On the 1-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the “recession is very likely over at this point”. His comments were supported by a Retail Sales report for August that was much better-than-expected. Equities improved on the day, mortgage markets worsened, and home affordability suffered. The days of ultra-low [...]
Read More Ben BernankeMortgage markets improved slightly last week overall, but closed out the week much worse from the best levels of the week. On Wednesday, briefly, mortgage rates touched an 8-week low. Following that, mortgage rates began to climb and stayed on an upward trajectory clear through Friday’s closing. Rate shoppers suffered, realizing a 0.250 percent rise in [...]
Read MoreMortgage rates fell after the Federal Reserve released its April 28-29, 2009 meeting’s internal notes Wednesday. Officially known as “Fed Minutes”, the report is an in-depth account Federal Reserve’s last get-together, detailing the discussions and decisions that create our country’s monetary policy. It’s the lengthy companion to the Federal Reserve’s brief, post-meeting press release. For comparison’s [...]
Read MoreMortgage markets hit their worst levels since March last week, sending mortgage rates higher for the second week in a row. Today’s conforming mortgage rates are much higher than from the registered low point of April 30, 2009. There are a few reasons why mortgage rates were up last week. Stress test results weren’t as bad [...]
Read MoreThe retail price of gasoline is rising nationwide, now up 30 percent since the New Year. It’s a similar run-up to what we’ve seen for retail gas prices in each of the last 5 Spring Seasons. For people trying to time the mortgage market’s bottom, clues about the future of mortgage rates may be at the local [...]
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