1/6/2013 - This Week's Mortgage Forecast
Last Week In Review
Time will tell. As 2014 marches along, time will tell us what impact the Fed's tapering of its Bond purchase program will have on home loan rates.
Fed had been purchasing $85 billion in Bonds and Treasuries each month to stimulate the economy and housing market. Starting this month, the Fed will now purchase $40 billion in Treasuries and $35 billion in Mortgage Bonds (the type of Bonds on which home loan rates are based). The decision to further taper these purchases will be dependent on economic data.
Speaking of economic data, Consumer Confidence rose to 78.1 in December, rebounding from the lows hit in October and early November due to the government shutdown. In housing news, the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price 20-City Index rose by 13.6 percent year-over-year in October. This was just below expectations, but up from the 13.2 percent annual gain recorded in September. Pending Home Sales for November ticked up slightly, while New Home Sales fell slightly to an annual rate of 464,000 units. However, the number of New Home Sales for October was revised up to 474,000, which was the highest level since July 2008. Overall, the housing market continues to improve.
Forecast For The Week
Job market data will be front and center during the first full week of January.
Time will tell. As 2014 marches along, time will tell us what impact the Fed's tapering of its Bond purchase program will have on home loan rates.
Fed had been purchasing $85 billion in Bonds and Treasuries each month to stimulate the economy and housing market. Starting this month, the Fed will now purchase $40 billion in Treasuries and $35 billion in Mortgage Bonds (the type of Bonds on which home loan rates are based). The decision to further taper these purchases will be dependent on economic data.
Speaking of economic data, Consumer Confidence rose to 78.1 in December, rebounding from the lows hit in October and early November due to the government shutdown. In housing news, the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price 20-City Index rose by 13.6 percent year-over-year in October. This was just below expectations, but up from the 13.2 percent annual gain recorded in September. Pending Home Sales for November ticked up slightly, while New Home Sales fell slightly to an annual rate of 464,000 units. However, the number of New Home Sales for October was revised up to 474,000, which was the highest level since July 2008. Overall, the housing market continues to improve.
Forecast For The Week
Job market data will be front and center during the first full week of January.
· The week kicks off with the ISM Services Index on
Monday.
· Wednesday will bring the first leg of the week's jobs data
with the ADP National Employment Report.
· As usual, Thursday brings Weekly Initial Jobless Claims,
which have been jumping around due to the holiday seasonal job market.
· That leads us to Friday's Non-farm Payrolls and the Unemployment
Rate, which will be closely dissected by both Wall Street and the Federal
Reserve.
In addition, the minutes from the Fed's December meeting of
the Federal Open Market Committee will be released Wednesday and these always
have the potential to move the markets.
Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result.
Economic Calendar for the Week of January 06 - January 10
Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result.
Economic Calendar for the Week of January 06 - January 10
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