August's 144,000-job gain, combined with a 41,000 upward revision for July, signaled a strengthening economy and helped push mortgage rates up slightly this week. |
Because long-term mortgage rates are still well below the peak levels reached last May of this year, housing starts are currently exceeding expectations, |
Because of the current low interest rate environment, Freddie Mac economists expect that existing home sales figures will continue at a brisk pace of 4.8 to 4.9 million units in August and September. |
Bond yields have been creeping up on an almost daily basis since the beginning of October, pushing mortgage rates up as they go, ... Inflation remains low, however, and we expect that to continue into 2004 and beyond. And as long as it does, we won't see mortgage rates rising very dramatically. |
Both existing home sales in June and housing starts in July took a breather, dropping to somewhat more sustainable levels of activity, |
Concern over weaker consumer confidence and industrial production outweighed the pick-up in retail sales and business inventories causing interest rates to decline even further this week, ... Adding to the decline was a flight-to-quality in the bond market from nervous investors worried about falling stock prices and the possibility of war in the Middle East. |
Concern over weaker consumer confidence and industrial production outweighed the pick-up in retail sales and business inventories causing interest rates to decline even further this week. Adding to the decline was a flight-to-quality in the bond market from nervous investors worried about falling stock prices and the possibility of war in the Middle East. |
Concern that long-term interest rates are too low and comments from Fed officials this week helped push mortgage rates higher this week, |
Considering the joint effects of a healthy economy and rates trending upward, our April economic outlook predicts a cooling housing market that remains upbeat. |
Consumer confidence slipped in February to the lowest reading in three months, but manufacturing activity appears to have strengthened last month. On net, the latest economic news had little effect on mortgage rates this week. Over the past five weeks, mortgage rates have remained within a narrow range of 0.1 percentage points around this week's averages. Our forecast calls for rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to increase about one-quarter of a percentage point by the end of the year. |
Consumer spending has kept the economy moving, and when initial holiday sales were better than expected, financial markets reacted with enthusiasm. It was this potential pick-up in the economy that caused interest rates, including mortgage rates, to drift upwards this week. |
Continued low mortgage rates open the housing market to a broader segment of the population and contribute to the on-going vitality in home sales. And, since mortgage rates are expected to remain low until the economy picks up more steam, the housing sector should stay active and healthy for some time to come. |
Continued reaction to last week's Federal Reserve Committee statements about the threat of deflation has triggered a rally in the bond market, driving long-term yields to the lowest level since 1958, |
Continuing low mortgage rates are contributing to a healthy economic outlook for housing in the coming months, |
Continuing low rates will keep the housing industry abuzz. As a matter of fact, both new and existing housing sales figures in April are expected to come in at or near record levels. |