Mortgage rates are unchanged from last week but are trending in the wrong direction this morning. Last week mortgage rates caught a break from their upward trend that had been established a few weeks ago. The break was as a result of renewed fears over the Greek financial crisis.
Those fears are unwinding this morning as reports out of Europe suggest that Greece and its creditors may be close to a deal that would prevent a default. This is a very fluid situation so sentiment can change in a heartbeat but for now it appears that mortgage rates may firm up due to reduced fear surrounding the Greek situation.
There was a great housing report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released earlier today. The report showed that the number of existing home sales in the US increased by 9.2% from last year (+9.0% in the west). The number of home sales has now increased for eight consecutive months. In the west the median home price rose by 10.2% from last year.
Looking ahead, on Tuesday we’ll get figures on new homes sales, on Wednesday we’ll get a report on US Gross Domestic Product, and on Thursday we’ll get the Fed’s favorite gauge of inflation (Personal Consumption Expenditure price index).
Last thing, in case you missed it the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a two month delay on the implementation of their new mortgage disclosure regime known as “TRID” (TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure). The new disclosures were scheduled to begin with new loan applications started on August 1st and now it will be October 1st.
Current Outlook: locking