The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved moderately in September, fell to an all-time low in October. The Index now stands at 38.0 (1985=100), down from 61.4 in September. The Present Situation Index decreased to 41.9 from 61.1 last month. The Expectations Index declined to 35.5 from 61.5 in September. The Consumer Confidence
Consumer Confidence
Jumbo and conforming rates open this week up about .125% on inflation concerns. Last week, the Producer Price Index showed 6.5% year-over-year inflation in the manufacturing sector due largely to energy prices. Today Consumer Confidence came in at a 16 year low due to consumer concerns about rising food and gas prices. America is alone
Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn’t much, but the reception was excellent. Many loan agents seem to think that declining markets policies, embraced by investors, will soon go away, and point to Freddie & Fannie’s recent announcements 95 and 97% LTV’s. But in my narrow field
Fixed and ARM rates are roughly even after last week’s Fed meeting and better than expected jobs report. Mortgage rates dropped about .125% after the FOMC cut the Fed-to-bank Discount rate by .25% to 2.25% and cut the bank-to-bank Fed Funds Rate by .25% to 2%. This was the first time after the last six
Interest rates are set in two primary ways. With the Fed meeting today and tomorrow, remember that short term rates (credit cards, ARM’s, HELOC’s) are highly influenced by the Federal Reserve. And the Fed keeps a close eye on inflation: if the Fed fears that prices are rising too fast, it will raise rates to
Following last week’s unprecedented monetary policy moves, credit markets are happy, and many are saying that the worst is over … or at least that stocks are cheap. But there are two caveats. First, consumer credit is as tight as it has been in years, making for very stringent mortgage approvals and tighter guidelines on
LENDER GUIDELINE UPDATES Last Friday Countrywide changed their conforming Fast & Easy, limiting it to 90% LTV and 80% CLTV where subordinate financing is used, and entirely eliminated their Equity Programs and House America program. Last week California’s Attorney General shut down four mortgage lenders for providing what he characterized as “illegal and unconscionable loans”:
Fixed and ARM rates open this week down by .125%, following a recession warning former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan made this morning. His warning was vague and called for the economic slowdown to come later in the year, but it was enough to give us a rate drop. The key focus for this week will
Fixed and ARM rates are even this week, ending a two-week upward trend. Geopolitical uncertainty is leading to higher oil and gas prices, and this is causing investors to flee stocks for the safety of bonds. For now, this is good for rates (because mortgage rates drop when bond prices rise). But while geopolitical concerns
Fixed rates are even this week and ARMs are up about .125%, due mostly to a bond market selloff late last week. When bonds prices drop during a selloff, bond yields (rates) rise and so do the mortgage rates that are pegged to those yields. This week is full of consumer, manufacturing and housing data
We’re up another .125% on fixed and ARM rates this week, bringing the four-week increase to about .5%. Jobs growth came in weaker on Friday (which is usually good for rates), but wages came in higher. This was interpreted as another inflation signal, and rates rose accordingly. On Tuesday, the Fed made it’s twelfth .25%
Rates are down about .125% this week over last, and we can expect markets to be tame going into the Thanksgiving weekend. I’m certainly thankful for that, as I’m sure you are too. The only big economic release this week is Consumer Confidence on Wednesday. It shouldn’t move markets much, because traders will be saving
Rates are up about .125% this week, which is peculiar given last week’s larger-than-expected drop in consumer confidence. Normally, if consumer confidence if falling, people are less likely to spend, which eases inflationary concerns and leads to lower mortgage rates. But the bond market shrugged off that news on Friday and instead focused on 1)
This is the third straight week of fixed and ARM rates holding at the same low levels. As expected, last week’s slightly softer home sales data helped to keep rate markets steady. This week, markets are off to a conservative start as they await the effects Hurricane Katrina will have on the gulf region. Most
Rates/commentary for the week of April 11, 2005. Fixed and ARM rates open this week the same as last week, holding onto the dip we saw after the weak March jobs report. Prior to that, if you recall, rates had jumped up on Greenspan’s comments after the March 22 FOMC meeting. He talked of how
Rates/commentary for the week of February 23, 2004. Higher-than-expected consumer prices (CPI) released Friday caused a slight bond sell off, but rates held near all-time lows for today’s open. Higher CPI usually means inflationary pressure and higher rates are looming, but Friday’s figures were due largely to oil prices which tend to include artificial valuations
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