Our company recently changed 401K providers which offered me the opportunity to evaluate not only the standard 401K but also the Roth 401K. I had read about the Roth 401K back in December of 2007 and was pleased to see that these options were beginning to work their way into employers’ offerings. It also created […]
Rates are effectively unchanged again this morning. Looking ahead this week the biggest piece of economic news will be delivered tomorrow when the Producer Price Index (PPI) report is released. This report, which indicates inflationary pressure at the wholesale level of our economy, is likely to come in “hot” as did the CPI from last […]
Back on July 15th I posted this blog entry regarding Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac in which I outlined the crucial role they play in our nation’s housing industry. Here is an update to this saga: This weekend Barron’s is reporting that the two mortgage giants are essentially insolvent and that government intervention is inevitable. The […]
The NY Times published a good article today outlining the presidential hopeful’s views on financial regulation (click this link to view). By the sounds of it we can expect greater governmental oversight over the financial markets in the coming years. It is no surprise that a reaction for greater financial regulation has resulted following the third financial […]
The final piece of a mortgage application that a bank is interested in reviewing is the property itself. After all, if a borrower fails to make their monthly payments then the bank will take the house back and sell it in order to recoup the money that they loaned against it. The value of a home will […]
I am not a real estate sales expert nor do I consider myself a man of “cutting-edge” taste. However, I feel relatively confident in saying that the development referenced in this article on WSJ.com inspired by the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy is the worst real estate development idea….ever. What was this guy thinking? What […]
Rates are effectively unchanged again this morning. Following yesterday’s hot CPI data we got a slew of inflation related news that is helping support mortgage-backed bond prices today. *Gold prices are finishing the week with one of the steepest weekly declines since March. Gold prices tend to reflect the market’s future inflation expectations so the […]
Rates are effectively unchanged this morning despite worse than expected inflation data. The Labor Department reported earlier this morning that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by .8% in July alone. On a year-over-year basis CPI rose by 5.6% which is the biggest rise in consumer prices since 1991. Core CPI, which strips out volatile […]
If you’re an avid reader of ‘rate update’ you know that inflation is the primary factor that drives long-term interest rates (including mortgage rates). When inflation expectations rise mortgage rates also tend to rise and vice versa. I came across the graph below in a recent Economist article which shows that the Fed believes that inflation […]
Rates are slightly lower this morning as volatility in the financial markets continues. In the past four days of ‘rate update’ we’ve reported changes (up or down) in interest rates which is a rare occurrence. Much of the credit for lower mortgage rates can be credited towards a weak stock market. Yesterday the markets dropped […]