19 Nov 2013
By Mark Feder
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Housing Market Index Shows Builder Confidence Remains Above 50

Housing Analysis
The National Association of Home Builders released its Housing Market Index  for November on Monday. This month's HMI reading was 54 against expectations of a reading of 55. October's reading was also 54 after being downwardly revised. Readings over 50 generally indicate that a majority of builders surveyed are confident in current housing market conditions, but the current pause came after two months of decline in home builder confidence. While the short term index readings are lower than in past months, the HMI is currently 20 percent higher than last year. David Crowe, chief economist for NAHB said that "the…
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04 Nov 2013
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – November 4, 2013

Housing Analysis
Last week's economic news came from a variety of sources. Most significant was the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee statement after its meeting ended Wednesday. The statement indicated that the Fed saw moderate economic growth. FOMC did not taper its purchase of MBS and Treasury securities. The FOMC statement announced the committee's intention to closely monitor economic and financial developments "in the coming months," which suggested that the FOMC is taking a wait-and-see position on reducing its $85 billion monthly asset purchases. Mortgage Rates, Jobless Claims Fall The Fed's asset purchase program, also known as quantitative easing, was implanted in 2012 with a…
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31 Oct 2013
By Mark Feder
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Fed Meeting Minutes Release Hope Of A Stronger Economy With New Measures

Housing Analysis
The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee released its customary after-meeting statement on Wednesday. In the context of meeting its dual mandate of stabilizing pricing and achieving maximum employment. The FOMC statement indicated that although the economy has improved in areas including household spending and labor market conditions, the national unemployment rate remains high and the housing market recovery has slowed. Fed Says Fiscal Policy Restraining Economic Growth The FOMC statement said that current fiscal policy and "retrenchment" is restraining economic growth as evidenced by failure to achieve benchmarks set by FOMC as indicators of a healthy economy. Benchmarks include a national…
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29 Oct 2013
By Mark Feder
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What You Should Know About Pending Home Sales This Month

Housing Analysis
Pending home sales fell in September by -5.60 percent, and were 1.20 percent lower year-over-year. This is the first time in more than two years that pending home sales have fallen below year-earlier readings. September's reading was below August's reading of -1.60 percent. The National Association of REALTORS®, which released the report, expects lower home sales for the fourth quarter of 2013 and flat sales into 2014. NAR provided good news in its forecast of 10 percent growth in existing home sales in 2013 as compared to 2012. A spike in mortgage rates in August coupled with rapidly rising home…
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