Category: Rates

• November 30, 2022
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• realestatelife

Home prices declined by 30% during the Great Recession of 2008-2009. The housing market is on much solid foundation this round. Given so much news media coverage about the potential for home price pullback, it is worth visiting the fundamentals related to the current cycle versus the last. – 20 more jobs today and no

• November 28, 2022
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• realestatelife

Three Things: These are the three areas that have the greatest ability to impact your backend pricing this week. 1) Inflation Nation, 2) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs and 3) The Talking Fed. 1) Inflation Nation: We will get the Fed’s preferred key measure of inflation (Core PCE) on Thursday. Expectations are that it will continue to

• December 26, 2022
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• realestatelife

Energy costs typically go up in the winter because people are using more electricity. Aside from a basic maintenance check on your heating system, here are some easy ways to cut down on this expense. Keep the Heat In Weatherstrip your doors and windows, and eliminate drafts by caulking cracks and gaps. This will save

• November 28, 2022
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• realestatelife

Mortgage application volume increased for the second consecutive week as interest rates continued to decline. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of that volume, was 2.2 percent higher during the week ending November 18 than the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis and up 10 percent before adjustment.

• November 25, 2022
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• realestatelife

This year was one of the worst for bonds in history. While short-dated U.S. Treasury losses were limited to less than 10%, the 23% drop in annual returns of the 10-year note through last month was – according to Bank of America – the worst since the turbulent infancy of 1788; you must go back

• November 22, 2022
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• realestatelife

Rosie the Riveter: The November Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index showed contraction at -9 vs. est. of -1 The Talking Fed: Today we hear from Loretta Mester., Esther George and James Bullard. Treasury Dump: We get the last auction of the week with today’s 1:00 7 year note auction. Interest rates fractionally better this morning in

• November 17, 2022
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• realestatelife

Domestic Flavor: Taking it to the House: October Building Permits were higher than expected, 1.526M vs. est. of 1.512M. Housing Starts also beat to the upside, 1.425M vs. est. of 1.410M. But both were lower than the annualized pace of September. On the real housing market side of things, SFR Building Permits dropped for the

• November 16, 2022
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• realestatelife

Domestic Flavor: Taking it to the House: Weekly Mortgage Applications were actually up 2.7% thanks to a nice bump in Purchase Applications of 4.4%. Refinance Applications continued their free-fall with another -1.6% decline. The November NAHB Housing Market Index was dismal at 33 vs. est. of 36 Retail Sales: The Headline October Retail Sales were

• November 15, 2022
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• realestatelife

Rosie the Riveter: We got a welcome upside surprise in the NY Fed District as their Nov Empire State Manufacturing Index was back in positive territory for the first time since July. It came in at +4.5 vs. est. of -5.0 Inflation Nation: October headline Producer Price Index (final demand) was much lighter than expected,

• November 15, 2022
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• realestatelife

Monetary policy has a lag. Just because we get an inflation report that indicates we have turned the corner does not mean the journey is close to an end.  I believe Powell has that “old-time inflation religion.” But there are several paths to his goal. One is the band aid approach of 75 basis points