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2017
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Inflation remained tame in July as evidenced by the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation gauge, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE). The Core PCE rose 1.4% from July 2016 to July 2017, down from 1.5% in June; it has been declining since the beginning of the year. The Fed's target rang...
08/31/2017
Home price gains continued to be strong in June due to the ongoing theme: a tight housing market fueled by low inventories. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city Index rose 5.7% from June 2016, while month-over-month saw a 0.7% increase from May to June. “Both the number of homes for sale and th...
08/29/2017
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There are no economic reports due for release today as trading gets underway for the last week of August. The rest of the week features data on consumer attitudes, inflation, economic growth, housing, personal spending, manufacturing and the labor market numbers that culminates with Friday's Jobs...
08/28/2017
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Mortgage rates hit year-to-date lows this week and have declined four straight weeks in a row due in part to continued low inflation levels. Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 3.86% from 3.89% with 0.5 in points and fees. Last year this time the rate was 3.43%. With...
08/25/2017
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They may not move mountains, but markets are a possibility in Jackson Hole. The 2017 Economic Symposium, "Fostering a Dynamic Global Economy," kicks off today and will take place Aug. 24-26. Each year since 1978, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has sponsored the symposium on an important ...
08/24/2017
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U.S. house prices rose 1.6% in the second quarter of 2017 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). House prices were up 6.6% from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017. FHFA’s monthly index for June was up 0.1% from May. “U.S. house prices...
08/22/2017
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Traders and investors are looking ahead to this week's big event in the Kansas City Fed-sponsored Jackson Hole, Wyoming Symposium beginning on Thursday and ending Saturday. The Symposium takes on important economic issues facing the U.S. and world economies. Symposium participants include promine...
08/21/2017
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Freddie Mac reports that cash sales accounted for around 18% of all home sales in June, below the peak of 35%, but still well above the historical average of 10%. If cash sales remain around 20%, that would translate to $172 billion less in mortgage originations than would occur if the cash share...
08/18/2017
The minutes from the July Federal Open Market Committee meeting were released yesterday revealing a bit of dissension amongst the Fed members, while most are concerned about persistently low inflation levels. In addition, Fed members are not in alignment on when to hike rates, when to trim their ...
08/17/2017
July Housing Starts fell 4.8% from June to an annual rate of 1.155 million units, below the 1.217 million expected. Homebuilders cite a lack of skilled labor and lots to build on and higher costs for materials for the decline in new home building. Year-over-year starts were down 5.6%.Building Per...
08/16/2017
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Steve Reed
Steve Reed Branch Manager | Benchmark Home Loans