Today's Linkage on luring rich millennials with avocado toast, Donald vs. the Fed, and gearheads railing against the autonomous future
Wages
Today's Linkage on Gen Z playing the long game in real estate, the macro housing picture, and making Burger King cool
Conforming fixed rates on loans up to $417k open this week down about .375%, and Jumbo rates on loans above $417k are about even (because Jumbos are still pricing slightly more to risk than market levels). This is a good time for borrowers to lock rates and capture lows in a week that may be
This week opens strong with Jumbo and Conforming fixed and ARM loans all down .25%. Since Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s October 15 comments that the housing market may be a significant drag on economic growth, rate markets have been pricing in a .25% Fed Funds cut ahead this Wednesday’s FOMC meeting. At that time, I
Fixed and ARM rates are up about .30% since mid-May, bringing mortgages to their highest levels so far in 2007. To figure out why rates are rising and get perspective on rate markets, we can look at the yield on the 10yr Treasury, which today is at 4.97%. The low point for 2007 was 4.49%
There were no WeeklyBasis reports the past couple weeks, because I have doing some longer-form writing about the markets for my company’s quarterly newsletter and for a real estate magazine. If you want to receive my newsletter, please let me know. And attached is a copy of a piece I wrote for the June issue
Fixed and ARM rates are up about .125% after a four week run with no changes. Given all the trouble with sub-prime loans in the first quarter, it’s great for borrowers that we start the second quarter with rates at very competitive levels. I should also note that, for borrowers with at least 20% equity
As 2006 ended, most economists and Fed officials were expecting the economy to be crippled by high energy prices plus weak housing and manufacturing. But so far in 2007, wages and employment are increasing, energy costs are dropping, and even housing is holding up in many areas. All of this means rates have climbed and
Fixed and ARM rates open this week up .125% over last week. This isn’t a bad climb considering that the 10yr Treasury note, has climbed almost .5% since early-December. The biggest market event this week will be Wednesday when the Fed’s rate decision is reported. It’s unlikely we’d see a surprise rate hike, but their
Fixed and ARM rates dipped by as much as .25% last week then came back up after Friday’s controversial ‘jobs created’ and ‘wage growth’ report for October. Friday’s report came in well below estimates, which would normally cause rates to drop. But August and September numbers were revised significantly upward and rates rose accordingly. The
Fixed and ARM rates are even this week over last week because Friday’s weaker-than-expected jobs and wage growth was a signal that economic growth may be slowing. Slower growth means that the Fed may be able to ease off their tightening soon. The next Fed meeting is August 8, and most economists think we’ll see
Fixed and ARM opened about even this morning, but bond markets sold off in reaction to strong manufacturing sector data and to inflation comments from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. So I expect rates to be up about .125% to .25% tomorrow. Bernanke told a CNBC correspondent that the markets and financial media have under-reacted to
Rates are up about .2% this week largely because investors are dumping bonds today to fuel a large stock rally. This first trading day of 2Q is also being driven by sentiment that the Fed is near the end of their tightening cycle. This belief has yet to make its way into bonds, as indicated
Fixed and ARM rates open this week up roughly .125%. We’ve been in the middle of a bond sell off for the past few trading days, not so much because of economic data from last week, but more a reaction to Europe and Japan hiking their rates. This means support for U.S. bonds could wane
Rates are up another .125% this week (the third week in a row) on inflation fears that are coming from higher fuel prices and higher costs reported by manufacturers this morning. The Fed’s job is to slow the money supply (with higher rates) before inflation becomes an issue. So when markets see signs if inflation,