Existing home sales for September fell by 1.90 percent from August's revised reading of 5.39 million sales to 5.29 million sales. Economists had expected 5.30 million sales for September, so a slow-down in existing home sales had been anticipated. The National Association of REALTORS cited higher home prices and mortgage rates as factors contributing to fewer sales of previously owned homes. Home Prices Easily Outpaced Income Growth According to Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, home prices "easily outpaced income growth." Consequently, affordability has fallen to a five-year low. … [Read more...]
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – October 21, 2013
Many of the economic and housing reports typically scheduled were delayed by the federal government shutdown. The National Association of Homebuilders Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for October was released Wednesday with a reading of 55, lower than the projected 58 and previous month's revised reading of 57. The original reading for September was 58, which was the highest measure of builder confidence since 2005. NAHB cited concerns over mortgage rates and the federal government shutdown and its consequences as reasons for homebuilder confidence slipping. While the NAHB HMI reading was … [Read more...]
Housing Market Index Shows Builders Continue To Have A Positive Outlook
The National Association of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped two points to 55 from September's revised reading of 57. Builder concerns over labor costs and availability and economic uncertainty related to the federal government shutdown were noted as factors contributing to the lower reading for October. Key Points Noted In October's HMI included: Builder confidence remains above 50, which indicates that more builders have a positive outlook on housing market conditions than those with negative sentiment. The October HMI cites pent-up buyer demand in markets … [Read more...]
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – October 7, 2013
This week's economic news commentary has been dominated by the "what ifs" of a government shutdown; opinions of potential consequences are limited only by the number of commentators sharing their opinions. Unfortunately, more concrete examples of the shutdown were evident last Tuesday and Friday. The Department of Commerce delayed release of August's Construction Spending report that were due last Tuesday and The Bureau of Labor Statistics delayed the release of September's Non-farm Payroll and Unemployment that were due last Friday. The ADP Employment report for September posted a reading of … [Read more...]
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week-September 30, 2013
Last week brought a variety of housing related news. Highlights included the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for July, which showed a 12.40 percent year-over-year increase in national home prices. This was up from 12.10 percent in June. The FHFA Housing Price Index reading traces home prices on properties securing mortgages owned or backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The year-over-year reading for July showed an increase of 8.80 percent as compared to a year-over-year reading of 7.80 percent in June. Rising mortgage rates and rising home prices have caused some buyers to leave the … [Read more...]