Market Update Blog

February 28, 2014

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, in the second day of her semi-annual testimony on the economy and monetary policy, repeated the Fed’s pledge to keep the benchmark interest rate low as long as unemployment stays above 6.5% and the outlook…

February 19, 2014

The Mortgage Banker Association’s biggest annual gathering known as CREF was recently held in Orlando. The conference was fast-paced and well-attended, reflecting the level of liquidity in the market. After myriad meetings with correspondent and other lenders to discuss future…

February 5, 2014

There is a looming storm of loan maturities on the horizon. The seeds of which were sown ten years ago, when it was easy to get a loan; perhaps too easy. Ever-rising property values combined with low interest rates and…

January 31, 2014

The 10 year Treasury ended the week closing today at 2.64%. The benchmark for fixed rate loans has dropped approximately 20 basis points in the past week. The drop in yield was prompted by negative international economic news. Turkey’s central…

January 23, 2014

The Fed recently announced in December their intention to start tapering the bond buying program by reducing mortgage bond purchases from $85 Billion to $75 Billion. Many in the market were prepared for the decision, but none could truly predict…

January 8, 2014

Barry Slatt Mortgage President Dan Friedeberg discusses the role factors like prepayment penalties, yield maintenance, defeasance, and proper loan docs play amidst a liquid market with COO Michael Kaplan. What are the challenges and pitfalls borrowers should know about? Click…