News

The Strength In New Home Sales Shows That Banks And Builders Have Figured Out The Market

September 17, 2008

Despite turmoil on Wall Street, the housing sector continues to deliver good news. Last month, led by a 22 percent surge from the West Region, New Home Sales rose 2.7 percent over August. A “new home” is a newly-built residence, never before lived in. New homes are usually built and sold by real estate development […]

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Making English Out Of Fed-Speak (September 2008 Edition)

September 16, 2008

For the third consecutive meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee left the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 2.000 percent. Of interest to mortgage rate shoppers, the FOMC led its press release with comments about the health of the financial and labor markets, calling them “strained” and “weakened”, respectively.  The relative weakness in both of these […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : September 15, 2008

September 15, 2008

In a week overdone with market-altering news, conforming mortgage rates shed a quarter-percent overall last week.  It was the third straight week in which rates improved. The biggest story, by far, was the government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two quasi-government agencies were nationalized into bona fide government agencies, converted mortgage-backed debt into risk-free, government […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : September 8, 2008

September 8, 2008

Mortgage markets improved last week on Hurricane Gustav’s less-than-expected damages and a strengthening U.S. dollar. Even factoring in Friday’s 0.125 percent run-up on most mortgage products, rates improved overall. It’s the second straight week in which mortgage rates improved. But for all the news that we could dissect from last week, it should be the news […]

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Mortgage Rates Fall As The Unemployment Rate Rises

September 5, 2008

On the first Friday of every month, the government releases its Non-Farm Payrolls report. More commonly called the “jobs report”, the two-page analysis examines the nooks and crannies of the U.S. economy to see which industries are hiring and which are firing. The August jobs report was released this morning and it shows that the […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : September 2, 2008

September 2, 2008

For the first time in 4 weeks, mortgage rates closing a week lower than where they opened it Markets shrugged off uncertainty about Hurricane Gustav and chose to rally on the backs of strong economic data. Overall, rates were down by about 0.125 percent, or $96 per year per $100,000 borrowed. Markets were influenced by […]

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How Labor Day Weekend Complicates Mortgage Rate Shopping

August 29, 2008

As we get closer to Labor Day, volume on Wall Street is dwindling as market players get a head start on their long weekend. Today could be a difficult day to shop for mortgage rates.  Expect volatility. This is because mortgage rates are based on the price of mortgage bonds and, on Wall Street, bonds trade […]

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To See Where Mortgage Rates May Go This Week, Keep An Eye On The Weather Channel

August 28, 2008

Three years to the week after Hurricane Katrina caused $81.2 million in damages, Tropical Storm Gustav is charting a similar Gulf of Mexico path. Memories of Katrina are making oil traders nervous.  The 2005 storm shut down 30 platforms and 9 refineries.  And, this week, oil prices are up nearly 4 percent on fears that the […]

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According To The Data, Housing May Have Already Touched Its Bottom

August 27, 2008

According to the June 2008 Case-Shiller Home Price Index, home prices in 15 of the 20 largest U.S. real estate markets either improved, or showed growth from the month prior. This is the fourth straight month in which that happened which means that a national housing recovery may already be underway. Now, it’s worth stating […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : August 25, 2008

August 25, 2008

Momentum carried mortgage markets through a week of low trading volume and few economic releases.  Rates were volatile, but ended the week unchanged overall. Don’t let the word “unchanged” fool you, however. From day-to-day last week, mortgage rates covered a huge range and it was only coincidence that Friday ended where Monday began. And it’s the second […]

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Mortgage Insurance Rates Skyrocket (For Homeowners That Still Qualify)

August 21, 2008

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is an insurance policy paid to a lender in the event that a homeowner defaults on his home loan. With the growing number of mortgage defaults nationwide, mortgage insurers are finding their balance sheets under attack and their revenues in the red. So far this year, mortgage insurers have paid out $6 […]

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The Mortgage Market’s Abnormal Reaction To July’s Producer Price Index Reading

August 20, 2008

The Producer Price Index is a business inflation meter and it’s now up 9.8 percent annually. This is a huge number for PPI and represents the highest year-over-year rate of inflation since 1981. Normally, blowout inflation like this would be terrible for mortgage rates but mortgage markets are actually improved since Tuesday’s data release. Usually, a rocketing PPI would […]

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Good News For Homeowners : Housing Starts Tumble In July

August 19, 2008

Housing Starts measure the number of new housing “units” on which construction has started and in July, Housing Starts fell to its lowest levels since March 1991. For homeowners, this is a welcome bit of good news because as fewer homes are built, there is less inventory from which home buyers can choose. With fewer homes […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : August 18, 2008

August 18, 2008

Mortgage rates overcame a terrible Monday last week, climbing back to unchanged by Friday.  And like most weeks this year, rates were volatile. Most interesting about last week, though, was that there was a ton of news that should have dragged mortgage rates down, but it didn’t seem to happen. A popular inflation measure reached […]

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How Russia Invading Georgia Can Change Your Mortgage Rates

August 14, 2008

The connection between the world’s political events and mortgage rates here at home is not always clear, but Russia’s invasion of Georgia provides a strong working lesson. Georgia is a former Soviet republic on the eastern shores of the Black Sea.  Oil pipelines within its territory supply about 1 percent of the world’s daily oil […]

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How To Make Sense Of The Pending Home Sales Index

August 12, 2008

When home sellers accepts a contract on MLS-listed property, the property’s official status changes from “Active” to “Pending”. By measuring the number of “Pending” homes nationwide, the National Association of Realtors® publishes its once-monthly Pending Homes Sales Index. The real estate industry group positions the report as a predictor of future home sales activity, stating that […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : August 11, 2008

August 11, 2008

In a week packed with mortgage news and economic data, mortgage rates swung hard in both directions last week before settling into the weekend slightly higher across the board. Adjustable-rate mortgages worsened more than their fixed-rate counterparts and both broke a two-week streak in which mortgage rates had improved. But, if we look at all of the […]

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Making English Out Of Fed-Speak (August 2008 Edition)

August 5, 2008

For the second consecutive meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee left the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 2.000 percent. In its press release, the Federal Reserve addresses inflation, saying that it “has been high”, fingering energy and commodity costs as culprits.  The Fed does expects inflation to moderate later this year, however. Regarding recession, the Fed […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : August 4, 2008

August 4, 2008

In a week in which stock markets moved 1 percent or more on four separate days, mortgage markets displayed a relative calmness that helped pull rates lower. It was the second consecutive week that mortgage rates improved. Last week’s biggest story came Monday when the housing bill was passed into law.  The new law provides lifelines […]

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The New Housing Bill’s Hidden Tax Trap

July 31, 2008

Monday, President Bush signed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 into law and the press jumped on the obvious storylines: First-time home buyers get a $7,500 purchase “credit” Conforming loan limits move to $625,000 Delinquent homeowners get a lifeline from the FHA Local governments get federal money for buying and restoring foreclosed homes […]

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