Sep 8, 2011 | Buying Real Estate, Mortgage Guidelines, Mortgage Lenders, Mortgage Rates
Mortgage guidelines appear to be tightening with the nation’s largest banks.
In its quarterly survey to senior loan officers nationwide, the Federal Reserve uncovered that a small, but growing, portion of its member banks is making mortgage approvals more scarce for “prime” borrowers.
A prime borrower is described as one with a well-documented payment history, high credit scores, and a low monthly debt-to-income ratio.
Of the 53 responding “big banks”, 3 reported that mortgage guidelines “tightened somewhat” last quarter. This is a tick higher as compared to prior quarters in which only 2 banks did.
46 banks reported guidelines unchanged from Q1 2011.
When mortgage guidelines tighten, it adds new hurdles for would-be home buyers in Fitchburg. Tighter lending standards means fewer approvals, and that can retard home sales across a region.
Just don’t confuse “tighter standards” with “oppressive standards”. (more…)
Sep 7, 2011 | Buying Real Estate, Mortgage Lenders, Mortgage Rates, The Economy
The U.S. economy is no longer adding new jobs.
Last Friday, in its monthly Non-Farm Payrolls report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added exactly zero new jobs in August as the national Unemployment Rate held steady at 9.1 percent.
Despite the “zero” reading, the jobs figures were in the red. This is because the BLS issued revisions to its June and July figures that adjusted the two months of data down by 58,000 jobs.
Economists had expected a monthly reading of +75,000. Their estimates missed.
The weaker-than-expected jobs data fueled a stock market sell-off that pushed stocks down 2.5% and spurred a bond market rally. (more…)
Sep 2, 2011 | Buying Real Estate, Housing Analysis, Mortgage Lenders, Mortgage Rates, News
Has housing turned the corner for good?
The June 2011 Case-Shiller Index reading posted strong numbers across the board, with each of the index’s 20 tracked markets showing home price improvement from May.
Some markets — Chicago and Minneapolis — rose as much as 3.2 percent.
The rise in values is nothing about which to get overly excited, however. The Case-Shiller Index is just re-reporting what multiple data sets have already shown about the summer housing market; that it was stronger than the spring market, and that a recovery is underway, but occurring locally, at different rates.
For example, the June 2011 Case-Shiller Index shows the following :
- Denver, Dallas, Washington D.C., and the “California Cities” bottomed in 2009. Each has shown steady improvement since.
- None of the Case-Shiller cities showed negative growth between May and June 2011.
- 12 of Case-Shiller’s tracked cities have improved over 3 consecutive months.
In isolation, these statistics appear promising, but it’s important to remember that the Case-Shiller Index is a backward-looking data set, focusing on just a portion of the national housing economy. (more…)
Sep 1, 2011 | Buying Real Estate, Interesting Stuff, Mortgage Rates, The Economy
If you’re shopping for a mortgage rate, today may be a good day to lock one down. That’s because Friday morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its Non-Farm Payrolls report for August 2011.
The “jobs report” tends to have a big influence on mortgage bonds and mortgage rates in Leominster.
The jobs report is a monthly issuance, providing sector-by-sector analysis of the U.S. workforce. It also report the national Unemployment Rate.
Wall Street expects the August Non-Farm Payrolls data to show 75,000 jobs created in August, down from 117,000 in July; and it expects that the Unemployment Rate will remain unchanged at 9.1%.
The jobs report’s connection to mortgage markets is straight-forward — as jobs go, so goes the economy. This is because when the number of working Americans rises :
- Consumer spending gets a boost
- Government tax collection gets a boost
- Household savings gets a boost
These are each good turns in a recovering economy. (more…)
Aug 31, 2011 | Federal Reserve, Interesting Stuff, Legislation, Mortgage Rates
The Fed publishes meeting minutes 8 times annually — three weeks after each scheduled Federal Open Market Committee get-together. The Fed Minutes summarizes the FOMC meeting.
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its August 9, 2011 Federal Open Market Committee meeting Tuesday.
The Fed Minutes contained no surprises and, as a result, mortgage rates across Massachusetts and nationwide have idled.
Although it gets less press attention, the Fed Minutes is every bit as important as the more highly-publicized, post-meeting statement from the FOMC. With its detailed record of conversation, the Fed Minutes highlights the discussions and debates that shape our nation’s monetary policy.
For example, here is some of what was said at the Fed’s August 2011 meeting :
- On growth : Economic growth had been slower than the committee expected
- On housing : The market “remains depressed”. Underwriting standards are “tight”.
- On rates : The Fed Funds Rate will remain low until mid-2013
In addition, the Fed talked about whether a third round of asset purchases should be announced. Ultimately, that plan was rejected by consensus.
The FOMC’s next meeting is a 2-day meeting, scheduled for September 20-21. The meeting was originally scheduled for just one day, but Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke chose to extend it to two. Wall Street believes that the extension was made so Fed members could discuss new forms of economic stimulus. (more…)
