Below is an excerpt from the latest Market Trends newsletter:
Mortgage rates held at record levels during the holiday-shortened week, as there was little strong economic data to move them around much.
Today was not a good day for the housing market. A group of negative reports revealed a market that still hasn’t found much solid footing at all.
Mortgage rates are trending upward: The 30-year Conforming fixed rate has risen appreciably in the last few days. According to HSH.com, the 30-year fixed ended the day at 4.54 percent, unchanged from yesterday.
Mortgage applications suffer: Both purchase and refinance applications dropped for the week ending November 12, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Purchase apps were down 14.4 percent from the week prior, and refinance apps fell by 16.5 percent, “the lowest level observed since July of this year,” writes Jann Swanson of Mortgage News Daily.
Perhaps the midterm elections will provide a little shakeup to the economy. As economic conditions remain mostly flat, so do mortgage rates. According to the latest edition of HSH.com’s Market Trends Newsletter:
Mortgage rates are mostly as flat as the economy, and there doesn’t seem to be any strong reason form them to budge much one way other the other, at least not until we get past the forthcoming mid-term elections.
One of the country’s hardest-hit housing markets has shown significant signs of improvement so far this year. According to the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.), single-family home sales increased 100.8% in January from a year ago. With home prices at extremely low levels, California has drastically begun reducing their unsold inventory.
The median price of a single-family home dropped 40.5% in January. The C.A.R.’s index of unsold homes depleted from 16.6 months in January of 2008, to just 6.7 months in 2009.
HSH.com's daily blog focuses on the latest developments in the mortgage and housing markets. Our mission is to relate how changes in mortgage rates and housing policy, as well as the latest financial news, impacts consumers, homebuyers and industry insiders alike. Our 30-plus years of experience in the mortgage industry gives us an edge as we break down the latest changes in an ever-changing market.
