10 Mar 2014
By Fred Gruber

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – March 10, 2014

Mortgage Rates , ,
Last week's economic news included construction spending and the CoreLogic Home Price Index for January.  Reports for February included ADP Employment, Non-Farm Payrolls and national unemployment data. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report and weekly reports on mortgage rates and new unemployment claims rounded out the week's economic news. Highlights for last week include: Consumer spending gained 0.40 percent for January. The expected reading was 0.20 percent and the reading for December was flat. The Commerce Department reported that increased spending was less an indicator of consumer discretionary spending than an indicator of high utility costs caused by severe winter…
Read More
17 Jun 2013
By Fred Gruber

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – June 17, 2013

Housing Analysis , ,
Last week's news was relatively quiet with no data significant to the mortgage lending released until Wednesday, when the federal government announced a $138 billion budget deficit for May. According to the U.S. Treasury this figure is 11 percent higher than for May of 2012, but the federal budget is expected to come in with less than a -$1 trillion deficit for the 2013 fiscal year, which runs from October to September. The Treasury estimates that the 2013 budget deficit will come in at approximately -$642 billion, well below fiscal 2012's deficit of -$1.1 trillion. The federal budget has been…
Read More
11 Jun 2013
By Fred Gruber

Increasing May Jobs Report Shows Strengthening Economy

Financial Reports , ,
The U.S. Department of Labor released its Non-Farm Payrolls and National Unemployment Rate reports Friday showing 175,000 jobs were added in May, which surpassed expectations of 164,000 new jobs and April's reading of 149,000 jobs added. The jobs added in May were largely from the private sector. However, the national unemployment rate for May was 7.60 percent, one-tenth of a percent higher than expectations and the April reading of 7.50 percent. The rise was attributed to more people entering the workforce as opposed to people losing jobs. 420,000 workers joined the workforce in May, which pushed the civilian participation rate…
Read More
08 May 2013
By Fred Gruber

Upswing In April 2013 Jobs Report Signals Good News For Real Estate

Housing Analysis , ,
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly Non-farm Payrolls and National Unemployment Rate for April last Friday. These two reports are collectively called the Jobs Report. 165,000 jobs were added in April, while the unemployment rate dropped from 7.60 percent in March to 7.50 percent in April. 673,000 jobs have been added since January. Jobs were added in employment sectors including business and professional, health care and eating and drinking establishments. The main impact of the jobs report on home sales and mortgage lending is the ability of would-be home buyers to qualify for mortgage loans. Long term unemployment…
Read More
08 Apr 2013
By Fred Gruber

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – April 8, 2013

Mortgage Rates , , ,
Last week's economic news includes several factors that drove U.S. mortgage rates lower. The Bank of Japan announced that it would increase its purchase of bonds by $1.4 trillion over the next two years.  This news caused yields on Japanese bonds to fall, which made U.S. bonds more appealing to international investors, that in turn increased MBS prices and caused mortgage rates to fall. Bumpy Employment Numbers Support Lower Interest Rates Other significant economic news involves an unexpected drop in the number of new jobs created last month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Nonfarm Payrolls Report issued Friday indicated…
Read More