After a Memorial Day-induced lull, mortgage application activity rebounded sharply last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. Both purchase and refinance demand climbed to their highest levels in over a month, with the composite index rising 12.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis.  “Coming out of the Memorial Day holiday, mortgage applications increased to the highest level in over a month, driven by growth in both purchase and refinance applications,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding the economy, homebuyers seem to be taking advantage of loosening housing inventory in certain markets.” Refinance applications jumped 16% on the week and are now 28% higher than the same week last year. Purchase apps rose 10% week-over-week and are now running 20% above 2024 levels, marking a continuation of the strong year-over-year gains seen in recent reports. There are only 2 other weeks with higher purchase index readings going back to May 2023, and they were only barely higher. It should be noted that refi index, while not officially seasonally adjusted  does include a smoothing adjustment for holiday weeks.  Last week’s data noted a Memorial Day adjustment, one that is not present in the current week’s data.  Because certain holidays fall on a different day of the week, adjusting for them is an imperfect science. In all likelihood, if we could completely remove seasonality and holiday effects, last week’s refi index would have been stronger and the present week would have shown a much smaller increase.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage moved one basis point lower this week, remaining in the same range since it spiked in mid-April, Freddie Mac said.

Chimera Investment Corp. said that after the deal closes, HomeXpress will operate as a subsidiary of the REIT.

The wholesaler, which provides 2% down payment assistance as part of the program, previously offered it until May 2024, when it was replaced by a 0% down loan.

A non-bank lender won’t ever compete with a bank on price, but can offer flexible underwriting and faster origination times, according to a veteran originator.

The move opened up the blockchain-based transaction to a broader range of investors who only buy bonds that receive top ratings from a major player.

Thursday’s Data Offered No Objection to Overnight Rally

Thursday’s PPI was just as tame as Wednesday’s CPI and, for a moment, it looked like bonds were going to offer an encore performance of the post-CPI rally.  But in Thursday’s case, bonds had already rallied nearly that much in the overnight session.  We’re inclined to view this through the lens of Thursday’s data standing aside for the momentum created by Wednesday’s data.  In other words, CPI prompted a lead-off rally and PPI didn’t push back in the other direction.  We can also give some credit to Jobless Claims where the continued claim number pushed up to another cycle high. Yields didn’t stray far from where they were 10 minutes after the morning’s data.  

Econ Data / Events

Core MM PPI

0.1 vs 0.3 f’cast, -0.2 prev

Core YY PPI

3.0 vs 3.1 f’cast, 3.2 prev

Monthly Headline PPI

0.1 vs 0.2 f’cast, -0.2 prev

Jobless Claims

248k cs 240k f’cast, 248k prev

Continued Claims

1956k vs 1910k f’cast, 1902k prev

Market Movement Recap

08:36 AM MBS up a quarter point and 10yr down 6.2bps at 4.362 (most of these gains were before the data).

01:24 PM No sustained improvement despite decent 30yr auction.  MBS up 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr down 5.5bps at 4.368

04:12 PM Heading out close enough to best levels with MBS up 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr yields down 6.7bps at 4.356

Mortgage applications rose 12.5% from last week, breaking a month-long streak of decline and offering a positive note as summer approaches.

The past two Federal Reserve vice chairs for supervision failed to implement the final installment of the Basel III capital framework. Newly installed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman is taking a new approach to the thorny question of bank capital.

As part of the acquisition, Hallmark Home Mortgage’s CEO Deborah Sturges will join Fairway as the firm’s president.