Interesting Week for the Bond Market

This has been an interesting week for the bond market. With political unrest in the world, stock prices have fallen over the past couple days, which is always good for the bond market. We saw rates bump a little last week, but with this correction – rates are practically on par with where they stood at the end of July (two months ago). So, “make hay while you can”.

I do have some interesting tid-bit stories to just tuck away for extra knowledge. Since a few of you are heading out of town soon, here is some food for thought on the airplane. The National Association of Realtors reported that in 2013 about 27% of people who purchased their first home received a cash gift from a relative or friend to help with the down payment vs. in 2012 only 24% used a gift. This was the highest on record and showing an upward trend – so have those gift letters ready!!! And…
Watch out for the HOA – apparently the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a law that allows HOA’s to foreclose on homes ahead of first mortgage providers, solidifying “super lien” priority for HOA claims in Nevada – what is going on, you say??! The court ruled that an HOA super-priority lien is a “true super-priority lien” and that a properly conducted foreclosure on the HOA lien extinguishes first deeds of trust. The case in question involved a $6,000 lien that was foreclosed upon by SFR Investments, wiping out an $880,000 first lien held by U.S. Bank (Rob Christman Report, MMG). Apparently, there are approximately 20 states in the U.S. that acknowledge “Super liens” which could pose quite a risk for lenders, servicers and investors in the industry. So, who said an HOA doesn’t have a little power!!