Mortgage Blog - October 25, 202110/25/2021 Last week’s economic reporting included the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index reports on building permits issued and housing starts, The National Association of Realtors® reported on sales of previously owned homes, and weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims were also published. NAHB: Builder Confidence Improves in September The National Association of Home Builders reported an index reading of 80 for its September Housing Market Index. Analysts expected September’s index reading to match August’s reading of 76. Builders continued to face supply chain challenges and labor shortages amid growing concerns over rising home prices and affordability for would-be home buyers. Component readings for the Housing Market Index also showed rising builder confidence. The index for current housing market conditions rose five points to an index reading of 87; builder confidence in housing market conditions over the next six months rose three points to 84. The gauge for buyer traffic in new single-family housing developments rose four points to an index reading of 65. Robert Dietz, the chief economist for the NAHB, said “Policymakers must focus on fixing the broken supply chain. This will spur more construction and help ease upward pressure on home prices.” Continuing supply chain problems caused some builders to limit building due to concerns over materials costs and availability. Shortages of small and medium homes would cause home prices to rise just as interest rates are expected to rise. These conditions add to concerns over affordability for first-time and modest-income home buyers. NAHB HMI readings over 50 indicate that most builders surveyed have a positive outlook on housing market conditions. September sales of previously-owned homes rose to 6.29 million homes sold on a seasonally-adjusted annual basis as compared to August’s reading of 5.88 million previously-owned homes sold and expectations of 6.10 million previously-owned homes sold. Increasing sales of pre-owned homes indicated that severe shortages of available homes during the pandemic were easing. Mortgage Rates Rise, Jobless Claims Fall Freddie Mac reported higher average mortgage rates last week as rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose four basis points to 3.09 percent; rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged three basis points higher at 2.33 percent. Rates for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages fell one basis point to an average rate of 2.54 percent. Discount points averaged 0.70 percent for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.30 percent for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages. Initial jobless claims fell to 290,000 claims filed from the previous week’s reading of 296,000 first-time claims filed. Analysts expected 300,000 first-time claims to be filed. Fewer continuing jobless claims were filed last week; 2.48 million ongoing jobless claims were filed as compared to 2.60 million ongoing jobless claims filed in the previous week. What’s Ahead for the Week of October 25, 2021 This week’s scheduled economic reporting includes readings from S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, reports on sales of new and previously-owned homes, and the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims will also be published. Cheers! Scott Synovic AnnieMac Home Mortgage Colorado's Mortgage Expert www.coloradosmortgageexpert.com @coloradosmortgageexpert 303-668-3350 Direct NMLS: 253799 / AnnieMac Home Mortgage NMLS: 338923 Regulated by the Division of Real Estate The material contained in this newsletter has been prepared by an independent third-party provider. The content is provided for use by real estate, financial services and other professionals only. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, there is no guarantee it is without errors Mortgage Blog - October 12, 202110/12/2021 Last week’s scheduled economic news included readings on public and private-sector jobs and the national unemployment rate. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims were also published. Non-Farm Payrolls: Jobs Growth Dips Sharply in September According to the federal government’s Non-Farm Payrolls report, U.S. jobs growth dipped sharply in September. In fact, only 194,000 public and private sector jobs were added in September and fell far short of the expected reading of 500,000 jobs. This expected reading was based on the 366,000 public and private sector jobs that were added in August. Hiring also lagged last month, as continuing concerns over Covid kept workers at home. No place was this more evident than at public schools, which had a low September’s jobs growth—at a time when schools traditionally hire for the upcoming school year. Still, ADP reported 568,000 private-sector jobs added in September, when analysts only expected 425,000 jobs (based on 340,000 private-sector jobs added in August). Overall, the national unemployment rate fell to 4.80 percent in September compared to August’s jobless rate of 5.20 percent. In total, a pleasant surprise since analysts expected the national unemployment rate to drop only to 5.10 percent in September. Mortgage Rates Mixed, Jobless Claims Fall In other news, fixed mortgage interest rates fell last week, as the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell two basis points to 2.99 percent. Similarly, rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell