordable housing) and the subsidies (30 year fixed rate mortgage) will remain, we are pretty much looking at the same system we had pre-bubble. The model that seems to have gained the most traction is putting the government in the second-loss position, with PMI taking the first loss position. It would represent a bit of a step of re-introducing free market economics in what is one of the most nationalized housing finance systems on earth.