Mortgage News
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Mortgage Rates Mostly Unchanged After Treasury Auction
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch When economic data is thin the stock market tends to have a larger impact on the direction of mortgage rates. The session began with stocks moving lower yesterday. With no data on the economic calendar to reverse the market's direction, the bond market was able to rally all day (higher bond prices = lower bond yields). This allowed most lenders to reprice for the better. Like yesterday, the economic economic was quiet today. Two events influenced the marketplace... The Department of Treasury auctioned $21 billion 10-year notes today. Before the auction, the bond market made room for new debt supply by letting Treasury prices fall (cheapen). This pushed benchmark yields higher and led MBS prices lower. The issue must have gotten cheap enough because auction demand was strong. This led to a modest...( read more) 
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USDA Rural Development System Upgrade Complete. Now Processing Conditional Commitments
Posted To: MND NewsWire In March we learned that USDA Rural Housing funds were expected to run dry by the end of April . A month later, even though the legislation intended to provide the funding had not passed, USDA began issuing commitments for new loans, but there was a caveat: Loan approvals would be "subject to the availability of funds and Congressional authority to charge a 3.5 percent guarantee fee for purchase loans and a 2.25 percent guarantee fee for refinance loans." Finally, on July 29 Congress passed HR 4899 to reestablish the program as one that would no longer be subject to the annual whims of Federal funding but self-sustaining through a 3.5 percent guarantee fee paid by the borrower. Four weeks passed after the Congress did their job and appropriated unlimited funding for the USDA Rural Housing Program...( read more) 
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Jeff's Blog -
Jeff's Blog
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Written by Jeff
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Wednesday, 19 August 2009 06:24 |
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Housing starts fell 1% in July to an annual pace of 581,000 from an upwardly revised pace of 587,000 in June. Single-family housing starts were the bright factor, rising 1.7% to an annual rate of 470,000 which is the 5th straight monthly gain. Here is our HOUSING STARTS REPORT FOR JULY.
Recovery in the housing sector continues to be slow due to weak economic conditions and large inventories of unsold exisitng homes.
Here is the Calculated Risk take: HOUSING STARTS FLAT IN JULY |
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Jeff's Blog -
Jeff's Blog
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Written by Jeff
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Sunday, 16 August 2009 19:42 |
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Tame inflation data, strong demand for the Treasury auctions, and a lack of surprises from the Fed were all positive for mortgage markets, and mortgage rates ended the week lower. Click here for CURRENT RATES.
As expected, the Fed held the fed funds rate steady on Wednesday, and its statement contained few changes. The Fed suggested that economic activity is "leveling out", rather than continuing to decline, and the Fed expects that inflation will remain subdued due to unused capacity in the economy. Of note, the Fed decided not to increase its $300 billion Treasury purchase program, which will end in October. No changes were announced for the $1.25 billion mortgage-backed securities (MBS) purchase program, which is set to conclude at the end of the year. Mortgage rates are largely determined by MBS prices, and the added Fed demand for MBS has helped keep mortgage rates low. Investors will soon need to hear what the Fed plans to do with the MBS purchase program. The direction the Fed chooses could have a significant impact on mortgage rates later in the year. Click here for our take on the FED ANNOUNCEMENT.
The economic data released during the week was favorable for mortgage rates. The July Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data was unchanged from June, and Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose at a tame 1.5% annual rate. Current inflation levels are not a cause of concern for investors. July Retail Sales dropped slightly from June. Excluding autos, the results fell well short of expectations.
Next week's calendar of economic events will be relatively light. Additional inflation data will be revealed on Tuesday in the The Producer Price Index (PPI) report. PPI focuses on the increase in prices of "intermediate" goods used by companies to produce finished products. Housing Starts will also be released on Tuesday, and Existing Home Sales will come out on Friday. The two regional manufacturing indexes will round out the schedule. In addition, the Treasury will announce the size of the upcoming auctions on Thursday. |
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Jeff's Blog -
Jeff's Blog
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Written by Jeff
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Wednesday, 12 August 2009 18:40 |
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The Federal Reserve's meeting ended today with a statement that projected an economy that is bottoming and a Fed that is prepared to unwind it's balance sheet when the economy begins to improve. The mainstream media has been more and more optimistic in recent days with regard to the economy and home sales - we'll have to see if the optimism is warranted. Here is our analysis of the Fed Announcement: CLICK HERE |
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Jeff's Blog -
Jeff's Blog
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Written by Jeff
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Sunday, 02 August 2009 20:23 |
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Did you know that Route 1 from Bethany Beach to Ocean City was almost not built because of squatter's shacks in Fenwick Island. The Delmarva beaches have such a great history. We don't often think about how our beach communities started, grew and prospered. We should though - history brings us together and helps us develop a common experience as a community. Here's the story of the Squatters of Fenwick Island: CLICK HERE |
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Jeff's Blog -
Jeff's Blog
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Written by Jeff
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Monday, 27 July 2009 19:23 |
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New home sales increased 11% in June - here's our report: June New Home Sales After reaching record lows in January, new home sales have staged a very modest recovery. Nothing fantastic, but new home sales have been up for the past three (3) months and this is the largest monthly increase in the past 8 years. Remember though, they are down over 21% from this time last year. With the continued decrease in both median and average prices, the new home market remains weak but looks to be in gradual recovery mode. Here's the take from my favorite real estate economics/finance blogger Calculated Risk: CR June New Home Sales |
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September 7, 2010 (8)
