Steve Reed Benchmark Home Loans

The Mortgage Banker Association (MBA) reports that mortgage rates hit their highest level since September 2013, though they still remain historically attractive. The MBA reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped 7 basis points in the latest week to 4.73% with an average 0.49 point. The ...

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported on Monday that Existing Home Sales in March rose 1.1 percent from February to an annual rate of 5.60 million annualized units, above the 5.57 million expected. However, sales are down 1.2 percent from March 2017 due in part to continued low inv...

The Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that March Housing Starts rose 1.9% from February to an annual rate of 1.319 million annualized units, above the 1.268 million expected. February was revised higher to 1.295 million from 1.236 million. From March 2017 to March 2018, Housing Starts were ...

Boston Fed President Raphael Bostic (non-voter, hawk) said this morning he supports three more rate hikes in 2018 as more tightening is needed. He said that his optimism for the U.S. economy exceeds that of the "quite positive" forecasts from his FOMC colleagues. The Federal Reserve raised the sh...

Job growth slowed in March due in part to some harsh weather across the nation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were 103,000 jobs created in March, lower than the 175,000 expected. On the surface, it looks like a disappointing report, but as you dig deeper there are positives wi...

Yesterday, the Trump administration put out a list of 1,300 China products it was considering hitting with tariffs. Then, last night in a swift response, China announced new tariffs on U.S. soybeans, planes, cars, whiskey and chemicals. The headlines have sent Stocks lower though they are off the...

Home prices continued to push higher in February due in part to the ongoing theme of limited housing supply on the markets. CoreLogic reports that home prices, including distressed sales, rose 6.7% from February 2017 to February 2018 and were up 1% month over month from January to February. Looki...

Tame inflation data is giving both Stocks and Bonds a boost this morning as the month and quarter come to an end. The Fed's favorite inflation gauge, the annualized Core PCE, met expectations of 1.6% for February, just above the 1.5% recorded in January - yet still well below the Fed's target ran...

Final Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2017 came in at 2.9%, down a bit down from 3.2% in the third quarter. This was up, however, from the 2.5% from the second estimate. Within the report it showed that consumer spending rose 4.0%, up from 2.2% in the third quarter, represen...

Reports from the Wall Street Journal stating that the U.S. and China are in quiet trade talks are helping Stocks rebound after last week's steep losses. The S&P 500 lost 6% last week, its worst week in two years, but finished just above support at its 200-day Moving Average at 2,585 on Friday. Th...