03 Mar 2014
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – March 3, 2014

Mortgage Rates
Last week's economic news was mixed, with new home sales increasing and weekly jobless claims higher than expected. Case-Shiller and FHFA home price reports reflected slower growth in home prices. Mortgage rates moved higher for the third consecutive week. Weakness in the jobs sector and harsh winter weather were seen as factors contributing to economic events, but sales of new homes jumped unexpectedly to their highest since 2008. Case-Shiller, FHFA Report Slower Growth for Home Prices The Case-Shiller composite home price index for December reported that home prices declined by 0.10 percent in December, which was the second consecutive monthly…
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24 Feb 2014
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – February 24, 2014

Mortgage Rates
Last week's economic data supported recent reports indicating that housing markets are slowing, The National Association of Home builders/Wells Fargo Home Builders Index (HBI) dropped by 10 points to a reading of 46 for February. Home builder confidence dropped to its lowest reading in nine months,  and fell below the benchmark of 50, which indicates that more builders are pessimistic about current market conditions than not. Severe weather was blamed for the lower builder confidence reading, which fell below the expected reading of 56. Regional readings of builder confidence were also lower: Northeast: Builder confidence fell from 41 to 33…
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18 Feb 2014
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – February 18, 2014

Mortgage Rates
Last week's economic news was dominated by the first address by the new Fed chairperson, Janet Yellen. Tuesday's news included the Jobs Openings report for December 2013, which matched November's reading of 4.0 million jobs available. This information was taken from a gauge of competition for available jobs; in December, competition for job openings fell to its lowest level in five years. Fed Chair Janet Yellen's First Address to House Janet Yellen addressed the House Financial Services Committee for the first time on Tuesday as Chair of the Federal Reserve. Ms. Yellen indicated that she expected "a great deal of…
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10 Feb 2014
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – February 10, 2014

Mortgage Rates
Residential Construction Spending Up Last week's mortgage and housing-related reports began with Construction Spending for December, with a reading of 0.10 percent or a seasonally adjusted $930.5 billion. December's reading fell short of an expected increase of 0.40 percent. Spending for private sector projects rose by 1.00 percent; of this amount, residential construction spending increased by 2.60 percent and private sector spending for non-residential construction fell by -0.70 percent. Although construction spending posted a fractional gain, the good news is that construction spending is currently dominated by residential construction and that due to inclement winter weather, any gain in construction…
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