What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 18, 2016

In addition to weekly reports on mortgage rates and new unemployment claims, last week's economic news included the Fed's Beige Book report, retail sales and consumer sentiment. January's Empire State Index showed an unexpected dip and Consumer Sentiment increased for January. Fed's Beige Book Shows Diverse Economic Trends According to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report for January, the central bank's business contacts reported strength in housing, while agriculture, energy and manufacturing sectors were struggling. New York's Empire State Manufacturing Index for January supported this trend with a sharp drop. New York manufacturing has hit its lowest level since the…
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 11, 2016

The first week of 2016 was quiet concerning housing and mortgage related news, but reports on construction spending and several labor-related reports were released. Construction spending is connected to housing markets as it provides evidence of builder confidence and also future housing supply. Labor market trends provide a sense of economic performance in general and can influence potential buyers on decisions about buying or not buying homes. Construction Spending Dips in November According to the Commerce Department, construction spending dropped by 0.40 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual reading of $1.12 trillion. November's reading was short of the…
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – January 04, 2016

2015 said farewell with reports on Case Shiller home prices, pending home sales, and consumer confidence. The details: Case-Shiller Home Prices Post Double Digit Gains in October According to Case-Shiller's 20 City Home Price Index, Denver, Colorado, Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California tied for the highest home price gains in October with year-over-year home price gains of 10.90 percent. Lowest annual price gains were posted by Chicago, Illinois at 1.30 percent followed by Washington, D.C with a year-over-year –reading of 1.70 percent. Home prices rose at their fastest rate since August 2014 according to Case-Shiller. Month-to-month home prices showed…
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