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 […]
I’ve described the 2008 Housing Bill to many associates and colleagues as “market neutral”. Although the politicians in Washington have touted themselves as real estate market heroes with the passage of the new law the bottom line is that many of the provisions in the bill won’t do much to spur a recovery anytime soon. […]
In order to make the pre-approval process as smooth as possible as well as to prevent last minute surprises from occurring it is important that we take a thorough application and collect the proper income and asset documents at the outset of the application process. MSN published this article this morning on how to WOW […]
Rates are slightly higher this morning following a significant sell-off in mortgage-backed bonds yesterday. As we had mentioned in yesterday’s rate update in the absence of significant economic data mortgage rates would react to oil prices, the stock market, and technical trading patterns. It was the latter two factors which pressured rates higher yesterday. Today […]
If the Fed’s latest opinion survey is any indication we may not get any relief from continued credit tightening on the part of lenders for some time. The Federal Reserve Board publishes a periodic report called the, “Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices.” This report addresses various aspects of residential, commercial, and […]
Rates are essentially unchanged this morning (5/1 ARMs are slightly higher). In the absence of any significant economic data today mortgage rates will take direction from oil prices (lower oil prices→lower mortgage rates), the stock market (lower stock markets→lower mortgage rates), and technical trading patterns. Currently the technical trading pattern is not too encouraging. Later […]