25
Jun
By Jim Hasek
Financial Reports, ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – June 25th, 2018

Last week's economic reports included readings from the National Association of Home Builders, Commerce Department reports on housing starts and building permits issued. Sales of pre-owned homes were reported along with weekly readings on mortgage rates and new jobless claims. Builder Confidence Slips as Trade Wars Boost Lumber Prices According to the National Association of Home Builders, home builder confidence in current market conditions was down two points to 68 as compared to May's index reading of 70. Analysts said that rising lumber prices impacted builder sentiment and have replaced labor costs as builders' primary expense. Increased building costs were…
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18
Jun
By Jim Hasek
Financial Reports, ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – June 18th, 2018

Last week's economic reports included the post-meeting statement by the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee along with readings on retail sales and inflation. Weekly reports on mortgage rates and new jobless claims were also released. Fed Raises Key Interest Rate on Strong Economic Indicators The post-meeting announcement by the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve indicated that committee members voted to raise the target federal funds rate to 0.175 to 2.00 percent from the prior rate of 1.50 to 1.75 percent. The post-meeting announcement cited strong economic conditions and stated that FOMC had altered their outlook from three…
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11
Jun
By Jim Hasek
Financial Reports, ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – June 11th, 2018

Last week’s economic reports included analyst assertions that U.S. housing markets are overvalued in over 50 percent of markets. Weekly reports on mortgage rates and first-time jobless claims were also released. CoreLogic: Over Half of Top 50 U.S. Housing Markets Overvalued Rapidly rising home prices are causing some U.S. markets to be overvalued, which means that home prices are higher than a community’s ability to sustain. What goes up must come down in such scenarios, but home prices continue to grow in many areas. While Boston, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California continued to see rapidly rising home prices, analysts said…
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04
Jun
By Jim Hasek
Financial Reports, ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – June 4th, 2018

Last week's economic reports included readings on Case-Shiller home prices, pending home sales and construction spending. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and new jobless claims were released, along with monthly labor-related reports on job creation and the national unemployment rate. Case-Shiller: Home Prices Maintain Rapid Growth S&P Case-Shiller home price indices for March showed home prices continued to grow at blazing rates. Seattle, Washington held on to first place with a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 13.00 percent; Las Vegas, Nevada reported 12.40 percent growth in home prices in March. Analysts said Las Vegas markets benefitted from homebuyers relocating from high-priced…
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29
May
By Jim Hasek
Financial Reports, ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – May 29th, 2018

Last week's economic reports included readings on sales of new and previously-owned homes along with weekly readings on mortgage rates and new jobless claims. Home Sales Lower in April Sales of new and previously-owned homes were lower in April. The Commerce Department reported sales of new homes at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 662,000 sales. New home sales were 1.50 percent lower than for March, but were11.60 percent higher year-over-year. Analysts expected new home sales to rise to 682,000 sales based on the March reading of 672,000 new homes sold.  Sales of new homes are calculated based on a small…
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21
May
By Jim Hasek
Financial Reports, ,

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – May 21st, 2018

Last week's economic releases included the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index for May, Commerce Department reports on housing starts and building permits issued. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and first-time jobless claims were also released. Home Builder Confidence Rises in May According to the National Association of Home Builders, home builders surveyed indicated higher confidence in housing market conditions for May. April's reading was downwardly revised to an index reading of 68; analysts expected a reading of 69.  May's home builder confidence reading was 70. Any reading over 50 indicates that more builders consider housing market conditions…
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