Financing

Posts Tagged ‘Financing’

Atlanta Real Estate Market and Financing Update

Credit Scores by State

Credit Scores by State

The following is a guest blog from Jeffrey Heckman and Joanne Rotella with Shelter Mortgage Company and does not necessarily reflect the views of GeorgiaMoves.com

1. Mortgage rates pushed lower last week and the main reason was that investors in Japan and China bought US bonds. They did this because Japanese and Chinese currencies have recently weakened versus the dollar making the safety and security of US bonds attractive to investors in both countries.

2. January New Home Sales unexpectedly shot up 10% from December to an annual rate of 468k units. This was the highest level since July 2008. January Pending Home Sales also posted a slight increase.

3. Per FICO, the average credit score in the US is down to 634. At first glance,

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Atlanta Home Financing Update

ATLANTA HOME FINANCING

ATLANTA HOME FINANCING

 

The following is a guest blog from Jeffrey Heckman and Joanne Rotella with Shelter Mortgage Company and does not necessarily reflect the views of GeorgiaMoves.com

 

1. Metro Atlanta foreclosure notices were down 56% in January from the same month a year ago and are now down to the lowest level since June 2003, according to the AJC. Fewer foreclosures should support higher prices.

2. When it comes to rates, fewer things are more important than inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) reports released last week both confirmed that inflation remains tame. Core CPI was just 1.7% higher than a year ago and well below the Fed’s target level of 2%, while Core PPI was even lower at 1.4% on an

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Government shutdown not affecting interest rates, yet

The following is a guest blog from Jeffrey Heckman and Joanne Rotella with Shelter Mortgage Company and does not necessarily reflect the views of GeorgiaMoves.com

1. Of course, the big news last week was our country’s first partial government shutdown in 17 years! Surprisingly, though, the impact on the mortgage business has been minimal. The only big loss thus far has been the USDA rural housing program. Be aware that the longer the shutdown drags out, though, the more problems and delays will begin to occur.

2. The government shutdown’s impact on mortgage rates has also been minimal mostly because U.S. Government economic reports are not being released. The markets will be less volatile with less news being reported.

3. The first Friday of each month is usually notable for the reaction to the Employment report but, obviously, there was no report released on Friday. Investors were forced to adjust

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Atlanta home sales update

The following is a guest blog from Jeffrey Heckman and Joanne Rotella with Shelter Mortgage Company and does not necessarily reflect the views of GeorgiaMoves.com

 

1. Mortgage rates pushed a little higher last week as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July 31 meeting were released and confirmed investor expectations that the Fed will almost certainly begin to “taper” its bond purchase program in September or October.

2. Mortgage rates then reversed course and fell back when the July New Home Sales report caught investors by surprise and showed a 13% drop from June.

3. Several Fed officials have expressed concerns that rising rates will slow the pace of economic growth. The decline in New Home Sales provides clear support that these concerns are justified. The question is whether the data will be enough to cause the Fed to hold off longer before tapering its bond purchases. Economic data released

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Atlanta Home Financing Update

The following is a guest blog from Jeffrey Heckman and Joanne Rotella with Shelter Mortgage Company and does not necessarily reflect the views of GeorgiaMoves.com

The Shelter Six

1. The recent mortgage rate surge began following a stronger than expected Employment Report released on the third of May. The logic behind the rise was that when the job market strengthens, the Fed no longer needs to manipulate rates down to such a low level.

2. Rates continued to rise following comments by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on June 19 indicating that the Fed would probably stop buying bonds sooner than expected. This bond buying program has been the #1 reason rates have been so low for so long.  Since the June 19 meeting, there has been a great deal of uncertainty about when the Fed will actually begin to tighten monetary policy. The result has been tremendous volatility with rates

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