Opendoor is stepping into the mortgage space in Texas & Arizona. Arizona passed a ‘regulatory sandbox program’ which allows Fintech companies (like Opendoor & Zillow) to circumnavigate standard CFPB mortgage regulations. In Arizona Opendoor can be your realtor, lender, and title agent simultaneously (what could go wrong?). Already having developed a reputation for hidden fees in real estate transactions they will be doing the same on the mortgage end with impunity in Arizona. Sound like a bad idea? The guy that wrote the sandbox bill in Arizona now runs the office of innovation at the CFPB.
Rates – improved modestly this week as a downward trendline has developed with the 10 Year US Treasury Yield which is approaching historic lows (1.37).
Inflation – remains tame. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Report – the Fed’s favored inflation measure – saw inflation in July at 1.4% which was on par with last month’s 1.4% that was revised lower to 1.3%.
Jobs – the number of people filing for unemployment for the first time ticked up slightly from last week but remains at very low levels. This week is the ‘sample’ week meaning it forecasts a strong jobs report on the 6th.