Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/”>mortgage Rate Watch
It is the first Friday of the month and that brings us the official government report on the labor market: The Employment Situation Report. This release provides four headline measures on the health of the jobs sector. Nonfarm Payrolls: totals the number of jobs that were added to or cut from employer payrolls in the prior month. Consensus Forecast: -100,000 vs. -131,000 in July (Private payrolls increased 71,000 in July and +41,000 expected today) Unemployment Rate: the percentage of working-age, mentally able-Americans who are jobless. Consensus Forecast: 9.6% of the labor force vs. 9.5% last month Average Hourly Earnings: the average amount of earnings per hour of labor performed. Consensus Forecast: +0.1% vs. +0.2% last month. Average Work Week: average amount of hours worked by an employee…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/170314.aspx”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/”>MBS Commentary
NFP has come and gone, let’s see where things stand…. The October delivery FNCL 4.0 is -0-09 at 102-15. In the chart below I called attention to a few technical inflection points. The ascending trend channel that helped mortgage rates hit new lows on Wednesday has broken down and FNCL 4.0s have made their way back into the range that moderated price action for the majority of August. The falling knife found support and bounced higher directly in the middle of that range. 10s flagged lower for the entire month of August (all summer really) and are now flagging higher. The 2.625% coupon bearing 10 year TSY note is off its session price lows (98-24) at 99-07 yielding 2.715% (+8.8bps). 10s are the worst spot on the curve followed by 7s (+8.6bps) and the long bond (+7.6bps). Volume was heavy into…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/170362.aspx”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/”>mortgage Rate Watch
What a boring day in the markets! Stocks added to yesterday’s gains and bonds added to their losses. This pushed mortgage rates marginally higher. The best 30 year fixed mortgage rates are still in the 4.125% to 4.375% range for well-qualified consumers, but less lenders are offering rates below 4.25% today. If your lender is still willing to offer a rate below 4.25%, your closing costs are about 25bps higher today (0.25% of your loan amount). AQ’s comments from yesterday still apply… We’re not panicking over this sell off. There has been no change in our fundamental economic outlook, we see no new reason to be optimistic about a rapid recovery. What we witnessed today was a technical adjustment, an adjustment that could reverse course on Friday morning if the Employment Situation Report…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/170098.aspx”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/”>MND NewsWire
The National Association of Realtors released the Pending Home Sales Index today. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index measures the number of home purchase contracts that were signed in the monthly reporting period. Once “pending” sales contracts are closed, they are considered an existing home sale. Because the Pending Home Sales index tells us how many contracts were signed, it is consider a forward indicator of existing home sales. A signed contract is not counted as an existing home sale until the transaction actually closes. Excerpts from the Release… Following a sharp drop in the months immediately after expiration of the home buyer tax credit, pending home sales have modestly risen. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, rose 5.2 percent to 79.4 based on contracts signed…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/09022010_july_pending_home_sales.asp”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/”>MND NewsWire
Community organizers, state and federal government officials, and representatives from banking, research and educations institutions are currently meeting in Washington at a REO and Vacant Properties Summit sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank. The two day conference is focused on examining the problems associated with vacant and abandoned property and to explore approaches to neighborhood stabilization. Governor Elizabeth Duke, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve opened the summit on Wednesday. In her remarks she introduced the types of issues that are faced by communities with high rates of foreclosure and REO and highlighted some of the lessons learned in the last few years about neighborhood stabilization strategies. She pointed out that the impact of each foreclosure goes far beyond…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/09022010_neighborhood_stabiization_reo.asp”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/”>mortgage Rate Watch
mortgage rates had a great day yesterday. This is the message we communicated to readers… ATTENTION: mortgage Rates Hit New Lows If you’ve been floating your loan or have yet to apply for a refinance because it just didn’t seem worth the hassle, congratulations, mortgage rates hit new lows today, it’s now worth the hassle! If you’ve refinanced in the last 20 months, there is a darn good chance your refinance option is back in the money, again! The best 30 year fixed mortgage rates have fallen into the 4.125% to 4.375% range for well-qualified consumers. Some lenders will even go as low as 3.875% if the borrower is willing to pay points. Although the 4.125% quote isn’t being offered by the large retail banks (sorry retail L.Os), the smaller mortgage bankers and independent brokers do have…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/170001.aspx”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/”>MND NewsWire
The Census Bureau today released Construction Spending data for July 2010. Residential construction spending includes remodeling, additions, and major replacements to owner occupied properties subsequent to completion of original building. It includes construction of additional housing units in existing residential structures, finishing of basements and attics, modernization of kitchens, bathrooms, etc. Also included are improvements outside of residential structures, such as the addition of swimming pools and garages, and replacement of major equipment items such as water heaters, furnaces and central air-conditioners. Maintenance and repair work is not included. The value of all construction put in place in the U.S. on an annualized basis was $805.2 billion compared to a rate of $813.1 billion…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/09012010_construction_spending.asp”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/news/”>MND NewsWire
The mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 27, 2010. The MBA’s loan application survey covers over 50% of all U.S. residential mortgage loan applications taken by retail mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts. The data gives economists a snapshot view of consumer demand for mortgage loans. In a low mortgage rate environment, a trend of increasing refinance applications implies consumers are seeking out a lower monthly payment. If consumers are able to reduce their monthly mortgage payment and increase disposable income through refinancing, it can be a positive for the economy as a whole (creates more consumer spending or allows debtors to pay down personal liabilities like credit cards). A falling trend of…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/09012010_mba_mortgage_applications.asp”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/”>MBS Commentary
Yesterday we heard banks were buying back MBS hedges. This means lock desks were actively reducing their pipeline coverage (forward hedges) to account for an expected increase in fallout. More fall out = less deliverable loans = added hedging costs unless you replace the production with similar paper before settlement, READ MORE Looking back, this was a hint of strong pricing to come….and it did! Just in case you haven’t seen the headline yet, this is what we told consumers today: ATTENTION: mortgage Rates Hit New Lows I actually felt the need to apologize to retail L.Os in that post because I know those headlines might make their lives miserable. It is what it is though, the FNCL 4.0 hit a new price high and loan pricing reflects it. On average, rebate was 30.2bps better vs. yesterday. HERE…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage_rates/blog/169816.aspx”>read more)
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Posted To: <a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/”>mortgage Rate Watch
If you’ve been floating your loan or have yet to apply for a refinance because it just didn’t seem worth the hassle, congratulations, mortgage rates hit new lows today. If you’ve refinanced in the last 20 months, there is a darn good chance your refinance option is back in the money, again! The best 30 year fixed mortgage rates have fallen into the 4.125% to 4.375% range for well-qualified consumers. Some lenders will even go as low as 3.875% if the borrower is willing to pay points. Although the 4.125% quote isn’t being offered by the large retail banks (sorry retail L.Os), the smaller mortgage bankers and independent brokers do have access to loan pricing that will allow them to offer new rate lows. So this brings us full circle on the advice we offered consumers almost one month ago today…(<a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/169801.aspx”>read more)
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