Margin Call! Mortgage Lenders Are Starting to Go Broke as Loan Volumes Plunge (Fed Chasing Inflation Crushing Mortgage Industry As Mortgage Purchase Applications Are DOWN -41.5% Under Biden While Mortgage Rates Are UP 96%)

Under President Biden, inflation has soared and The Federal Reserve claims that they want to extinguish the inflation fire by tightening monetary policy … resulting in rising mortgage rates. Under Biden, mortgage purchase applications are DOWN -41.5% while mortgage rates are UP 96%.

(Bloomberg) The US mortgage industry is seeing its first lenders go out of business after a sudden spike in lending rates, and the wave of failures that’s coming could be the worst since the housing bubble burst about 15 years ago.

There’s no systemic meltdown coming this time around, because there hasn’t been the same level of lending excesses and because many of the biggest banks pulled back from mortgages after the financial crisis. But market watchers nonetheless expect a string of bankruptcies broad enough to trigger a spike in layoffs in an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of workers, and potentially an increase in some lending rates. More of the business is now controlled by independent lenders, and with mortgage volumes plunging this year, many are struggling to stay afloat.

Please note that mortgage purchase applications are DOWN -41.5% under Biden while mortgage rates are UP 96%.

Margin Calls
Many other lenders have seen the value of their loans drop, said Scott Buchta, head of fixed-income strategy at Brean Capital, an independent investment bank. The Federal Reserve has tightened rates by 2.25 percentage points this year in an effort to tame inflation, and 30-year US mortgage rates have surged above 5% for government-backed loans. That’s close to their highest levels since the financial crisis, from around 3.1% at the end of last year.

That’s beaten down the value of home loans made just a few months ago. A mortgage made in January and not eligible for government backing could have traded in early August somewhere around 85 cents on the dollar. Lenders usually try to make loans worth somewhere around 102 cents to cover their upfront costs.

For a lender whose loans dropped to 85 cents, the losses can be debilitating, even if they aren’t realized yet. On top of that, business is broadly plunging. Overall mortgage application volume has plunged by more than 50% this year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. These business conditions are spurring banks that provide lines of credit known as warehouses to make margin calls and cut credit.

“The warehouse lenders in this industry seem to be extremely on top of things in this downturn, unlike in ‘08,” said bankruptcy attorney Mark Power, who is representing creditors in the First Guaranty bankruptcy. “They are making margin calls quickly.”

Banks have emergency funding they can tap in times of crisis, which can often allow them to stay afloat in hard times. But not always: emergency financing from the Federal Reserve is usually only available for solvent institutions with a chance of recovering. In the last downturn, so many banks had so many soured loans and struggling assets of all kinds that hundreds failed. Nonbanks went bust as well.

Alarm! US Existing Home Sales Fall For A Sixth Month (-19% YoY), Median Price Growth Of EHS Falls To +10.55% YoY As M2 Money Growth Slows

In honor of Wolfgang Peterson who passed away yesterday, the Director of the classic WWII movie “Das Boot!” …. ALARM!

Sales of previously owned US homes fell for a sixth straight month in July in the latest indication of how high borrowing costs and waning demand are propelling the housing market’s rapid decline. In fact, existing home sales fell -19% YoY in August.

Contract closings fell 5.9% in July to an annualized 4.81 million, the weakest since May 2020, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed Thursday. The median estimate called for 4.86 million in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Sales fell 22.4% from a year ago on an unadjusted basis.

The nearly 26% decline in previously owned home sales since January marks the steepest six-month plunge in records back to 1999 and underscores a housing market that’s reeling from elevated mortgage rates and prices. The industry is also experiencing a slowdown in construction, and more buyers are backing away from deals.

Weaker demand has led to a pickup in inventory, which may help to cool home prices in coming months.

The median price of existing home sales growth fell to 10.55% YoY as M2 Money growth slows.

Its all about The Federal Reserve.

The Magic Formula For REIT Investing (What Will The Fed Do?) Powellburg Omen??

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are an interesting asset class, allowing investors to purchase shares in large-ticket assets like multi-family properties or shopping centers. But given the changing landscape due to online shopping (aka, the Amazon effect), Covid economic shutdowns, etc., REITs should be having a hard time. But aren’t. How come?

