01
Feb
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, , ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – Feburary 1, 2016

Last week's economic events included S&P Case-Shiller's home price indexes, reports on new and pending home sales and the Fed's FOMC statement. The details: Case-Shiller Reports Fast Paced Home Price Growth According to S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes, U.S. home prices grew at their fastest pace in 16 months in November. Portland, Oregon led the charge with home prices increasing 11.10 percent year-over-year followed by San Francisco, California at 11.0 percent; Denver, Colorado posted a year-over-year gain of 10.90 percent. 14 cities posted home price gains while four cities posted declines in home prices and two cities posted no change…
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28
Jan
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, , ,

FOMC Statement: Fed Holds Steady on Rates

According to statement issued at the conclusion of today's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, committee members decided against raising the target federal funds rate. Mixed economic conditions, slower economic growth in the 4th quarter and low inflation contributed to the decision against raising rates. The target federal funds rate was raised in December to a range of 0.25 to 1.59 percent after remaining at 0.00 to 0.25 percent for several years. While rising fed rates were expected to cause a hike in mortgage rates, mortgage rates fell after December's rate hike. Committee Cites Mixed Data in Decision While labor conditions…
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28
Jan
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, , ,

FOMC Statement: Fed Holds Steady on Rates

According to statement issued at the conclusion of today's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, committee members decided against raising the target federal funds rate. Mixed economic conditions, slower economic growth in the 4th quarter and low inflation contributed to the decision against raising rates. The target federal funds rate was raised in December to a range of 0.25 to 1.59 percent after remaining at 0.00 to 0.25 percent for several years. While rising fed rates were expected to cause a hike in mortgage rates, mortgage rates fell after December's rate hike. Committee Cites Mixed Data in Decision While labor conditions…
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25
Jan
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, , ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 25, 2016

Last week's scheduled economic news included releases from the National Association of Home Builders, Housing Starts, and Existing Home Sales. Weekly reports on new jobless claims and mortgage rates were also released.  The National Association of Realtors® reported that sales of previously owned homes rose to 5.46 million sales on an annual seasonally adjusted basis in December. This reading surpassed expectations of 5.21 million sales and November's reading of 4.76 million sales. November's low reading was in part affected by new mortgage rules, which delayed some closings into December. Economic factors pushing housing markets include low driven by falling fuel…
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20
Jan
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, ,

Home Builders Remain Confident in January

Home builders maintained December's confidence level according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index for January. The latest reading of 60 mirrored December's reading, but was two points lower than expected. Readings of more than 50 indicate that more builders were confident about housing conditions than those who were not. Although January's reading fell shy of October's reading of 65, which was a ten-year high for the home builder index. Any reading in the low 60's suggests gradual improvement in housing market conditions according to NAHB. While December's year-over-year reading for new home sales was 14…
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18
Jan
By Jim Hasek
Market Outlook, , ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 18, 2016

In addition to weekly reports on mortgage rates and new unemployment claims, last week's economic news included the Fed's Beige Book report, retail sales and consumer sentiment. January's Empire State Index showed an unexpected dip and Consumer Sentiment increased for January. Fed's Beige Book Shows Diverse Economic Trends According to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report for January, the central bank's business contacts reported strength in housing, while agriculture, energy and manufacturing sectors were struggling. New York's Empire State Manufacturing Index for January supported this trend with a sharp drop. New York manufacturing has hit its lowest level since the…
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