Tag Archives: interest rates

Housing Construction Boosted By Low Rates

The Mortgage Corner Housing starts returned to trend, reports the National Association of Home Builders, dropping 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.246 million units, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and … Continue reading

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Retail Sales and Consumer Prices Show Real Life

Financial FAQs Retail sales rose 0.4 percent last month following a much bigger gain in December than originally reported, the government said Wednesday. Economists polled had forecast a 0.2 percent increase. Retail sales are now up more than 5 percent … Continue reading

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Housing Starts Surge With Builder Optimism

The Mortgage Corner A surge in multifamily production resulted in overall nationwide housing starts rising 11.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.23 million units, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban … Continue reading

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Real Estate In 2017—Good Time To Buy?

The Mortgage Corner Surging mortgage rates, dwindling inventory, and soaring home prices are taking a toll on Americans’ attitudes toward ownership, according to a home purchase sentiment survey released Monday. But that may be misleading, as mortgage rates have barely … Continue reading

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Housing Construction, Sales Strong, Interest Rates Still Ultra-Low

The Mortgage Corner Housing starts are being hit by huge swings. November starts fell 18.7 percent in November to a much lower-than-expected 1.090 million annualized rate following an upward revised gain of 27.4 percent to 1.340 million in October, says … Continue reading

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4.6% Unemployment–178,000 Payroll Jobs in November

Popular Economics Weekly Nonfarm payrolls rose 178,000 in November to just beat out expectations with revisions no factor, says Econoday. A sharp downward revision to October, now at 142,000, was offset by a nearly as sharp upward revision to September, … Continue reading

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What Is the Future of Interest Rates?

The Mortgage Corner The deficit is moving to the back burner with Donald Trump and congressional Republicans in charge of Washington, and that is causing interest rates to rise quickly. Republicans leaders on Capitol Hill are now papering over divisions … Continue reading

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Will Low Interest Rates Continue?

The Mortgage Corner This question is behind much of the stock and bond market gyrations. We are near full employment with a 5.0 percent unemployment rate, some 11 million jobs created since the end of the Great Recession, yet we … Continue reading

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Jobs Report—Not Yet Full Employment

Popular Economics Weekly The unemployment rate rose slightly to 5 percent for the first time since April, the government said Friday, though that was mainly because 444,000 people entered the labor force. There are still too many unemployed, in other … Continue reading

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Motor Vehicle Sales Boost Retail, Manufacturing

Financial FAQs One of the first hard indications on the September economy is strongly positive as overall unit vehicle sales surged 4.7 percent to a 17.7 million annualized rate. This will boost the vehicle component of the September retail sales … Continue reading

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