Covid economic shutdowns definitely took its toll on retail shopping centers, as an example. And you can see the plunge in the NAREIT All equity index in early 2020. But the NAREIT All-equity index rallied … until The Federal Reserve started tightening their loose monetary policy. Note that as the implied O/N rate rose (orange line), REIT shares declined.

But as the WIRP implied O/N rate settled (pink box), the NAREIT index began to climb again. It is clear that REITs, like other equities, benefit from Fed easing. But how long will The Fed continue tightening?

As of this morning, The Federal Reserve is anticipated to raise their O/N rate to 3.738% by March 22, 2023. Then begin lowering their target rate … again.

Sadly, REITs, like other equity investments such as the S&P 500 index, are sensitive to The Fed’s easing/tightening. Look for REITs to struggle as The Fed tightens, then rally as The Fed eases again.

Here is the (in)famous Hindenburg Omen. Notice how the Hindenburg Omen alarm bells (yellow and red dots) have been silenced by The Fed. But as The Fed tightens (at least until March ’22), we may see the Hindenburg Omen flashing again. Call it the Powellburg Omen.

The NCREIF property index had a decline in the Covid-outbreak era (early 2020) and you can see a slight slowdown in the NCREIF index as The Fed started tightening to fight inflation.

MBA Mortgage Purchase Applications Down 2% WoW, Down 18% YoY (Refi Apps Down 5% WoW, Down 82% WoW)

Mortgage banking in today’s environment reminds me of downhill skiing. Lots of danger lurking ahead.

Mortgage applications decreased 2.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 12, 2022.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 18 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The Refinance Index decreased 5 percent from the previous week and was 82 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

Please bear in mind that we are in the “dog days” of mortgage applications. Purchase applications usually peak in April/May, then it is all down hill until the end of the year.

Alarm! US Home Builder Index Falls Below 50 As Fed Tightens Monetary Noose

Alarm!

The National Association of Home Builders Market Index slipped into darkness … that is, dropped below 50 to 49 in August as The Federal Reserve continues to tighten its uber-loose monetary policy, resulting in rising mortgage rates.

Note the plunge in the NAHB market index as mortgage rates began rising.

The Empire Strikes Out! Empire State Manufacturing Survey Collapses In August (-31.3), Worst Since Covid Shutdown And Great Recession

The Empire Strikes Out!

The US Empire State Manufacturing Survey General Business Conditions, that is. It just crashed and burned (-31.3) in August, the lowest reading since The Great Covid Shutdown and before that The Great Recession.

The inverted US Treasury yield curve (10Y-2Y) is beginning to make sense.

Jay’s Famous Chili! M1 And M2 Money Velocity Crushed By Covid “Relief” As US Treasury Yield Curve (10Y-2Y) Remains Inverted

The 2020 Covid outbreak led to a massive (and generally awful) reaction. There were economic shutdowns that caused extensive damage (particularly to small firms), but it was the massive overreaction by The Federal government in terms of Covid relief and The Federal Reserve’s expansion of the money supply that caused considerable damage.

One truly horrific chart is that of M1 Money and M1 Money Velocity (M1/GDP). M1 Money surged with Covid driving M1 Money Velocity down to levels never seem before.

The broader measure of money, M2, isn’t as dramatic, but we also see that M2 Money VELOCITY has plunged to levels never seen before.

What does low money velocity indicate? Simply put, The Fed is printing trillions of dollars, but GDP isn’t moving much. But that won’t stop Congress from spending (and using The Fed to buy its debt).

So, here we sit. This morning, the US Treasury yield curve (10Y-2Y) remains inverted. This AM, the curve inverted another -.591 basis points to -42.725, a sign of impending recession.

Yes, we are living through Jay Powell’s famous chili episode where money velocity is near historic lows and we have an inverted yield curve.

BTW, congratulations to Will Zalatoris (aka, Happy Gilmore’s caddy) for his first PGA Tour victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship!

Winter Is Coming! Mortgage Rates, Gasoline Prices, Food Price Growth Slowing As Money Printing Slows (Just Wait For Winter!)

