Morning Report: House prices continue to rise

Vital Statistics:

	Last	Change	Percent
S&P Futures	1873.5	1.4	0.07%
Eurostoxx Index	3039.4	-0.1	0.00%
Oil (WTI)	44.84	0.4	0.92%
LIBOR	0.326	0.000	-0.09%
US Dollar Index (DXY)	96.17	0.139	0.14%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield	2.08%	-0.01%
Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA	104.4	0.0
Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA	104.1	0.1
BankRate 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage	3.87

Markets are up this morning on good economic news overseas. Bonds and MBS are up small.

Slow news day.

The S&P Case-Shiller index of home prices rose 0.37% month-over-month and is up about 4.7% year-over-year. 

Consumer Confidence increased to 103 in September from 101.3.

NAR is saying they expect TRID to delay closings by up to 15 days. There will undoubtedly be a learning curve for the industry. TRID is the biggest change to the industry since the implementation of Dodd-Frank. CFPB claims they will use discretion in not going after lenders who make mistakes but are making a good-faith effort to work within the rules. 

NAR put out the list of the 20 hottest real estate markets. While some at the top are not surprising (San Francisco) some of the other names are more associated with the economic dumpster fires we saw as the collapse began. Cities like Stockton CA and Detroit MI are included in the 20 hottest markets. 

Glencore (which used to be called Xstrata) is a Swiss commodity trader who has been subject to solvency rumors. The stock has gotten hammered over the past year (down over 80%) but is up big today after addressing market rumors about solvency problems. While real estate types don't typically have to worry about what happens in the area of precious metals, energy, and ag, stress in these markets can spill over to the rest of the financial sector. What does this mean for LOs? Stress = lower interest rates. 

Speaking of stress, mutual funds that mimic hedge fund strategies may find themselves wrapped around the axle if we have a period of stress. Hedge fund arbitrage strategies typically require leverage and often invest in illiquid assets. Hedge funds at least have quarterly redemptions, which makes it easier to exit positions if need be. Mutual funds have no wiggle room - they have to accept redemptions daily. This could get ugly if markets turn south.