Apr 5, 2012 | The Economy
If you’re out shopping for a home this week, or trying to lock a mortgage rate, with Friday comes home affordability risk. Consider locking your mortgage rate today.
The March Non-Farm Payrolls report is due for release Friday morning and mortgage rates are expected to move. Unfortunately for the home buyers and rate shoppers of Worcester County area , we can’t know in which direction that will be.
The prudent play may be to lock your mortgage rate today.
On the first Friday of each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Non-Farm Payrolls report. More commonly called “the jobs report”, the release is a bona fide market-mover, month after month.
Depending on how the March jobs data reads, FHA and conforming mortgage rates could rise — or fall — by a measurable amount post-release. This is because today’s mortgage market is closely tied to the economy, and the economy is closely tied to job growth.
The connection between jobs and mortgage rates is basic.
More workers leads to higher levels of consumer spending (more…)
Mar 8, 2012 | The Economy
With home affordability at an all-time high, buoyed by the lowest mortgage rates ever, it’s been a terrific time to buy or refinance a home using a mortgage.
The good times may not last, though, so today marks an ideal time to lock a mortgage rate. Friday brings risk. Here’s why.
Since 2010, weak economic conditions have been a primary catalyst for low mortgage rates in Massachusetts. Over the last 12 months, though, manufacturing output has been rising, consumer spending has been climbing, and business investment has increasing.
In other words, the economy is improving. However, it’s the jobs market that’s believed to be the economic recovery keystone. When jobs come back, analysts say, so does the economy.
Assuming that’s true, a recovery may already be well underway.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. jobs market has grown for 16 straight months now, adding 2.5 million net new jobs along the way. It’s one reason (more…)
Feb 2, 2012 | The Economy
This week, once more, we find mortgage rates are on a downward trajectory. Conforming mortgage rates have returned to near all-time lows. After Friday morning’s Non-Farm Payrolls report, however, those low rates may come to an end.
It’s a risky time for Worcester County area home buyers and would-be refinancers to be without a locked rate.
Each month, on the first Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Non-Farm Payrolls report for the month prior. More commonly called the “jobs report”, Non-Farm Payrolls provides a sector-by-sector employment breakdown, and the nation’s Unemployment Rate.
In December 2011, the government reported 200,000 net new jobs created, and an Unemployment Rate of 8.5%.
For January 2012, economists project 135,000 net new jobs with no change in the Unemployment Rate and, depending on how accurate those predictions are proved, FHA and conforming mortgage rates are subject to change. The monthly jobs reports tends (more…)
Jan 11, 2012 | The Economy
Consumer spending continues to rise nationwide, fueled by jobs growth and a rosier outlook for the U.S. economy. Unfortunately for mortgage rate shoppers |*STATE in % STATE**|, it may also lead to higher mortgage rates later this week.
Thursday morning, the Census Bureau will release its U.S. Retail Sales data for December. The report is expected to show an 18th consecutive monthly increase, with analysts projecting sales volume higher by 0.4 percent from November.
This would be double the increase from last month, which saw a 0.2 percent increase in Retail Sales.
The Retail Sales report tallies receipts collected by retail and food-service stores nationwide. When the sum of these receipts rise, it puts pressure on mortgage rates to do the (more…)
Dec 1, 2011 | The Economy
Have you been floating a mortgage rate? It may be time to lock.
At 8:30 AM ET Friday, the government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its November Non-Farm Payrolls report. Better known as “the jobs report”, the monthly Non-Farm Payrolls figures provide sector-by-sector employment data, and tally the size of the current U.S. workforce size.
From these two elements, the national Unemployment Rate is derived.
Since topping out at 10.2% in October 2009, the Unemployment Rate has dropped to 9.0%. More than 2.3 million net new jobs have been made in the last 24 months.
Wall Street expect to see 125,000 more jobs added in November.
Depending on how closely the actual Non-Farm Payrolls data meets Wall Street expectations, Fitchburg rate shoppers could find that the mortgage market landscape has shifted beneath them. The jobs report is a mortgage-market catalyst and when its reported value differs from Wall Street expectations, the impact on mortgage rates can be palpable — especially in a recovering economy.
The connection between the jobs market and the mortgage market is straight-forward — as the jobs market goes, so goes the economy.
- When more people work, consumer spending increases
- When consumer spending rises, businesses expand and invest
- When businesses expand and invest, more people are put to work
Furthermore, employees and employers both pay taxes to governments. With more tax revenue, governments embark upon new projects which (1) require the hiring of additional workers, and (2) require the purchase and/or repair of additional equipment and supplies.
Employment can be a self-reinforcing cycle for the economy and that’s why Friday’s jobs report will be so closely watched. If the number of jobs created exceeds the 125,000 expected, mortgage rates will rise on the expectation for a stronger U.S. economy in 2012.
Conversely, if the jobs figures fall short, mortgage rates may fall.
Mortgage rates continue to hover near all-time lows according to Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is sub-4.000 percent nationwide, with an accompanying fee of 0.7 discount points. 1 discount point is equal to 1 percent of your loan size.
If you’re under contract for a home or looking to refinance, minimize your interest rate risk. Lock ahead of Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls release.
Get your rate lock in today.