Politicians like to (falsely) take credit for things, such as Biden bragging about gasoline prices declining. Bear in mind that regular gasoline prices were $2.88 when Biden was inaugurated as President, rose to over $5 a gallon in June and now have declined to $3.98 for which Biden is taking credit. So, regular gasoline prices are still up 34% under Biden. Ouch!

But other rates and prices are dropping too. Bankrate’s 30yr mortgage rate started at , broke the 6% plane on June 21, 2022 only to drop to 5.53% on Friday. CRB’s foodstuffs price index started at 370.58 on Biden’s inauguration as President, rose to 606.71 on May 17, 2022 then retreated to 561.32 on Friday, August 13th. Even headline inflation (CPI YoY) is cooling … slightly.

You can see the recent declines in mortgage rates, gasoline and food prices (pink box) that corresponds to a shrinking of the US M2 Money stock growth. M2 Money is still growing at torrid pace (8.5% YoY) almost back to pre-Covid stimulypto levels of 6.8% YoY. So shrinking M2 Money growth is helping reduce mortgage rates and inflation, food/gasoline prices.

Instead of trying to remove Fed stimulus even more, Biden and Congress passed the “Inflation Reduction Act” which will barely scratch inflation and raises taxes across the board (despite Biden’s promise that no one making under $400,000 will see a cent of increase taxes). And Biden’s preposterous promise ignores the inflation tax which has been severe and still growing at 8.5% YoY. Not 0% as Biden and Harris claimed.

But wait for winter as food, gasoline and heating prices start to soar again.

My favorite dim-witted explanation of inflation belongs to Democrat Representative Pramila Jayapal who recently claimed that “inflation is a theoretical word that economists use.” Like the brilliant Milton Friedman???

US 30Y Mortgage Rate Climbs To 5.54% While 5/1 ARM Rate At 4.20% (134 Basis Point Spread)

Mike Lea and I wrote a paper entitled “Do We Need The 30yr FRM (Fixed-rate Mortgage)”. We argue that millions of Americans would benefit from an adjustable-rate mortgage like the 5/1 ARM for a host of reasons.

One good reason for a 5/1 ARM is the fact that it 134 basis points less expensive than the 30yr fixed-rate mortgage.

Mortgage rates have risen dramatically with the expectation of Fed rate tightening (green line).

Yes, there is a “fear factor” built in the 30r FRM (“OMG! The mortgage market will collapse without the 30yr FRM!!!!) Hogwash. Or malarkey, as Joe Biden likes to say. The mortgage market actually see the US join the rest of the world in having adjustable-rate mortgage being the predominant mortgage product.

US ARM share peaked at 10.8% in June 2022 before retreating to 7.4% as the 30yr mortgage rate retreated.

The 5/1 ARM product can help the affordable housing crisis in the US if we just let markets work. But in Washington DC, the term “free markets” is like the old Dobie Gillis character Maynard G. Krebs and the word “Work.”

US Producer Price Index Cools To 9.8% YoY In July As M2 Money Growth Cools And Recession Probability Increases

Somehow I doubt if Biden, Harris and Jean-Pierre (Biden’s Press Secretary) will go on the talk show circuit talking about the Producer Price Index Final Demand at 9.8% YoY, meaning that inflation is still raging.

But the curious thing about the PPI Final Demand numbers. While lower than June’s reading of 11.3% YoY, it also coincides with declining gasoline prices and declining growth in M2 Money stock. Which is still growing at 5.9% YoY. The probability of recession is rising (even though technically the US is in recession after 2 consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

Here is the more striking chart.

So is the US “improving” on prices because of brilliant Biden strategies (I just laughed at my own “bon mot”)? Or are prices (PPI, gasoline) slowing because of declining demand as the US slips into recession?

Lawrence Summers was once again in the news saying that the way to cool inflation is to raises taxes (and cool demand). Only a true Statist would say something like that. Larry, how about Biden and Congress stop spending so much money that is helping to fuel inflation?

One Washington DC types would rest their hopes on cooling inflation by having the US slip into recession AND raises taxes.

Biden looking for a way out.