Time for a look back at another busy week on the blog:
Saturday
“Economists think Washington should step aside, do you?“:
I wasn’t surprised at all when I read (and I have read it many times before) that many economists feel that the economy would be better off if policy makers stepped aside and let the natural functions of the market work themselves out.
I’m up to my eyeballs everyday in the latest financial and economic news because it’s my job. That said, I wasn’t surprised at all when I read (and I have read it many times before) that many economists feel that the economy would be better off if policy makers stepped aside and let the natural functions of the market work themselves out:
Economists are getting more pessimistic about the strength of the U.S. recovery, but they don’t think policy makers should do anything more to support it, according to the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.
The monetary support for housing keeps on growing, and so does the list of states hardest-hit by unemployment. The Treasury Department announced two complimentary housing-support programs on Wednesday aimed at helping unemployed borrowers make their payments on time, find a job and attend job training. These two programs are in addition to the relief already being provided to unemployed borrowers in 10 states.
Tuesday’s announcement was a two-pronged attack to support unemployed homeowners in 17 states plus Washington D.C. which have unemployment levels at or above the national average. While the first program is aimed at state-wide relief, the second facet will be under the direction of HUD, and is directed at more-localized relief to (currently undetermined) areas of those 17 states.
There’s little new or emerging news in the world of mortgage rates. As we examine the movement and behavior of the economic markets from the week prior (just as we do every Monday), we’re faced with the same old story: low mortgage rates and a weak recovery. Last week’s unemployment report only served to maintain the current environment of low rates and a tepid recovery.
“Prospects are not improving for a speedy return to quicker growth,” according to HSH.com’s latest Market Trends Newsletter, “but that is serving to keep mortgage rates at fantastic levels.” Read the rest of this entry »
Back in February, it was the five hardest-hit states — Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada — that got federal money to help repair their housing markets. (You can click here to get a full breakdown of how much they got and how they plan on spending it).
Today, the Treasury Department approved plans submitted by five additional states — North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina — for $600 million in funding to prop up their beleaguered housing markets: Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s review this week’s blog posts with a short excerpt from each (the titles will link to the full post):
Sunday:
“Veterans: Homebuyer Tax Credit Good for Another Year“:
Despite the overwhelming support for a second extension of the homebuyer tax credit from the readers of this blog, to this point, lawmakers have expressed little to no indication that there will be another extension.
Yesterday we wrote that “We need to consistently add in excess of 250,000 — 300,000 jobs each month before the unemployment rate will show any true signs of improvement.” March’s numbers were not only well under that level, they failed to show any signs of consistency:
From October 2009 until March 2010, each month’s numbers have alternated between losses and gains.
At blog.HSH.com we strive to write about the hot topics in the mortgage and housing markets. Once in a while we delve into personal finance, credit cards, or anything else that’s bound to have a profound impact on your bottom line.
Friday:
Another month with consistent unemployment numbers isn’t all that encouraging for a country that is struggling to find its grip on economic recovery. However, some analysts are hopeful since many predicted February’s decline of 36,000 jobs to be worse.
The “good” news is that the unemployment rate held steady — remaining at 9.7% — but last month marked the 25th time payrolls have dropped in 26 months, according to MarketWatch.com.
Mortgage shoppers continue to play tug-of-war between consistently-low mortgage rates and tight credit conditions:
[Last] week, the overall average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages tracked by HSH.com’s FRMI was unchanged from [the week prior] at 5.42%. The FRMI includes conforming, jumbo and the GSE’s “high-limit” conforming products in its calculation. It also has a Hybrid 5/1 ARM counterpart, which increased by one basis points during the latest survey cycle, landing at 4.60% for the week.
The latest Senior Loan Officer survey of lending conditions, released [last] week, revealed some fair signals that the tightening of credit conditions were starting to come to an end. For the first time since the downturn began, a net percentage of banks eased borrowing terms for Commercial and Industrial loan clients, suggesting that market conditions for these kinds of borrowers has improved considerably. Four quarters ago, over 64% of banks were still tightening, so this is a fairly rapid – and welcome – improvement.
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.
