Home builders maintained December's confidence level according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index for January. The latest reading of 60 mirrored December's reading, but was two points lower than expected. Readings of more than 50 indicate that more builders were confident about housing conditions than those who were not. Although January's reading fell shy of October's reading of 65, which was a ten-year high for the home builder index. Any reading in the low 60's suggests gradual improvement in housing market conditions according to NAHB. While December's year-over-year reading for new home sales was 14 percent higher than in December 2014, home … [Read more...]
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – November 23, 2015
Last week's economic events included reports the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index, Housing Starts and the release of minutes for the most recent meeting of the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee. The details: NAHB: Builder Confidence in Housing Markets Dips The National Association of Home Builders reported that builder confidence dropped to a reading of 62 as compared to October's revised reading of 65. Any NAHB reading above 50 indicates that more builders are positive about market conditions than not. NAHB's assessment of housing market conditions is based on readings for three aspects of current and future market conditions. November's reading of 67 for current … [Read more...]
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – November 16, 2015
Last week's scheduled economic news was sparse due to no scheduled releases on Monday and the Veterans Day Holiday on Wednesday. A report on job openings was released on Thursday along with regularly scheduled weekly reports on jobless claims and Freddie Mac's report on mortgage rates. Mortgage Rates, Weekly Jobless Claims Rise Mortgage rates rose last week according to Freddie Mac. The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.98 percent from last week's reading of 3.87 percent. The average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.20 percent from the prior week's reading of 3.09 percent; the average rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage was also higher at an average … [Read more...]
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – October 26, 2015
Last week's economic news included the National Association of Home Builders Index, Housing Starts and FHFA's report on August home sales. The National Association of Realtors® released its monthly report on sales of previously owned homes. Builder Confidence and Housing Starts Post Gains The Wells Fargo National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index for September posted its highest level of builder confidence in 10 years a higher than expected results with a reading of 64 for October. Analysts expected a reading of 62 based on September's reading of 61. The NAHB Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reading is based on three builder confidence readings. Builder confidence in … [Read more...]
