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2016
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After hitting six-month highs in January, February Existing Home Sales slipped by 7.1% from the previous month to an annual rate of 5.08 million, below the 5.37 million expected. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) said that a low supply of existing homes and steady price growth were the ...
03/21/2016
The U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark short-term Fed Funds Rate unchanged yesterday at the 0.375% level, which was expected. The Fed did say that it now feels that there will be two interest rate hikes in 2016, down from the four originally projected. In addition, the Fed went on to say tha...
03/17/2016
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported this week that new home purchases soared 24% in February from January, as would be buyers got a jump on the spring buying season. To break it down, conventional loans composed 67.7% of loan applications, FHA loans composed 18.7%, RHS/USDA loans comp...
03/12/2016
Oil prices soared to new heights, while analysts warn it’s too good to last.Brent crude hit a three-month high. WTI was up 61 cents from the last close, at $36.53. The day's high was more than 40 percent above February lows. Oil producers continue to cut costs – like putting oil rigs on idle to n...
03/07/2016
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Home flipping was back in vogue in a big way in 2015 as rising home prices aided in the increase. There were 80,000 homes flipped in 2015, according to RealtyTrac, the highest in nearly a decade. A flip is defined as a home that is bought and sold again within the same 12 months. The percentage o...
03/03/2016
The first of two key employment reports was released today showing that private employment in the U.S. grew more than expected. The ADP Private Payrolls Report showed that employers added 214,000 workers in February, above the 190,000 expected. The turmoil that has gripped the global financial ma...
03/02/2016
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National manufacturing continues to go through its malaise due to weak global demand, a strong U.S. dollar along with lower commodity prices. The ISM Manufacturing Index continued to run in contraction levels coming in at 49.5 in February, though above the 48.2 recorded in January and above the 4...
03/01/2016
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Steve Reed
Steve Reed Branch Manager | Benchmark Home Loans