Category Archives: housing market

Pending Sales Up, Mortgage Delinquencies Down

The Mortgage Corner U.S. home buyers signed more contracts to buy existing homes in July, rebounding from a drop in June. This is in line with declining delinquency and foreclosure rates that portend a healthy real estate market for the … Continue reading →

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Yellen + Jackson Hole = Higher Growth

Popular Economics Weekly New Fed Chairman Janet Yellen plus a few other major central bankers at their annual Jackson Hole conference seem to have committed a heresy by advocating full employment as the goal of central bank policies, above and … Continue reading →

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Leading Indicators, Housing, Show More Growth Ahead

Financial FAQs It looks like the US economy is kicking into high gear from its winter slump, as the Conference Board’s just released July Index of Leading Indicators (LEI) jumped 0.9 percent, the highest it’s been this year. It is … Continue reading →

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Lower Household Debt, Housing, Now Boosting Growth

The Mortgage Corner In another sign that this could be a better growth year, builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose two points to 55 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index … Continue reading →

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Consumers Healthier with Lower Household Debt

Popular Economics Weekly Household debt continues to decline, which will free more disposable income for consumers, which should be a sign that consumer spending, the main driver of economic growth, will continue to grow. That has to be why Q2 … Continue reading →

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Don’t Forget the Millennials—Part II

Financial FAQs We have talked before about the upcoming Millennial, or Gen Y generation that will number more than 80 million eventually, 7 percent higher than their baby boomer parents that gave us such high economic growth in the 1980s … Continue reading →

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Pending Home Sales Remain Strong

The Mortgage Corner The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, declined 1.1 percent to 102.7 in June from 103.8 in May, and is 7.3 percent below June 2013 (110.8), reports the National Association of Realtors. … Continue reading →

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Existing-Home Sales On Rise Again

The Mortgage Corner The NAR just reported total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, climbed 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in June from an upwardly-revised 4.91 … Continue reading →

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Why Such Low Interest Rates?

The Mortgage Corner Fixed 30-year conforming interest rates have once again dropped slightly below 4 percent for a 1 pt. origination fee in California, after being as high as 4.50 percent earlier this year. Why the drop when most economic … Continue reading →

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Where is Housing Affordable?

The Mortgage Corner Why aren’t there more home buyers? It seems that housing can’t really recover until household incomes recover, and household incomes are barely keeping up with inflation at the moment. We also know that can’t happen until we … Continue reading →

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