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Euro is in the driver seat for every market
Euro is in the driver seat for every market. It goes like this; as the Euro weakens, the dollar strengthens, stocks go lower, oil goes lower, gold goes higher, and 10 year note/mortgage backed security pricing gets better. Flip side is Euro strengthens and then you know the rest of the story.
USDA UPDATE: In a nut shell, the USDA program is out of money (except for disaster funds in a few areas)
USDA UPDATE: In a nut shell, the USDA program is out of money (except for disaster funds in a few areas). The Senate now has three competing bills so the work out process has begun. Nothing scheduled on the Senate floor so this could take some time. USDA issued guidance stating that they would issue condition commitments so we could proceed with the loan process but not close until the program was funded. USDA has now pulled that guidance to issue conditional commitments. As you can see, this is a mess. Investors such as Chase, etc. will not take locks unless you have a conditional commitment or are in a county that has adequate disaster funds available as they see this as hedging a “phantom” pipeline.
Austin Mortgage Market Update – For the week of May 17, 2010
Last Tuesday the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported the Q1 median price for existing homes was up in 91 out of 152 metro areas compared to a year ago, showing the housing market is starting to stabilize. This was a nice gain over Q4 of last year when prices were up in only about 40% of the cities tracked. Even more encouraging, the percentage price increases in 29 cities were in double-digits.
EU Announces Larger Aid Package
The biggest economic news this week was that the EU will provide a much larger aid package than previously announced. On Monday, this news caused investors to move funds to riskier assets and out of safer investments such as bonds. This week's economic data contained few surprises. Later in the week, successful results for the long-term Treasury auctions helped bond markets, and mortgage rates ended the week near the lowest levels of the year.
Austin mortgage borrowers are encouraged to lock in mortgage interest rates to take advantage of the current pricing
While the auction was not bad, we are taking a little heat as stocks are making their way back to unchanged/+. Keep an eye on current levels as we are now off 5 ticks from morning levels and price changes for the worse could be in the cards. Austin mortgage borrowers are encouraged to lock in mortgage interest rates to take advantage of the current pricing.
Initial unemployment claims fell to 444k in the week ending May 8th, down from an upward revised 448k
This morning, bond prices are a touch higher following the weekly jobless claims data release. Initial unemployment claims fell to 444k in the week ending May 8th, down from an upward revised 448k. Economists had expected claims to drop from the previously reported 444k to 440k. Initial claims of 444k were a touch higher than estimates, but still a mere 5,000 above the year's low and at the bottom end of the range which has persisted throughout 2010.
News about home buyer tax credits for service personnel AND new lead paint regs
Here are two important pieces of information that recently came out of Washington. The first involves a special extension of the home buyer tax credit to certain qualified members of the military, Foreign Service and intelligence community, and the second is about doing renovations where lead paint is present.
Latest news regarding the Euro zone’s debt crisis was again good news
The latest news regarding the Euro zone’s debt crisis was again good news. Spain announced sharp austerity programs to cut its budget deficits and the EU aims to seek further power over member country budgets. In a nutshell, the news added more of a boost to global stocks after opening higher.
Borrowers looking to lock an Austin mortgage rate should stay defensive short term
With more supply coming tomorrow and Thursday, coupled with a stock market that may have found it’s sea legs, borrowers looking to lock an Austin mortgage rate should stay defensive short term. More in a few.