A quiet week for interest rates led to a boost in mortgage demand, according to the most recent results of the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey. Overall demand was up 5.1 percent from the previous week, which helped push the MBA's purchase index 3 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The week's results also showed a spike in refinance activity, reversing recent declines. Joel Kan, an MBA economist, told CNBC that there were offsetting concerns last week that led to the lack of movement in rates. “It was a mixed week for rates in MBA's survey,” Kan said. “Treasury yields finished the week slightly higher as a hawkish statement from the FOMC and market jitters caused by trade concerns and other geopolitical uncertainty offset each other.” The MBA's weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. More here.

Will a blockbuster trade upstage the night’s scheduled proceedings? What will the Kings do? And how exactly will the Sixers work any trade magic without a GM?

By Danny Chau

The draft is the closest thing to Christmas in the NBA outside of ... the NBA on Christmas. But Thursday is still around the corner: the presents are still wrapped, and we’re getting a little antsy. Here are seven questions we can’t wait to see answered.

Whither Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

Distance, indeed, makes the heart grow fonder. Gilgeous-Alexander, the Kentucky star expected to be drafted in the lottery, has seen interest in his talents surge over the past few days: The Toronto Raptors are looking into hopping into the lottery via trade to bring him back to the Canadian province of Ontario, the Hornets at no. 11 are reportedly the floor for where he would be selected (according to Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo), and the most recent ESPN mock draft has him all the way at no. 8 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

All that commotion for a player who, by all public accounts, has not worked out or met with any team during the predraft process.

Casting oneself into an inscrutable veil of intrigue has been a tried-and-true draft strategy for lottery-bound prospects. In the protozoan era of NBA draft internet, when all anyone had on an overseas player was a short descriptive blurb from an unreliable source and an overactive imagination, the International Man of Mystery wasn’t just a lazy narrative construction affixed to a player with readily accessible game film from a professional league—it was more or less a statement of fact.

In 2011, Dion Waiters canceled all workouts in the lead-up to the draft; most interpreted that to be the result of a promise. He was a fringe lottery prospect for much of the proceedings, then a slew of positive hype began to come his way. Chad Ford uttered the words “Dwyane Wade” in his description of Waiters like a sommelier might say “Cherry Coke” for the tasting notes on a pinot noir. In a month, Waiters rose from no. 13 in projections to no. 8, to no. 4, where he was actually drafted by the Cavaliers.

Gilgeous-Alexander could be reaping the benefits of the Waiters Effect, which in turn could create a domino sequence. SGA (who has had stronghold toward the end of the lottery for much of the draft season) moving up would necessitate another prospect higher on the board to move down.

The Kings Have a Golden Opportunity. Will They Blow It?

For the third straight season, the Kings are the most interesting team in the draft. Their 2016 will forever live in ignominy, having drafted a consensus projected mid-second-rounder in Georgios Papagiannis with the no. 13 pick and already waived him not two years later. Their 2017 is still incomplete: De’Aaron Fox had flashes of true brilliance in an otherwise tepid season, while their decision to trade down with their second first-rounder (the no. 10 overall selection) has yielded a whole lot of nothing so far (when it potentially could have yielded a possible superstar in Donovan Mitchell). In 2018, they are the linchpin of the entire night, given how much certainty there seems to be of Deandre Ayton joining the Phoenix Suns.

Sacramento’s no. 2 pick is the highest selection the franchise has made in nearly three decades. In 1989, the Kings drafted Pervis Ellison with the no. 1 overall pick; Ellison lasted 34 games, losing most of his rookie season to injury, before being traded before the following season.

Everything is riding on Vlade Divac and Vivek Ranadivé making the right decision. Jonathan Givony mentioned how many of the top prospects (including Luka Doncic, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Mo Bamba) have reportedly declined to offer the franchise their medical reports in an effort to avoid the Kings entirely. Part of the calculus in making a selection, especially for a team like Sacramento, is simply buying into a player who himself is willing to buy into the team. De’Aaron Fox’s willingness to be a cornerstone for Sacramento likely played a role in the team drafting him.

The growing consensus forming seems to be Marvin Bagley III, one of the few stars who hasn’t dismissed the Kings. Bagley is an explosive and productive big man out of Duke who looks the part of a star, but also shares some similarities to both Brandan Wright and Michael Beasley, two first-round disappointments from yesteryear. In broad strokes, Bagley also takes after past swings at big man prospects over the past three years: Willie Cauley-Stein, Skal Labissiere, Harry Giles—high-level recruits from the biggest teams in college basketball. Maybe the fourth time’s the charm.

What Blockbuster Deal Will Blindside Us This Year?

Unlike last year’s Jimmy Butler trade, which seemingly happened without any momentum prior to the draft, this year, the possibility of Kawhi Leonard being moved looms over everything. It seems unlikely that the Spurs will do anything too hasty, but there also wouldn’t be a better time to control their future than by accumulating assets prior to what promises to be a whirlwind free-agency period.