by five basis points on average to 2.23 percent. The average rate for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages, on the other hand, rose by four basis points to 2.52 percent. And discount points averaged 0.70 percent for fixed-rate mortgages and 0.30 percent for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages. New and continuing jobless claims also fell last week, with 326,000 initial jobless claims filed compared to the previous week’s reading of 364,000 first-time claims filed. Yet another plus, as analysts expected 345,000 initial jobless claim filings. Lastly, 2.71 million continuing jobless claims were filed last week as compared to the previous week’s reading of 2.81 million ongoing jobless claims filed. What’s Ahead for the Week of October 12, 2021 This week’s scheduled economic reporting includes readings on inflation, retail sales, and consumer sentiment. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims will also be published. Cheers! Scott Synovic AnnieMac Home Mortgage Colorado's Mortgage Expert www.coloradosmortgageexpert.com @coloradosmortgageexpert 303-668-3350 Direct NMLS: 253799 / AnnieMac Home Mortgage NMLS: 338923 Regulated by the Division of Real Estate The material contained in this newsletter has been prepared by an independent third-party provider. The content is provided for use by real estate, financial services and other professionals only. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, there is no guarantee it is without errors Mortgage Blog - October 4, 202110/4/2021 Last week’s economic reporting included readings from S&P Case Shiller Home Price Indices, the National Association of Realtors®’ report on pending home sales, and the University of Michigan’s final consumer sentiment index for September. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims were also released. S&P Case-Shiller Reports 4th Consecutive Month of Record Home Price Growth July Home Prices grew at a year-over-year pace of 19.70 percent as compared to June’s home price growth rate of 18.70 percent according to S&P Case-Shiller’s National Home Price Index. The S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index reported that July home prices grew by 19.90 percent year-over-year; 17 of 20 cities posted higher home price growth rates in September than in August. The top three home price growth rates in the 20-City Home Price Index were held by Phoenix, Arizona at 32.40 percent; San Diego, California home prices grew by 27.80 percent, and Seattle, Washington home prices grew by 25.50 percent year-over-year in September. Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of investment strategy for S&P Dow Jones Indices, said “The last several months have been extraordinary not only in the level of price gains but in the consistency of gains across the country.” This differed from the traditional pattern of rapid home price growth in high-demand coastal metro areas as the covid pandemic drove homebuyers to seek out less congested and less expensive metro areas. Pending home sales rose by 8.10 percent in August according to the National Association of Realtors® and far exceeded analyst expectations of 1.20 percent growth and July’s reading of -1.80 percent growth in pending home sales. Pending home sales are sales for which purchase contracts are signed, but the transactions are not completed. Real estate pros and mortgage lenders use pending home sales to predict future home sales and loan closings. Mortgage Rates, Initial Jobless Claims Rise Freddie Mac reported higher mortgage rates last week as the yield on 10-Year Treasuries rose. The average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by 13 basis points to 3.01 percent; rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages also rose by 13 basis points and averaged 2.28 percent. Rates for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages averaged 2.48 percent and five basis points higher. Discount points averaged 0.70 percent for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages; 0.60 percent for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages and 0.30 percent for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages. Initial jobless claims increased to 362,000 first-time claims filed from the previous week’s reading of 351,000 new claims filed. Ongoing jobless claims decreased to 2.80 million continuing claims filed as compared to the prior week’s reading of 2.82 million continuing jobless claims filed. The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index rose to an index reading of 72.8 in September from August’s reading of 71.0. Analysts expected no change from August’s reading. What’s Ahead for the Week of October 4, 20321 This week’s scheduled economic reporting includes readings on public and private sector jobs, the national unemployment rate, and weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims. Cheers! Scott Synovic AnnieMac Home Mortgage Colorado's Mortgage Expert www.coloradosmortgageexpert.com @coloradosmortgageexpert 303-668-3350 Direct NMLS: 253799 / AnnieMac Home Mortgage NMLS: 338923 Regulated by the Division of Real Estate The material contained in this newsletter has been prepared by an independent third-party provider. The content is provided for use by real estate, financial services and other professionals only. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, there is no guarantee it is without errors Archives
February 2023
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