Mortgage rates have improved modestly this morning after an economic report showed surprisingly week data. The Labor Department released their quarterly report on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which showed that 2nd quarter GDP grew at a 1.9% pace, far less than economists had been expecting. Furthermore, the report revised the 4th quarter of ’07 lower […]
Treasury Secretary Henry “Hank” Paulson is at it again cooking up additional solutions aimed at shoring up confidence in the battered mortgage/ financial market. His latest recipe calls for an alternative secondary marketplace to supply funding for mortgages. From the looks of it his strategy is designed to instill confidence amongst investors in the mortgage market by […]
Rates remain unchanged this morning as mortgage-backed bonds continue to see-saw up and down. The big economic report this week comes on Friday when the Labor Department releases the monthly jobs report. For a detailed explanation as to why this report is important for mortgage rates please check this link. An initial indicator from the […]
Mortgage backed bonds are giving away the gains they made yesterday which is a sign of modestly higher rates in the near term. Bonds are reacting to a rally in the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently up over 100 points on better than expected consumer confidence numbers and lower oil prices. […]
Mortgage rates should improve slightly this morning. Helping mortgage rates this morning: Credit worries have crept there way back into the spotlight following the seizure of two more banks late Friday afternoon by Federal regulators. These two failures marks the 6th & 7th of the year according to the FDIC’s website. In 2007 the […]
Mortgage rates are essentially unchanged this morning. Yesterday morning we shifted out outlook to “floating” because of the reversal of mortgage-backed bond prices. Unfortunately we did not see any follow through this morning and therefore have shifted our outlook back to neutral. The reason bonds were unable to follow through on the rally yesterday […]
Mortgage rates have improved modestly today thanks to a weaker stock market and technical trading patterns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently off by over 100 points in response to weak earnings results out of Ford Motor Co. & slower than expected home sales. The weakness in stock is creating additional demand for bonds. […]
0% down financing is getting harder and harder to find these days. The most common approach of creating 0% down financing is through the FHA loophole which allows for a seller to contribute the 3% required down payment via a down payment assistance program such as Nehemiah and Ameridream. However, the Federal Government will eliminate […]
Mortgages backed-bond prices remain at the lowest level all year which means mortgage rates are also at the highest level. Looking ahead there is a mixed bag of news which could influence the direction of rates. Working in favor of mortgage rates this morning are a couple items: *Oil prices are now trading 16% lower […]
On Saturday the Senate passed the Housing Bill. This 700-page law brings a variety of new rules and provisions that will impact the housing industry in a variety of ways. The President is expected to sign the bill into law early this week. Here are some summary points that any real estate professional should be […]