Mortgage Outlook Weekly Update 12-5-10
Pending Home Sales Surge Ahead:
Pending sales of existing U.S. homes unexpectedly surged despite concerns that problems with foreclosures might curtail activity.
The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Index, which is based upon contracts that are signed but not yet closed, jumped 10.4% in October. Economists had been expecting a decline of 0.5%.
This strength in housing is directly reflective of the positive Consumer Sentiment levels. Buyers are also taking advantage of great pricing levels while they can before mortgage rates rise.
What Happened to Rates Last Week:
Mortgage backed securities (MBS) lost -66 basis points last week causing 30 year fixed rates to increase from the previous week. This marks the fourth straight week of increasing mortgage rates. This further proves that you should not listen to news reports about mortgage rates. The U.S. government cannot and does not control mortgage rates. These are set by an open market place of willing sellers and purchasers of MBS. And as our economy continues to rebound, we will continue to see a longer-term trend of higher mortgage rates when compared to our artificially low mortgage rates in October.
What to Watch Out For This Week:
The following are the major economic reports that will hit the market this week. They each have the ability to affect the pricing of Mortgage Backed Securities and therefore, interest rates for Government and Conventional mortgages. I will be watching these reports closely for you and let you know if there are any big surprises:
| Date | ET | Release | For |
| 7-Dec | 15:00 | Consumer Credit | Oct |
| 8-Dec | 7:00 | MBA Mortgage Applications | 3-Dec |
| 8-Dec | 10:30 | Crude Inventories | 4-Dec |
| 9-Dec | 8:30 | Initial Claims | 4-Dec |
| 9-Dec | 8:30 | Continuing Claims | 27-Nov |
| 9-Dec | 10:00 | Wholesale Inventories | Oct |
| 10-Dec | 8:30 | Trade Balance | Oct |
| 10-Dec | 8:30 | Export Prices ex-ag. | Nov |
| 10-Dec | 8:30 | Import Prices ex-oil | Nov |
| 10-Dec | 9:55 | Mich Sentiment | Dec |
| 10-Dec | 14:00 | Treasury Budget | Nov |
| 15-Nov | 8:30 | Retail Sales | |
| 15-Nov | 10:00 | Business Inventories |
