What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – December 15, 2014

Although there were few scheduled economic events related to mortgages and housing, last week brought an article about housing projections for 2015. Other news included increased job openings along with lower than expected jobless claims and higher mortgage rates. Job Openings, Retail Sales and Mortgage Rates Rise The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that November job increased to 4.80 million as compared to October's reading of 4.70 million job openings. Weekly jobless claims corresponded as new claims fell to 294,000 as compared to the prior week's reading of 297,000 new jobless claims. This was the lowest reading for new jobless…
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – December 8, 2014

Last week's economic reports related to housing and mortgages were few, but construction spending, the Fed's Beige Book report, non-farm payrolls and the national unemployment report indicated trends for the end of the year. Construction Spending Increases U.S. construction spending rose by 1.10 percent in October according to the Commerce Department. This reading translates to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of $971 billion. Analysts had expected an increase of 0.70 percent based on September's original reading of -0.40 percent, but September's reading was revised to -0.10 percent on Tuesday. Private spending on residential projects increased 1.30 percent. Federal Reserve Beige Book…
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – December 1, 2014

Last week's scheduled economic events were packed into Tuesday and Wednesday, but several housing-related reports were released including the Case-Shiller National and 10-and 20-City Home Price Indices for September, The FHFA House Price Index also for September, and New and Pending Home Sales for October. Case-Shiller, FHFA Report Slower Growth in Home Prices According to Case-Shiller home price indices released Tuesday, the national rate of home price growth has slowed from August's year-over-year reading of 5.60 percent to September's reading of 4.90 percent. This was the lowest rate of home price growth in two years and was seen by analysts…
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