20 Jan 2014
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 20, 2014

Mortgage Rates
Welcome news arrived last week as lower mortgage rates and a higher number of housing starts were reported. Other economic news was mixed: The Federal Reserve released its Beige Book Report released last Tuesday indicated modest economic growth throughout the 12 Federal Reserve districts. Analysts predicted that this would cause the Fed to further reduce the volume of monthly asset purchases made under its quantitative easing program. The Atlanta, Cleveland and Kansas City districts reported slower home sales, which supported recent expectations of slowing gains in home prices.  Mortgage Rates Dip, Housing Starts Up According to Freddie Mac, average mortgage…
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13 Jan 2014
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 13, 2014

Mortgage Rates
The first post-holiday week of 2014 brought mixed economic and housing-related news. CoreLogic reported via its Housing Market Index that November home prices grew by 11.80 percent year-over-year. This was just shy of October’s year-over-year reading of 11.90 percent. As with Case-Shiller’s recently reported Home Price Indices, a slower rate of home price growth suggested to analysts that the housing market is cooling down. The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes from its December meeting. The minutes reiterated the Committee’s decision to begin tapering its asset purchases this month. The Fed announced that it would reduce its…
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06 Jan 2014
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 6, 2014

Mortgage Rates
The last week of 2013 brought relatively good news in view of the economic roller coaster rides caused by legislative impasse. A brief shutdown of federal government agencies, and nail-biting suspense over if and when the FOMC of the Federal Reserve would taper its quantitative easing program. Last week's news was not high in volume due to the New Year holiday, but it does suggest that a general economic recovery is progressing and that housing markets are leading the "charge!". Here are the details: The NAR's data of month-to-month reading of 0.20 percent showed an increase of 0.20 percent over…
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30 Dec 2013
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – December 30, 2013

Mortgage Rates
The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index was improved for December at 82.5, after the November reading was adjusted from 82.5 to 75. Analysts noted that consumers were relieved when legislative gridlock ended. Durable goods orders reached their highest level since May with November’s reading of + 3.5 percent. Without the volatile transportation sector, the reading for November was +1.2 percent. This could be a sign of economic recovery for manufacturing, as more orders are being placed. Economists expected an overall increase of 2.0 percent for overall durable goods orders. The U.S. Commerce Department provided housing markets with good news…
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