Just in from a trusted lender - Mortgage and Real Estate News

Just wanted to pass a few things on. As a result of the poor job report interest rates are coming down. As of this e-mail a 30 yr fixed is down to 6.25%.     As the credit crunch shakes up the mortgage market, one group that's suffering some severe collateral damage doesn't own a home at all: renters. According to the Center for Public Housing, 25% renters are paying more than half their income on rent - the highest level in at least two decades. That's up from 20% in 1997, and is expected to worsen.  Rents are projected to rise about 4% this year and next. In part, that's because of a shortfall in apartment construction. At the same time, more renters are renewing their leases because they can't qualify for a mortgage. And rising foreclosures are turning some homeowners back into tenants.

How about the economy? We had a shock of a Non-Farm Payroll number this morning. Expected to be up 110K, Non-Farm Payroll was actually down 4k, and June & July numbers were revised down a total of 81k! This is the worst jobs report in four years, and virtually guarantees a Fed Funds cut on September 18th. And it doesn't even include the mortgage job cuts for August! The Unemployment Rate was unchanged at 4.6%, and Hourly Earnings were +.3%. On the news the yield on the 10-yr dropped from 4.48% down to 4.44%, the yield on the 2-yr dropped below 4.0%."