Is Now the Time To Buy? Homebuyer’s Mortgage Watch

This Week Highlights the Following Updates:

Mortgage rates were pressured downward for much of last week as concerns over the potential escalation of a trade war with China dominated the financial news. The fears pushed money out of stocks and into bonds.
Additionally, the PPI and CPI reported another month of relatively tame increases to inflation, even as overall economic growth continues to press forward.
Countering the downdraft that rates were experiencing was weak demand for the latest Treasure Department auction of new 10-year notes. Generally, this creates some reasonable upward pressure on interest rates, but this round it only slowed the decrease in rates.
The week ended with some positive comments from the President on the potential outcome of trade talks, which pushed rates slightly upward on Friday.
This week may be dominated by Retail Sales and Industrial Production reports. If Retail Sales blasts past estimates, like last month, then mortgage rates will have a hard time not rising.
Rates would move higher even quicker if IP comes in high. Of course, politics could muddy the financial waters.

Homeowners Believe that Owning is Easier

One of the findings of a recent LendingTree survey revealed that homeowners believe that owning a home is easier than renting a home. A full 67% of owners responded that owning is easier compared to only 15% who thought renting was easier. Interestingly, the likelihood of believing that owning is easier climbs the longer than you own a home. That trend drops for people who have owned a home longer than ten years.

More about Grace Keister

Grace Keister is the Digital Engagement Strategist and website content manager for First Team Real Estate. Graduating from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in English and Sociology, Grace is a native Southern Californian. In her 5 years with the company, her role has grown from blog creation to social media management, digital agent support, and more.

May 01, 2019

MORTGAGE WATCH – APRIL 28, 2019

This Week Highlights the Following Updates:

Mortgage rates stepped upward again last week, but not as much as one might have expected given the positive economic headlines.
The first estimate for the first quarter’s GDP surprised the market, coming in a full point higher than most analysts’ expectations at 3.2%.
Usually, this would result in interest rates moving upward quickly. However, much of the increase was due to increases in inventory levels and exports.
If businesses do not sell off those inventories, then the next quarter tends to be much weaker. Housing news was mixed with Existing Home Sales dropping by almost 5% while New Homes Sales climbed by 4.5%.
Next week is packed with economic data and a Fed Meeting. The Fed is unlikely to make any moves, but if any hints appear that we may get a rate cut later this year, rates might move downward.
Monthly employment data and the twin ISM indices are also due. If all of the data comes in strong, then we are likely to see the trend of slowly increasing mortgage rates to continue through the week.

Boomerang Buyers Coming Big in Numbers

From 2006 through 2014, US homeowners experienced 7.3 million foreclosures and 1.9 million short sales. With the foreclosure, bankruptcy, and short sales dropping from their credit reports, many of these buyers are returning to the market. According to a recent survey by NerdWallet, 6% plan to buy a home this year, 39 % within three years, and 58% within five years.