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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| Highest Rates in Over a Year, But There"s a Silver Lining | ||
| 7/23/2026 12:41 PM | ||
| Mortgage moved higher today, and while the jump was no larger than the one seen on Monday, both were "above average" and both took rates in the wrong direction. In addition, the steady weakness throughout the month of July finally resulted in yesterday"s rates match the highest level in nearly a year. In other words, it wouldn"t have taken m...Read More | ||
| Hedging, VantageScore 4.0, AI Accounting, Non-QM, Reverse Products; Higher Oil, Higher Rates | ||
| 7/23/2026 10:28 AM | ||
| There are only twelve (12) legislative days left until the November election, and today on The Big Picture attorney Mitch Kider and I will discuss what that means for lenders as well as other regulatory topics. Rates aren’t doing much. Deals continue to happen as the big get bigger (the latest example being Union Home buying AmeriTrust to shoot for...Read More | ||
| Bearish Breakout For All The Normal Reasons | ||
| 7/23/2026 8:23 AM | ||
| Welcome to post-Iran-War 2026. The only real relief for bonds since then was seen in June when there was hope that the war was over or at least winding down. Gas prices are back to multi-year highs. Inflation fears are back at the forefront. Even the ECB is flagging rate hike risks that could play out by the end of the year. This morning is se...Read More | ||
| Just Another Reasonably Bad Day For Bonds | ||
| 7/22/2026 3:52 PM | ||
| Just Another Reasonably Bad Day For Bonds Bonds had a bad day for the 3rd time this week. The weakness was reasonable in light of fuel prices hitting the highest level since 2022 by some measures. That said, the intraday correlation between bonds and oil/gas/etc wasn"t overly compelling. We continue to view...Read More | ||
| Mortgage Rates Inch Up to 11-Month High | ||
| 7/22/2026 2:47 PM | ||
| We have bad news and slightly less bad news. Starting with the latter, today"s mortgage rates are only marginally higher than they were yesterday with the average top tier 30yr fixed rate up 0.02%. The bad news is that this takes our rate index to 6.77%--the highest level since July 28th, 2025. Mortgage rates are driven by the bond market an...Read More | ||
| Servicing, Non-Agency, AI Processing Tools; Condo Turmoil Ahead? | ||
| 7/22/2026 10:43 AM | ||
| There’s always something in the news, whether it is Jimothy the raccoon in the Northwest, or the Canadian wildfire smoke in the Northeast which coincided with more tariffs directed at Canada. Homebuilders, and those who lend to them, know that materials from Canada are already subject to tariffs, but the new tariffs could affect building materials ...Read More | ||
| Just a Bit Weaker as Oil Keeps Rising | ||
| 7/22/2026 9:18 AM | ||
| For those not interested in overcomplicating things, it"s fair enough to simply observe the resurgence of hostilities in the Iran war prompting a resurgence of fuel prices and bond selling due to inflation expectations. Earnings season in equities has added to volatility in the 9:30am-10am hour on each of the past 2 mornings. We seem to be breaking...Read More | ||
| Headwinds, Cont"d | ||
| 7/21/2026 4:06 PM | ||
| Headwinds, Cont"d "Headwinds, Cont"d" could be apply to the entirety of 2022-2026 or just March-July of 2026. But let"s just focus on today"s installment. For the second day this week, there wasn"t any stellar correlation between bonds and other markets, econ data, or news headlines. Still, we wouldn"t say ...Read More | ||
| Rates Match Longer-Term High For The 3rd Time in 2026 | ||
| 7/21/2026 2:29 PM | ||
| In late July, 2025, 30yr fixed rates embarked on an excellent adventure, moving down from 6.75% on July 31st to 5.99% by late February, 2026. Since then, things haven"t been great thanks to war-related fuel price drama and stronger econ data (the supreme court ruling on tariffs didn"t help either, because it increased Treasury issuance implications...Read More | ||
| HELOC AI, Doc Analysis, Home Equity POS Products; L1 rebrand; Delinquencies Impact Rates; Live RESPA Panel | ||
| 7/21/2026 10:49 AM | ||
| People who say that residential lending and the state or federal governments aren’t intertwined have to look no further than the CFPB. Their new office spaces fit 550. There are 1,100 currently. They will get there? Theoretically only Congress can actually shut down the CFPB, in the Senate with 60 or more votes, and the CFPB is still function...Read More | ||