Last week was an action-packed week for economic news, and all of it was packed into Thursday: Weekly Jobless claims came in at 326,000 which was lower than the expected 330,000 new claims. This week's claims were higher than the prior week's 325,000 new jobless claims filed. The NAR released its Existing Home Sales Report for December; sales of existing homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million. December's reading fell shy of estimates of 490 million existing home sales, but the estimate was based on November sales … (0 comments)
quantitative easing: Case Shiller Price Index Shows Highest Year-Over-Year Gains Since 2006
- 01/06/14 10:32 PM
Case Shiller Price Index Shows Highest Year-Over-Year Gains Since 2006 The Case-Shiller 10 and 20-City Home Price Indices for October were released on December 31. Although home prices in most cities continued to show year-over-year gains, the pace of home price appreciation is expected to slow in 2014. Year-over-year increases have been in double digit territory since March 2013, but month-to-month readings suggest that the rate of increasing home prices is slowing. According to David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, “…the monthly numbers show that we are living on borrowed time and the boom … (0 comments)
The holiday season and winter weather slowed home sales in November. Last week, the NAR reported that sales of existing homes had slumped to their lowest level in nearly a year, but this was not unexpected. Short supplies of available homes and rising mortgage rates have increased pent-up demand for homes have kept some buyers on the sidelines. Improvement In The Labor Market 4.90 existing homes were sold in November; this was lower than the 5.13 million existing homes sold in October, as well as lower than expectations of 5.00 million existing … (0 comments)
Hi, Joe Gonzalez here of the Hope Mortgage Team of Gateway Funding DMS, L.P. in Plymouth Meeting, PA. I have some interesting news to share with you this week. The minutes of the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee meeting held October 29 and 30 were released Wednesday. The meeting began with a report from the Manager of the System Open Market Account and included updates on developments within domestic and foreign financial markets. According to the report, no intervention by the Federal Reserve was required on foreign currencies during the period between … (0 comments)
quantitative easing: What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week — September 23, 2013
- 09/22/13 11:17 PM
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week — September 23, 2013 Last week’s economic news was dominated by the Federal Reserve’s decision not to taper its $85 billion in monthly securities purchases. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke noted in a scheduled statement after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting that economic conditions were not yet adequately improved to withstand any decrease in the federal quantitative easing program. The Fed also reaffirmed that the target federal funds rate would remain at 0.00 to 0.25 percent until the national unemployment rate reached 6.50 percent and inflation reaches 2.00 percent. The national unemployment rate … (0 comments)
FOMC Minutes Suggest QE Tapering by Year-End The minutes for June's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) suggest that committee members are mostly in agreement that the current quantitative easing program (QE) should begin winding down by year end, but the committee minutes are very clear concerning the committee's intention to monitor inflation and ongoing economic and financial developments before taking action to reduce the current rate of QE. The Fed currently purchases $85 billion monthly in Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Investors fear that if the Fed … (0 comments)
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve decided to continue its current policy of quantitative easing (QE) based on current economic conditions. The Fed currently purchases $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and $45 billion in Treasury securities monthly. Objectives for the QE program include: Keeping long term interest rates, including mortgage rates, low Supporting mortgage markets Easing broader financial conditions FOMC repeated its position of evaluating QE policy based on inflation, the unemployment rate and economic developments. Members of the FOMC determined that keeping the federal funds rate … (0 comments)
The U.S. Department of Labor released its Non-Farm Payrolls and National Unemployment Rate reports Friday showing 175,000 jobs were added in May, which surpassed expectations of 164,000 new jobs and April's reading of 149,000 jobs added. The jobs added in May were largely from the private sector. However, the national unemployment rate for May was 7.60 percent, one-tenth of a percent higher than expectations and the April reading of 7.50 percent. The rise was attributed to more people entering the workforce as opposed to people losing jobs. 420,000 workers joined the workforce in … (0 comments)
Minutes of the April/May Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) recently released may have a significant impact on mortgage rates going forward. One significant development from the meeting suggests that the present quantitative easing (QE) program may be modified in the near future. The current QE program involves the Fed purchasing $85 billion per month in mortgage backed securities (MBS) and Treasury bonds. The Fed's goal with QE is keeping long-term interest rates, including mortgage rates, low. Considerations mentioned in favor of slowing the current QE program include concerns over “buoyant” financial markets … (0 comments)
Last week's economic news includes several factors that drove U.S. mortgage rates lower. The Bank of Japan announced that it would increase its purchase of bonds by $1.4 trillion over the next two years. This news caused yields on Japanese bonds to fall, which made U.S. bonds more appealing to international investors, that in turn increased MBS prices and caused mortgage rates to fall. Bumpy Employment Numbers Support Lower Interest Rates Other significant economic news involves an unexpected drop in the number of new jobs created last month. The … (0 comments)
quantitative easing: Fed Considers Future of Quantitative Easing
- 02/25/13 10:42 PM
Fed Considers Future of Quantitative Easing The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released minutes from its January meeting last Wednesday, as it generally does three weeks following the most recent meeting. The FOMC is a committee within the Federal Reserve System tasked with overseeing the purchase and sale of US Treasury securities by the Fed. The Federal Reserve makes key decisions regarding interest rates and looks to this committee for advice on how and when to take action. The Future Of Quantitative Easing One of the main topices that Fed leaders discussed was the future of its ongoing program … (0 comments)
Mortgage News for the Week of January 27th, 2014
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