tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for December 15th - 12/15/11 10:03 AM
Mortgage and Market Update for December 15th
I usually prepare the Mortgage and Market Updates on Friday but this week Cari and I will be flying out at "o dark thirty" for Sunny San Diego to enjoy the weekend and take part in her company's Holiday Party. So here we go on a Thursday afternoon..... Economic News: Even though the stock market has been under pressure for most of the week economic reports have been solid. Retail sales, although less than expected for November, were revised upward for both September & October. The Federal Open Market Committee minutes revealed nothing new … (6 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for 7.29.2011 - 07/29/11 06:14 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for July 29th 2011
Economic News:  What a week! We are hearing pretty much non-stop about government spending, taxation & the debt ceiling. There was a lot of other news that has had an impact on the market. Consumer Confidence, while weak in the near term, revealed an optimistic outlook for the next six months. New Home Sales continue to struggle but showed price strength which was a nice follow through to last week’s existing home sales figures. The Pending Home Sales Index notched a 2.4% gain and rose to 90.9 continuing the strong gains … (4 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for the week ending 7.22.11 - 07/23/11 01:44 PM
Market Update
Economic News:  The news for this week was primarily focused on the housing sector. The Housing Market Index, as reported by the National Association of Home Builders, rebounded from May’s poor report. The index increased from 13 to 15 and the “future sales” segment rose by 7 points. June’s Housing Starts showed a nice increase. While this was primarily led by the multi-family sector single family starts rose by 9.4%. The numbers released for Existing Home Sales were a bit disappointing but on the positive side there was an increase in the average price by 2.7% year over year. … (8 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for July 15th 2011 - 07/15/11 07:07 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for July 15th 2011
Economic News: The good news for this week is that lower energy costs have eased inflation worries. This was apparent in the results of both the Producer Price Index as well as the Consumer Price Index. Retail Sales either matched or beat expectations and Jobless Claims improved over last week but remain above the 400,000 threshold. Lastly, the consumer is not too happy as Consumer Sentiment fell to 63.8 from an expected 71. This represents a two year low. Keep a sharp eye out on what is happening in Europe with … (4 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for July 8th 2011 - 07/08/11 04:22 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for July 8th 2011
Economic News:  JOBS...JOBS...JOBS was the focus of the trading activity in this holiday shortened week. The positive results of yesterday’s ADP Employment Report had many revising upward the expected results of today’s Employment Situation. Alas, the figures released this morning were anemic to say the least and reveal virtually no employment gains over the last two months. The unemployment rate rose to 9.2% from 9.1%. Rounding out the week were Factory Orders and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index. Factory Orders for May posted a nice recovery from April’s numbers. The ISM for … (4 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for July 1st 2011 - 07/01/11 07:19 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for July 1st 2011
Economic News:  In keeping with the recent theme of economic news this week was a mixed bag. But what is a bit different is that housing was the star. The Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed a nice rebound over the results of the last few months. The Pending Home Sales figures also experienced a very strong rebound. Since this is a forward looking number based on signed contracts it raises the hopes that the real estate market will do well in the second half of the year. Consumer Confidence and Sentiment … (4 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 24th 2011 - 06/24/11 06:56 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 24th 2011
Economic News: The market news continues to be mixed but results for the week were better than the stock market performance would indicate. Existing Home Sales were weaker than expected down 15.3% on a year over year basis as well as a slight uptick in supply. The National Association of Realtors hinted that next week’s Pending Home Sales report will show solid gains. On Wednesday the Federal Open Market Committee left the Fed Funds rate unchanged and noted that the economic recovery continues “though somewhat more slowly than the committee expected”. … (6 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 17th 2011 - 06/17/11 07:52 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 17th 2011
Economic News:  The markets are back to a mix of good news and not so good news. The Producer & Consumer Price Indices moderated on lower energy costs but still show inflationary pressures most notably in the food component. As far as housing goes the Housing Market Index (Home Builder’s Sentiment) fell to a depressed level of 13. On the other hand Housing Starts for May showed signs of life with a nice increase. The Philadelphia Fed Survey, a leading indicator in the manufacturing sector, posted a sharp drop. Lastly, Consumer … (10 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 10th 2011 - 06/10/11 07:12 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 10th 2011
Economic News:  The lack of any major data for the week has the stock market still focused on the negative. After rebounding yesterday equities are under pressure and trading to the downside. Jobless Claims were weaker than anticipated but the four week moving average is lower by about 15,000 from last month. Wednesday’s Beige Book (utilized for the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on 6.21 & 6.22) stated that the “economy is experiencing a temporary slowing” but also noted “there are no signs of a sharp deceleration...”. There is a host … (6 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 7th 2011 - 06/07/11 05:46 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 7th 2011
Economic News:  No bad news for today...and no good news either for that matter. This will be a quiet week for reports. The one area of the market to keep an eye on are the Treasury Auctions. The demand, or lack thereof, of our debt can dramatically effect both stocks and bonds. Later today Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at the International Monetary Conference. While this speech will happen after market hours what is said could effect tomorrow’s trading.Mortgage Markets:  Treasuries and Mortgage Backed Securities are slightly worse today … (10 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 3rd 2011 - 06/03/11 06:30 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for June 3rd 2011
Economic News: The news on the economy lately has been a mix of positive and negative. This week there was a bit of a breakdown and concerns abound about a possible slowdown in the recovery. The reports were not all negative with Initial Jobless Claims coming in lower and the four week moving average experiencing a nice decline. In addition, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index beat expectations. The markets seemed to focus more on a slowdown in the manufacturing sector as well at the disappointing Employment Situation released today showing that only … (8 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 31st 2011 - 05/31/11 09:54 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 31st 2011
Economic News:  Today brought us the Case-Shiller Home Price Index which showed continued weakness in home valuation for the majority of the markets tracked.  Consumer Confidence for May was reported at 60.8, well under consensus, and a five point drop from the levels reported in April. There is a lot of information coming throughout the rest of the week. Keep an eye on the employment numbers as they could be market moving for both the equity and debt markets.Mortgage Markets:  Treasuries and Mortgage Backed Securities are range bound today trading slightly … (0 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 27th 2011 - 05/27/11 07:33 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 27th 2011
Economic News:  As has been the recent trend economic reports have been a “mixed bag” of good and not so good news. This week is no different. Durable Goods Orders, GDP and Jobless Claims were a bit disappointing. The Pending Home Sales Index showed a large decline and is definitely worthy of watching closely over the next two months to see signs of a rebound. On a positive note Consumer Sentiment handily beat the estimates and also showed a very nice gain in the future expectations component.Mortgage Markets:  Treasuries and Mortgage … (5 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 24th 2011 - 05/24/11 06:23 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 24th 2011
Economic News:  The major portion of market news falls in the latter half of the week. This morning New Home Sales results for April were released. There was a lot to be happy about in the report as the annualized rate was estimated at 323,000. This handily beat the estimates and the underlying data showed a nice reduction in supply which could lead to firmer pricing in the near future. According to the Wall Street Journal “...only 175,000 new homes are up for sale for the lowest total in data that … (6 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 20th 2011 - 05/20/11 09:04 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 20th 2011
Economic News:   The Federal Open Market Committee minutes released Wednesday did not reveal much new information since the Fed Chief already discussed the policy. The earlier estimate was that they “downgraded their forecast for GDP Growth in 2011 while bumping up the 2011 inflation forecast”. The current interest rate policy will probably remain in effect until late 2011 or early 2012. Thursday’s Jobless Claims posted a nice drop for the week with just a slight uptick in the four week moving average. Existing Home Sales came in under consensus but there … (8 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 17th 2011 - 05/17/11 07:40 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 17th 2011
Economic News:  Yesterday’s Housing Market Index (Compiled by the National Association of Home Builders) was reported at 16 for May. This is an anemic result for the New Home Sector and has been steady with six out of the last 7 reports having the index at 16. Housing Starts were less than consensus with declines reported in the Northeast and South while gains were reported in the Midwest and West. The Industrial Production figures were also a bit less than anticipated. On the good news side Crude Oil is still trending … (0 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 13th 2011 - 05/13/11 06:57 AM
 
