Monthly Archives: June 2010

Standard & Poors released its Case-Shiller Index Tuesday. The index is a monthly home valuation report from select cities and among the private sector’s most popular home pricing models. In reviewing the April Case-Shiller Index and its accompanying analysis, it … Continue reading →

All day, every day, conforming and FHA mortgage rates are in flux. Rates move in response to hundreds of factors which exact varying levels of influence. Among the biggest influences on mortgage rates is inflation. When inflation is unexpectedly high, … Continue reading →

Mortgage markets improved last week in response to mostly negative data about the U.S. economy, and the Federal Reserve’s acknowledgement that Eurozone financial ills could cross the Atlantic. Conforming and FHA mortgage rates fell last week, extending a rate rally … Continue reading →

One month after the federal homebuyer tax credit’s official expiration, the New Home Sales report turned in its worst showing ever. In May 2010, for the first time in 11 months, the inventory of unsold new homes crossed the 8-month … Continue reading →

Today, in its first meeting in 5 weeks, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-to-1 to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged. The Fed Fund Rate remains within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release, the FOMC … Continue reading →

Existing Home Sales dropped in May for the first time in 3 months but still managed to post its second-highest since November 2009, buoyed by the expiring federal tax credit program. An “existing home” is a home that cannot be … Continue reading →

The Federal Open Market Committee begins a 2-day meeting today, its fourth scheduled meeting of the year, and fifth overall. The FOMC is the monetary policy-setting part of the government and its primary tool for that purpose is the Fed … Continue reading →

Mortgage markets improved last week on weaker-than-expected jobless figures, ongoing troubles in Europe, and a tame reading on domestic inflation. As a result, conforming mortgage rates fell last week, drawing loads of new refinance applications. For a brief moment Thursday … Continue reading →

As its June 30, 2010 closing deadline approaches, the federal home buyer tax credit is back in the news. Unfortunately, the headlines are misleading. Contrary to what you may have read (or heard), the federal home buyer tax credit has … Continue reading →

Single-family housing starts plummeted to a one-year low in May, just 30 days after soaring to a 20-month high. It’s no wonder home builders are confused. Against a revised April figure, Housing Starts fell 97,000 units in May, a figure … Continue reading →