The draft could also show the intentions of some teams stuck in limbo: Could the Cavaliers package Kevin Love and the no. 8 pick for a star to LeBron James’s liking? Can the Raptors trade an expensive and aging point guard to kick-start a long-awaited franchise reboot in Toronto? What about the Blazers, whose dynamic backcourt duo has seemingly hit a wall, and whose cap sheets could use some clearing? Then, consider the Grizzlies, who have the ultimate tool to unload Chandler Parsons’s ill-fated albatross contract in the no. 4 pick.

If last season was an inflection point on this Warriors era of the league, perhaps it won’t just be the young prospects entering the league that point the way toward True North. On a night meant to alter the trajectory of the worst teams in the NBA, the movement of any number of current stars could change the course of the league as we know it, period.

How Many Mega Bemax Players Will Be Drafted in the Second Round This Year?

Mega Basket (Mega Bemax for sponsorship purposes) is truly the most notorious Europe-to-NBA pipeline in existence. You may also know it as the team with uniforms that take yearly color-palette inspiration from elementary-school slumber parties. Since 2014, the team has produced nine draftees, and three in each of the past two drafts. A few of them you might have heard of, like Nikola Jokic, Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Ivica Zubac.

The pool is a bit dry this year, though. Goga Bitadze, an 18-year-old big man who has been shockingly productive in the Adriatic League, was the most likely, but he surprisingly withdrew from consideration last week. That leaves Kostja Mushidi, who had a cup of coffee in The Ringer’s 2017 NBA Draft Guide before withdrawing from consideration last year. As our Jonathan Tjarks notes in this year’s draft guide, Mushidi probably regrets the decision, as his stock has only dipped in the year since. But the pipeline is strong, and I don’t think it gets cut off any time soon.

Which Name Would Mark Tatum Have the Most Fun With in the Second Round?

Allow me to repeat myself from last year: Cyrille Eliezer-Vanerot. But if we’re looking for a fresh face, how about Iceland’s Tryggvi Hlinason?

How Exactly Are the Sixers Going to Do This?

The Sixers are entering an important draft (and an even more important offseason) with bundles upon bundles of intrigue … without a GM. Philly is operating by committee, one that includes head coach Brett Brown, vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley, vice president of basketball ops and chief of staff Ned Cohen, vice president of analytics and strategy Alex Rucker, senior director of basketball operations Vince Rozman, and the GM of the Sixers’ G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, Elton Brand.

As with all teams, the team owners will sign off on the final decision, but where exactly does that leave the team should they juggle a blockbuster trade? Who gets the final say? We’re not exactly looking at a 12 Angry Men situation, but Six Angry Men still sounds like an impossible balance. Who takes the brunt of responsibility should they make a franchise-changing trade for a top-five pick (maybe Doncic?), or, say, Kawhi?

Or maybe it’s a lot simpler than that. The Sixers have six draft picks. A fortuitous coincidence! Maybe they can just have each front-office member call dibs on one pick each!

What’s the Best Possible Accessory Luka Doncic Can Wear for Draft Night?

This one’s easy. He should absolutely haul all of his championship and MVP trophies over to Barclays and set all of them on his green-room table.

Originally from The Ringer

See it here.

One of the main arguments in favor of buying a home is equity. When you rent, you're sending your monthly payment to a landlord. As a buyer, your monthly mortgage payment is helping to build equity. Of course, many homeowners wait and then, following the sale of their house, use their accumulated equity to help buy their next home. But you can also use a home equity loan to access the value your home has accrued. So what do homeowners who take home equity loans do with the money? Well, a recent survey asked borrowers and came up with an answer. Not surprisingly, the top reason homeowners took out loans was to fund home improvement or remodeling projects. This is a common strategy since taking out a loan to improve your house means you may be able to recoup some of the cost if, and when, you sell the home. Other common answers included money to invest in another property, emergency expenses, retirement funds, and debt consolidation. More here.

These days, the health of the housing market is a matter of inventory. Right now, there are fewer houses available for sale than is typical and, because of it, prices are rising and sales aren't as high as they might be otherwise. However, as more new homes are built, buyers will have begin to see more choices and prices will start to moderate. In short, whether or not you find a great house in your price range may have something to do with how many new homes are being built. Because of this, the National Association of Home Builders takes a monthly survey of builders to help gauge how confident they are in the market. In June, builder confidence slipped two points from the month before, though it is still at 68 on a scale where any number above 50 indicates more builders feel good about conditions than poor. Randy Noel, NAHB chairman, says builders are optimistic about the number of interested home buyers but are concerned about the rising cost of materials. “Builders are optimistic about housing market conditions as consumer demand continues to grow,” Noel said. “However, builders are increasingly concerned that tariffs placed on Canadian lumber and other imported products are hurting housing affordability.” More here.