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 13th 2011
Economic News:  Both the Producer Price Index & the Consumer Price Index show inflation heating up but when you remove the volatile food and energy components the increase is a modest 2.1% over year ago levels. Retail Sales figures were up and reveal that consumer spending remains healthy in the face of higher energy costs.  Jobless Claims were down 44,000 to 436,750 which was good news considering the spike in the last report.  Mortgage Markets:  Treasury and Mortgage Backed Securities are gaining ground today with the weakness in the equity … (4 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 10th 2011 - 05/10/11 06:46 PM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 10th 2011
Economic News:  A quiet two days to start the week. We have only had the Import & Export prices report thus far. As you can guess prices are up due to food and energy costs. Export prices rose 9.6% year over year and Import prices we up 11.1% over the same period. An interesting bit of news came out from LPS with their Mortgage Monitor Report. It shows foreclosure inventory rising but delinquencies were down and there was a dramatic drop in early term (30 & 60 day) past dues. While … (0 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 6th 2011 - 05/06/11 08:19 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 6th 2011
 
Economic News:  Wednesday’s ADP Employment Report for April was a little weaker than expected with respect to job growth in the private sector. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Index was reported at 52.8 versus the consensus figure of 57. Although the data was weaker than expected a reading above 50 indicates month-to-month growth. Initial Jobless Claims, which were expected to be 410,000, rose by 474,000. The four week moving average is also up 10% from month ago levels at 431,250. Lastly, today’s Employment Situation beat expectations showing an … (0 comments)

tri valley home loans: East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 3rd 2011 - 05/03/11 06:19 AM
East Bay Mortgage & Market Update for May 3rd 2011
Economic News:  The week started out on a good note with stronger than expected data on the ISM Manufacturing Index for April. Although it was down a bit from last month it was noted in the WSJ that “the rate of hiring remained very strong and backlog orders shot up”. Construction Spending was also better than expected for March with all sectors showing gains. To round out the early week numbers was March Factory Orders. In line with the other reports thus far this week they beat estimates. Positive economic reports … (6 comments)