THE BASIS POINT

WeeklyBasis 02/27/06: New Home Sales Lower in January

 

For the second week in a row, fixed and ARM rates opened roughly even. Markets are keeping an eye on New Home Sales data today and Existing Home Sales data tomorrow. New Home Sales were 5% lower in January than in December, extending the slowing streak to four of the past six months. But year-over-year the data show that sales were 3.3% higher than in January 2005. The January-over-January figures are encouraging, but the real trend here is that home sales have been slowly dropping over the past six months. We’ll see tomorrow if Existing Home Sales corroborates this trend, but for now this is exactly in line with the slow pace of rising rates and should be expected. Also of interest are the predictions of the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist who says “2006 is forecast to be the third-strongest year on record” despite rising rates during the year. As for this week, we’ve also got some inflation data Wednesday but rates should be relatively flat.

Conforming ($200,000 – $417,000) – NO POINTS
30 Year: 6.125% (6.265% APR)
15 Year: 5.875% (6.015% APR)
5/1 ARM: 6.125% (6.275% APR)

Jumbo ($417,001 – $650,000) – NO POINTS
30 Year: 6.375% (6.515% APR)
15 Year: 6.125% (6.265% APR)
5/1 ARM: 6.25% (6.4% APR)

 

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