ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2014
Economic growth in the U.S. was anemic in the first quarter of 2014 due to a decline in exports, business inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment and government spending. The Commerce Department reported that the first reading on Gross Domestic Product ...
04/30/2014
Annual home price gains are beginning to slow due to rising mortgage rates along with difficulties in qualifying for a mortgage, reports the Case Shiller 20-city Index in February. The Index fell to 12.9%, just below the 13% expected and down from the 13.2% recorded year-over-year in January. The...
04/29/2014
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Home prices continue to improve as the housing markets recovers. Black Knight Financial Services reported that prices were up 7.6% in February from the year ago period and up 0.7% from January. U.S. home prices are now off 13.5% from the June 2006 peak. The Black Knight Home Price Index represent...
04/28/2014
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Americans filing for first time unemployment benefits are hovering near seven-year lows as employers are slowing the pace of layoffs. The Labor Department reported that Weekly Initial Jobless Claims came in at 304,000, below the 312,000 that was expected. The 304,000 is up from 302,000 in the pri...
04/18/2014
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported today that its Market Composite Index, a measure of total loan application volume, rose by 4.3% in the latest week after four straight weekly declines. The refinance index gained 7%, while the purchase index squeaked out a 1% gain. The refinance share of ...
04/16/2014
Consumers across the nation stepped up spending in March after dismal spending in the beginning of the year, due to the severely harsh winter weather. Retail Sales rose by 1.1% last month, the biggest gain since September 2012, while February's 0.7% rise was revised up from 0.3%. Retail Sales acc...
04/14/2014
Corporate earnings season is in bloom with two banking giants reporting their numbers today. Wells Fargo reported earnings per share of $1.05 versus the 97 cents expected fueled by lower loan losses and declining expenses. The nation's largest bank, JPMorgan, reported that per share earnings came...
04/11/2014
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Inside Mortgage Finance recently reported that the home loan market has experienced its worst first quarter in since 2000. In January, February and March of this year, mortgage originations amounted to $192 billion, down 26% from the fourth quarter of 2013 and down 60% from the first quarter of 2...
04/07/2014
Labor market news dominated the headlines this morning as the job market tries to thaw out from the winter freeze. Americans filing for first time unemployment benefits rose by 16,000 in the latest week to 326,000, above the 320,000 expected. The four-week moving average of claims, which irons ou...
04/04/2014
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said yesterday morning that the recent recovery in the U.S. economy still feels like a recession to many Americans, which is reason for the Federal Reserve to keep its "extraordinary" stimulus program intact for some time to come. Ms. Yellen went on to say that the number o...
04/01/2014
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Steve Reed
Steve Reed Branch Manager | Benchmark Home Loans