Home prices have been on the rise for a while now. But, in most cases, the jump in values was really just prices recovering the losses suffered following the financial crisis. After the housing crash, prices plummeted and, in the years following, they have rebounded. Now some markets have fully recovered and some are even surpassing previous peaks. But despite this climb in prices, and recent mortgage rate increases, home buyers have not been deterred. In fact, a recent outlook from Freddie Mac says that sales should increase this year and again in 2019. “Buyer resiliency in the face of higher rates reflects the healthy economy and strong consumer confidence,” the report reads. But, though high demand is driven, in part, by a stronger economy and job market, it also reflects the fact that, though conditions have changed, in many markets home price and mortgage rate increases haven't pushed past the point of affordability. More here.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates were up last week across all loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 15-year fixed-rate loans. The increase comes after a brief period of decreases driven by concerns about the global economy. Joel Kan, an MBA economist, told CNBC those concerns remain. “Despite lingering uncertainty over a potential trade war, investors moved away from Treasurys, pushing yields up for the week,” Kan said. “Overall mortgage application activity declined as rates rose, but government applications increased, driven largely by increases in FHA applications, reflecting stronger demand by first-time home buyers.” The increase in government loans could be an encouraging sign that younger buyers are returning to the market, after several years where first-time buyers were less active than historically normal. The MBA's weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. More here.

First-time home buyers are an important demographic when it comes to the health of the housing market. Because they've historically accounted for about 40 percent of home sales, they garner a lot of attention from experts, economists, and analysts hoping to gauge how the market is doing and where it's headed. In recent years, first-time buyers have been less active than usual. The financial crash and recession led to a long period where Americans of typical home-buying age did not have the economic stability or job security to feel comfortable pursuing homeownership. Then, even after economic conditions began to improve, a lack of affordable, starter homes kept many younger Americans on the sidelines. This year, conditions are still challenging but new numbers from Freddie Mac show things may finally be changing. That's because, first quarter results show that first-time buyers accounted for 46 percent of new mortgages during the early part of this year. That's the largest quarterly share since 2012 and an indication that young Americans are finally becoming more active in the real-estate market. More here.

There are a lot of neighborhood attributes that can affect the value of a particular house. For example, a house with a view of the water may fetch a higher price than a similar house without the view. But among neighborhood amenities, owning a home near quality schools is among the most commonly cited as being good for your home's value. Well, a recent study by Collateral Analytics, looked at this question in an attempt to – not only determine whether or not it's true that homes near quality schools sell for higher prices – but also whether or not it matters if the school a home is near is an elementary, middle, or high school. According to the study, there is some evidence that locations with “higher elementary school math and language scores are correlated with more expensive housing.” However, there are also many other factors, such as the supply of available housing, that will determine to what degree schools are a benefit. In short, schools have an effect on prices but it's most pronounced in areas that have fewer homes and fewer quality schools. It's also more evident in neighborhoods near good elementary schools, as opposed to high schools. More here.

Between the time an offer is accepted and the deal is closed, a home's sale is typically referred to as pending. That's because, there's a chance, during this period, that the sale won't go through, as there are a number of hurdles yet to clear. The buyer's loan and financing have to be finalized and steps like the home inspection and appraisal can also alter the terms of the deal or end it altogether. In short, buying a home is a major transaction and there's usually a few weeks between the contract signing and closing. For that reason, the National Association of Realtors tracks pending home sales each month, as they can be a good indicator of what future home sales will look like. According to their most recent report, pending sales fell 1.3 percent in April, with most regions flat from the month before. The slight decline was mostly due to a drop in the Midwest. Still, the report is an indication that inventory levels in much of the country are holding sales back. With a fewer-than-normal number of homes for sale, buyers are having more difficulty locating the right house and, as a result, the number of home sales has not matched the level of demand. More here.

When you buy a house, you're also buying the surrounding neighborhood. And, depending on your lifestyle and wishlist, the neighborhood may be even more important to you than the actual home you're buying. After all, most of your life happens outside your home. So your proximity to schools, shopping, healthcare, recreation, and nature will have a large effect on how much you enjoy living in a particular house. In short, finding your dream house in the wrong neighborhood could make it a nightmare. Unconvinced? Well, a recent survey of Americans found large majorities who said the feel of a neighborhood was important when deciding where to live. In fact, 80 percent said the surrounding neighborhood had to fit their personality and an almost equal amount said they'd consider moving if they found they didn't like their new neighborhood. In other words, when shopping for a new house, be sure to spend as much time considering the area around it as you do the areas inside it. It could even work out to be a better idea to find a smaller house in a great location than a big house somewhere you may grow to dislike. More here.