Some members of the Senate, where the GOP majority is thinner, also are asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency to reveal more about planned mortgage reforms.

Steel, aluminum, and automobiles already subject to Trump’s duties will not face reciprocal tariffs. Lumber products expected to soon be hit with a tariff investigation will also be exempt.

Publicly traded lenders, including UWM, Rocket Mortgage and Guild Mortgage, saw personnel expenses increase significantly throughout last year.

Regulators should approve the deal because post-merger, the servicing market remains fragmented and the mortgage origination business is even more dispersed.

Late Day Volatility on Tariff Speech

The long-awaited tariff speech took markets for a ride in both directions this afternoon. After the dust settled, the net effect was “buy bonds, sell stocks.” Notably, that was a sharp departure from the initial net effect during the early part of Trump’s speech. The ultimately friendly result was enough to get Treasuries back into positive territory and for MBS to get sorta close.  In the bigger picture, the volatility didn’t really matter as both stocks and bonds remained in the same old ranges. 

Econ Data / Events

ADP Employment

155k vs 105k f’cast, 77k prev

Market Movement Recap

08:23 AM Stronger overnight and no major reaction to ADP data.  MBS up an eighth of a point and 10yr down 3.6bps at 4.127

11:50 AM Losing ground as stocks rally.  10yr up 1.7bps at 4.179 and MBS unchanged.

12:29 PM More weakness.  MBS down an eighth of a point now and 10yr up 4.8 bps at 4.21

04:19 PM 10yr yields are up 6.7bps at 4.23 and MBS are down 6 ticks (.19) on the day and more than a quarter point from rate sheet print times.

Does anyone use the term “elderly” anymore? Websters defines elderly as “anyone past middle age,” “middle age” being 45-64. Prepare for a fight if you call anyone 65 “elderly” especially when places like The Villages exist. That aside, want to help your older clients? Pass along this list of discounts, for various ages, on items like airline tickets, hotels, restaurants, or car rental companies. And a way for companies to increase their revenue is right in front of their noses. Homeowners 62 and older saw their housing wealth decrease by one percent in Q4 2024 to $13.95 trillion, according to the latest quarterly release of the NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index. Still, roughly $14 trillion, and roughly 10,000 a day are turning 62, or 65, depending on where you look. Does your company have a HECM (reverse) mortgage department? (More below.) (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Calque. Calque provides a binding backup offer on your borrower’s departing residence to clear the existing mortgage balance and closing costs in 48 business hours or less. Today’s features an Interview with Rate’s Sergio Murer on tips for having a long and successful career in the mortgage industry, as well as tidbits he has learned while riding his bicycle.) Products, Software, and Services for Lenders A&D Mortgage has completed the acquisition of the wholesale and non-delegated correspondent mortgage business from Mr. Cooper (former Flagstar bank)! Being the recognized #1 non-QM lender, A&D has been strengthened with an expanded team, technical solutions and over 35 years of expertise from one of the top experts in Government & Conventional loans. This merger makes A&D Mortgage even more convenient for mortgage professionals, providing a full portfolio of programs with decades of experience and technology behind them.

This morning’s ADP Employment data was the only potential market mover for bonds, at least as far as scheduled data is concerned.  Despite coming out a bit higher than expected, bonds opted to maintain the rally trend that had been intact since the start of European trading overnight. That resulted in moderate gains at the start of the 9:30am NYSE open, but things changed from there.  Stocks bounced higher and brough bond yields along for the ride.  The net effect is modest weakness, and no major change to the sideways grind in the bigger picture.  Things could change for better or worse this afternoon after the tariff announcement expected at 4pm ET.

Mortgage rates didn’t move much today, which is pretty crazy considering the volatility present in financial markets in the afternoon.  That’s when the long awaited tariff announcement speech took place.  There was always a decent chance of a whipsaw in response and a whipsaw is what we got. Fortunately, the net effect for the bond market (bonds dictate interest rates) was positive. In other words, interest rates received good news while stocks received bad news.  The catch is that bond had been having a somewhat downbeat day until then.  As such, the favorable reaction to the tariff news merely got the bond market back to suggesting fairly flat interest rates compared to yesterday’s latest levels.  Most lenders will wait until tomorrow to make any friendly adjustments, and that assumes bonds hold at the same levels overnight.   Bottom line: plenty of market volatility in the afternoon, but ultimately implying very little change in mortgage rates.

The average American must earn almost $117,000 a year in order to afford a median priced property as prices keep rising, a Bankrate analysis found.

A Colorado regulator earlier this year revoked the license of the appraiser responsible for the 2021 evaluation at the center of the government’s suit.