The August Group Inc. is your source for dependable Real Estate Appraisals in Saint Louis City and the following counties in Missouri; St. Louis, Franklin, Jefferson, Warren, Lincoln, St. Charles and St. Francois.Whether it's an older home or luxurious new construction, Jeffrey Noyes' experience and hours of study as licensed appraiser make him qualified to provide home valuations in Saint Louis City, St. Louis, Franklin, Jefferson, Warren, Lincoln, St. Charles and St. Francois County for clients ranging from national mortgage companies to local lenders or individual businesses and consumers.
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| Mortgage Rates Roughly Unchanged Despite Bond Market Improvement | ||
| 8/3/2026 2:27 PM | ||
| Mortgage rates had a tough day on Friday, largely in response to bond market volatility surrounding heavy forex trading as a part of US/Japan efforts to prop up Japanese currency (not a common source of inspiration for rates). Higher oil prices didn"t help. As we begin the new week, de-escalation in the Iran war pushed oil prices much lower....Read More | ||
| Webinars, LOS, Title, eNote, Processing Tools; NAR, Owner Wealth, and Dropped Coverage | ||
| 8/3/2026 10:24 AM | ||
| Non-QM investors are “licking their chops” by using the information that the FHFA, through Freddie and Fannie, is requiring a more thorough lender assessment before approving condo loans beginning today. Non-QM is not. Who is going to say that information isn’t important? Lenders and the markets like knowing what the U.S. Federal Reserve is up to… ...Read More | ||
| Stronger Start on Iran News, Stronger Data Taken in Stride | ||
| 8/3/2026 9:25 AM | ||
| Bonds opened the trading session in much stronger territory, following the drop in oil prices associated with another round of de-escalation hopes in the Iran war. The root cause was the cancellation of planned air strikes as well as comments that suggested a reopening of negotiations. As has been the case, markets don"t really care if there"s much...Read More | ||
| Esoteric Forex Drama Blasts Bonds, Maybe | ||
| 7/31/2026 3:08 PM | ||
| Esoteric Forex Drama Blasts Bonds, Maybe Friday was very much NOT on the beaten path of typical bond market considerations with most of the selling arguably stemming from Japanese currency intervention. We"ve seen similar episodes in the past, but today"s installment came with a twist. In addition to ...Read More | ||
| Mortgage Rates Back Near Long-Term Highs | ||
| 7/31/2026 12:36 PM | ||
| To be fair, mortgage rates haven"t been far from their long-term highs in over a week, but today"s 30yr fixed index level of 6.83% is functionally equivalent to the actual long-term high of 6.85% seen on July 23rd. Higher rates are driven by weakness in the bond market. The latter can happen for many reasons. Sometimes those reasons ar...Read More | ||
| Regional Divide Persists as Home Price Growth Edges Higher in May | ||
| 7/31/2026 11:41 AM | ||
| Home price appreciation remained modest in May, according to data from both FHFA and the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Indices . Although both reports showed annual price growth improving slightly from April, appreciation continued to trail inflation, underscoring a housing market where elevated mortgage rates, affordability pressures...Read More | ||
| Mortgage Applications Fall 6.4% as Rates Continue Upward March | ||
| 7/31/2026 11:33 AM | ||
| Mortgage application activity pulled back last week as higher borrowing costs weighed on both home purchase and refinance demand. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 6.4% decrease in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending July 24. Purchase applications decreased 4% from the previous week on a ...Read More | ||
| Verification, CRA Tracking, State-Level Tax and MGIC Webinars, Non-Agency Product Developments | ||
| 7/31/2026 10:49 AM | ||
| I am no numerologist, but Freddie Mac’s announcement yesterday, that 30-year mortgage rates are averaging 6.66, caught my attention. Unlike rumors, like the one going around about a Texas IMB buying California IMB, hard, provable numbers are hard to argue with… Like the hundreds of thousands of people every month turning 62. Setting up a reverse di...Read More | ||
| Japan Currency Intervention, Oil, and Data Causing Some Selling | ||
| 7/31/2026 8:09 AM | ||
| Japan"s Ministry of Finance (MOF) and central bank (BOJ) are a bit more closely linked than Treasury and the Fed. For example, the MOF can instruct the BOJ to sell a bunch of securities to pop up the value of domestic currency. They did this in relatively grand fashion yesterday, but the selling didn"t appear to involve Treasuries (as it sometimes ...Read More | ||
| Bullets Dodged | ||
| 7/30/2026 3:14 PM | ||
| Bullets Dodged We"ve seen our fair share of bonds punishing the market on occasions where bond traders were forced to worry about a significant change in a fiscal or monetary regime (or the absence of a desired change). Wednesday"s reaction to the Fed ran the risk of setting the stage for similar momentum. ...Read More | ||