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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Thursday, 31 December 2009 11:17 |
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Happy New Year to you and your family! I wish you the best for 2010.
Many of my clients and referral partners are asking about the real estate market, so we've put together an online presentation based on existing sales data from the NAR that helps answer the question. Click below to see the presentation and get the answer:
Click Here For Are The Market Conditions Heating Up? |
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Jeff's Blog -
National Mortgage News
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Written by Jeff
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Friday, 27 November 2009 11:26 |
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Driven by strong (23.2%) gains in the South, new home sales jumped 6.2% overall in October to an annualized rate of 430k. The September pace was also revised upward and new home sales are about 5% above 2008 levels. However, this is down from the record high of 1,389K in July 2005 -a 69% decline from the peak. Our report is here: October New Home Sales
Overall, new home sales have clearly bottomed and inventory levels are coming down. A substantial drop in inventory is needed to drive up new sales.
Here is more from the Calculated Risk blog: New Homes Sales in October |
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Jeff's Blog -
Jeff's Blog
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Written by Jeff
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Monday, 23 November 2009 21:40 |
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Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – surged 10.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.10 million units in October from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September, and are 23.5 percent above the 4.94 million-unit level in October 2008. Sales activity is at the highest pace since February 2007 when it hit 6.55 million. Our full report is here - October Existing Sales Report
Remember though - it's new home sales and housing starts that are better indicators of a turn around in the economy. Existing home sales continue to be driven by the Homebuyer Tax Credit and distressed sales - short sales and REO sales. |
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Jeff's Blog -
Jeff's Blog
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Written by Jeff
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Friday, 20 November 2009 17:02 |
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Housing starts failed to hit the 600,000 annual pace most economists expected for October. Our report is here: October Starts
Even after a string of monthly gains over the past few months, starts are 30% below their level of a year ago, driven mostly by multi-family starts. Single family home starts are only down 11% from a year ago.
Here's the take from Calculated Risk: Housing Leads the Economy |
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September 7, 2010 (8)
