MBS RECAP: Volatility a No Show; Heading Out Near Best Levels

By: Matthew Graham •

It was a calm and light trading day right from the outset today.  Without options expirations, volume would have been the lowest of the year in bond markets.  Volume is neither here nor there when it comes to today's end of day marks.  We're heading out near the best levels of the day, and whether we got here with epic participation or only a few trades doesn't matter. 

The gains allowed a few lenders to reprice, but they weren't necessarily big enough for most lenders to get on board.  For instance, from 10am, Fannie 3.0 MBS are only up 2 ticks.  That means lenders would have to reprice based on stability and trend, which few of them are wont to do--especially on a Friday afternoon. 

There were no significant economic reports or news events, and trading in European bond markets has been even flatter over the past two days.

MBS Pricing Snapshot
Pricing shown below is delayed, please note the timestamp at the bottom. Real time pricing is available via MBS Live.
MBS
FNMA 3.0
102-04 : +0-07
FNMA 3.5
104-28 : +0-05
FNMA 4.0
106-24 : +0-04
Treasuries
2 YR
0.5850 : -0.0280
10 YR
1.9320 : -0.0380
30 YR
2.5070 : -0.0210
Pricing as of 3/20/15 4:57PMEST
Today's Reprice Alerts and Updates
A recap of Alerts and Updates provided to MBS Live subscribers.
10:02AM  :  Uneventful so Far; Europe Helping
MBS Live Chat Highlights
A recap of featured comments from the Live Discussion on the MBS Live Dashboard.
Victor Burek  :  "even though data showing values rising...home values are all about location..one neighborhood, values could have fallen while another neighborhood values could have risen"
Jason Anker  :  "I think it was because there was a distinct lack of comps due to the seasonal ebb and flow of purchases and the unreasonable, in some cases, emphasis placed on most recent comps."
Hugh W. Page  :  "I just lost a refinance due to a low appraisal. $225K Sales price 20 mos ago in a market that has been moving up and it appraised for $215K. Maddening. No way it went down in value but appraiser would not budge."
Jon Bodan  :  "Re: article on low appraisals - spot on. I've had 5 low appraisals in the last 2 weeks. Including my own purchase deal by $37k. "