Financial Reports

13 Mar 2023

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – March 13, 2023

Financial Reports

Last week’s economic reporting included Fed chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to the House of Representatives, data on job growth, and weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims. Fed: Chairman Powell says no decision on March rate hike Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that no decision has been made about raising the Fed’s target interest rate range in March. Mr. Powell said, “We have not made any decision about the March meeting. We’re not going to do that until we see the additional data.” Mr. Powell said that the Fed is not on a “pre-set path. We will be…

06 Mar 2023

By Tawnya King

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – March 6, 2023

Financial Reports

Last week’s economic reporting included readings from S&P Case-Shiller home price indices, data on pending home sales, and weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims. S&P Case-Shiller: December Home Price Growth Slows in 20-City Index Home price growth slowed in December according to S&P Case-Shiller’s 20-City Home Price Index. Home prices rose by 4.60 percent year-over-year as compared to November’s year-over-year home price growth rate of 6.80 percent. The top three cities for home price growth in the 20-City Index were Miami, Florida, Tampa, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia. Former leading cities for home price growth have fallen to the…

02 Mar 2023

By Tawnya King

S&P Case-Shiller: December Home Price Growth Slows

Financial Reports

Home price growth slowed in December according to the S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index. Year-over-year home prices rose by 4.6 percent in December as compared to November’s reading of 6.8 percent growth. Rising mortgage rates caused home prices to dip as potential buyers delayed home purchases and demand for homes fell. Craig J. Lazzara, managing director of S&P Dow Jones Indices, said: “The prospect of stable, or higher mortgage rates means that mortgage financing remains a headwind for home prices, while economic weakness, including the possibility of a recession, may also constrain potential buyers. Mr. Lazzara concluded: “Given these…

27 Feb 2023

By Tawnya King

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – February 27, 2023

Financial Reports

Last week’s economic reporting included readings on sales of previously-owned homes, the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s most recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting, and weekly readings on average mortgage rates and jobless claims. Federal Reserve leaders raise key interest rate range The Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve raised the Fed’s key interest rate range by 25 basis points to 4.50 to 4.75 percent. Fed officials cautioned that failure to ease inflationary pressure by raising interest rates could lead to inflation remaining higher than the Fed’s target inflation pace of two percent per year. In other matters, …

21 Feb 2023

By Tawnya King

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – February 21, 2023

Financial Reports

Last week’s economic news included readings on housing markets, inflation, retail sales, and data on housing starts and building permits issued. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims were also published. NAHB: Homebuilder sentiment improves in February The National Association of Home Builders reported higher builder confidence in current U.S. housing market conditions with an index reading of 42 for February; Analysts expected a reading of 37 and January’s reading was 35. NAHB index readings over 50 indicate that most home builders have a positive view of housing market conditions. Factors influencing positive builder sentiment included lower mortgage rates…

13 Feb 2023

By Tawnya King

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – February 13, 2023

Financial Reports

Last week’s economic reporting included coverage of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech to the Economic Club of Washington and the University of Michigan’s data on consumer sentiment. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims were also published. Federal Reserve: Chairman Jerome Powell Says the “Disinflationary Process” is Ongoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks made to the Economic Club of Washington that the “disinflationary process” has started, but he also indicated that January’s unexpectedly strong jobs report indicated that further interest rate hikes are necessary: “We think we need to do further rate increases and we…

06 Feb 2023

By Tawnya King

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – February 6, 2023

Financial Reports

Last week’s economic reporting included readings on home price growth from S&P Case-Shiller and the Federal Housing Finance Administration. Monthly reports on job growth and unemployment were released by the federal government and ADP. Weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims were also released. S&P Case-Shiller HPI: Home Prices Drop in November S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices revealed that U.S. home prices fell for the fifth consecutive month in November. The National Home Price Index fell by -3.1 percent year over year in November as compared to a positive reading of 2.8 percent home price growth in October. Miami,…