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Brought to you by:
Jonathan Bowen
Branch Manager
Office: 800-394-5252
Cell: 401-829-1929
jbowen@envoymtg.com
89 Mussey Road
Scarborough, ME 04074
www.envoymortgagemaine.com
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Pending Home Sales Hit 19 Month High:
The
number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes in November rose
to the highest level in a year and a half. The best reading on pending
homes sales since a federal home-buying tax credit expired appeared to
encourage traders on Wall Street.
The Realtors group said Thursday that its index of sales agreements
jumped 7.3 percent last month to a reading of 100.1. A reading of 100
is considered healthy. The last time the index was that high was in
April 2010, one month before the tax credit expired.
Contract signings usually indicate where the housing market is headed.
There's a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a
completed deal.
Homes are the most affordable they've been in decades. Long-term
mortgage rates are at historic lows and prices in most metro areas have
tumbled since late 2006.
What Happened to Rates Last Week:
Mortgage backed securities (MBS) gained +95 basis points from last
Friday to the prior Friday which moved mortgage rates lower.
We had much better than expected U.S. economic data. Pending Home
Sales, Consumer Confidence, and the Chicago PMI were all very
strong.
Normally, these type of strong readings would cause bonds to sell off
and your mortgage rates to rise. But last week was a holiday
shortened week that saw very low volumes.
Traders simply "parked" their funds into the safe-haven of
bonds over the holiday week which increased demand for bonds and
temporarily lowered mortgage rates.
What to Watch Out For This Week:
The following are the major
economic reports that will hit the market this week. They each
have the ability to affect the pricing of Mortgage Backed Securities and
therefore, interest rates for Government and Conventional
mortgages. I will be watching these reports closely for you and
let you know if there are any big surprises:
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Date
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Time
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Economic
Event
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3-Jan
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10:00
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Construction
Spending (MoM)
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3-Jan
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10:00
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ISM
Manufacturing
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3-Jan
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10:00
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ISM
Prices Paid
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3-Jan
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14:00
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FOMC
Minutes
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4-Jan
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7:00
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MBA
Mortgage Applications
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4-Jan
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10:00
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Factory
Orders (MoM)
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4-Jan
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16:00
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Total
Vehicle Sales
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5-Jan
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8:15
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ADP
Employment Change
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5-Jan
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8:30
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Continuing
Jobless Claims
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5-Jan
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8:30
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Initial
Jobless Claims
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5-Jan
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10:00
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ISM
Non-Manufacturing
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5-Jan
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11:00
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EIA
Crude Oil Stocks change
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6-Jan
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8:30
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Average
Hourly Earnings (MoM)
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6-Jan
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8:30
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Average
Hourly Earnings (YoY)
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6-Jan
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8:30
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Average
Weekly Hours
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6-Jan
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8:30
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Nonfarm
Payrolls
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6-Jan
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8:30
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Unemployment
Rate
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It
is virtually impossible for you to keep track of what is going on with
the economy and other events that can impact the housing and mortgage
markets. Just leave it to me, I monitor the live trading of
Mortgage Backed Securities which are the only thing government and
conventional mortgage rates are based upon.
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