Mortgage Market

today I want to update you on Mortgage Rates. The Mortgage rates have been standing still for the last month. They have been hovering around the 6% range. The Utah housing rate has not changed in a month from 6.01%. This is for first time home buyers that have 660 credit scores. Although the stock market has had a rough September and start of October, the mortgage market has been pretty consistent. The forecast is that rates will steadily get better, but no one knows for sure.
I also want to announce the Republic Mortgage Home Loans is ranked #1 in closed loan volume for 2007 and 2008 we are having a great year. I get asked all of the time if I still have a job. I am happy to say that I have a job with a great company that have treated me well. Please let me know if their is anything I can do for you.

Falling Gas Prices

I thought I would give an update of what is happening in the markets. The mortgage rates have been declining over the last couple weeks from their highs. The reason for that is that oil prices have been dropping. I am sure that you are starting to notice a difference at the pump lately. We are 25% off of our high for a barrel of oil . You may say what does this have to do with mortgage rates? Well I will tell you. The Major opponent of bonds is inflation. When oil prices go up, prices in the grocery store go up as well as all of your every day needs. This makes your dollar not go as far. Bonds are long term and the higher the inflation the lower the rate of return is. Which means investors can get a better return somewhere else which makes bonds less attractive, and rates go up. So as oil has been dropping it is better for bonds because it makes them more attractive to investors. Please call me if you would like me to run any payments for you. 450-9789.

Welcome Back

It has been a while since I have updated you and I apologize for that. I have just finished my vacations for a while and will be focused on helping you fulfill your dreams. This week is another important week on the economic front. Some inflation readings are coming out. CPI and and core CPI are coming out on Thursday which could be rate changers for the mortgage industry. Tomorrow is retails sales which also is a good indicator of what people are doing with their money.
On the good side lately gas has started to decline (not so fast in Utah) but the national average right now is $3.81. This should help with some of the inflation that is happening around us.

Right now it is a good time to when you find a house to look at locking in a rate. A lot of the articles I am reading are saying the rates are on a slow increase so the sooner you lock in the better. Our rates right now are bouncing between 6.5% and 6.875%.

Come October there will only be on 100% financing loan available which is Utah Housing. This still has the best rate for first time home buyers and allows you to come in with no money down.

Good luck house hunting and if their is anything I can do for you let me know.

Economic indicators for week

Here are a list of market moving indicators for the week of the 28th. There are some major market movers. The biggest of which are GDP which tell us the growth of the economy. and payrolls. These will have an effect on what the mortgage bonds do this week. Their is still great volatility in the mortgage market at this time and probably will continue until we can figure out how to settle the housing market and stabilize banks. The rates are currently between 6% and 6.75% on any day. It seems lately that every other day can be a bungee jump up and down. Right now is a good market to find good deals on homes and still rates are great compared to what they could be.
Consumer Confidence
Crude Inventories
Chain Deflator-Adv.
Employment Cost Index
GDP-Adv.
Initial Claims
Chicago PMI
Auto Sales
Truck Sales
Average Workweek
Hourly Earnings
Nonfarm Payrolls
Unemployment Rate
Construction Spending
ISM Index

The Week

Well it has been a roller coaster over the last week. At the beginning of the week mortgage bonds were doing well rates were getting better because of how poorly financials were doing in the stock market. Indymac Bank became the second largest bank ever to fail which brought skepticism to all of the financials and investors moved their money to bonds for safety. But toward the middle of the week oil dropped in price and earnings from the banks were better than expected so the stock market rallied and pushed up mortgage rates to almost their worst level in a year. It is a very volatile market right now. with big jumps up and down in both the stock market and the bond market.
If you are looking for a house I would lock in the rate as soon as you find the house that you are looking for. It is not a market to be chancing as things can change in a blink of an eye.

Here is a product highlight for today. I will do this on every Friday.


UTAH HOUSING - AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES
• Utah Housing does not run out of money
• Homes may be existing or new construction
• Single Family Detached, Twin Homes, PUD or Approved Condos
• Homes may be located anywhere in Utah and must meet FHA/VA guidelines
• Borrower may not have had ownership in a primary residence in the previous
three years unless the home is located in a targeted area
• Income limits apply based on number in household, county, targeted and
non-targeted areas
• Rates are lower than FHA and Conventional
• Utah Housing Corp sets the rate which changes once a week
• Down payment, closing costs and buydown funds can be borrowed from Utah
Housing
• Minimum credit score is 660
• Recapture fee has been eliminated

I will be out of town next week so I will pick it up on the 28th.

Introduction

For my first post I thought I would introduce my self and give you my back ground. I have been working with Republic Mortgage Home Loans for almost 6 years now. It is a great company to work for. We are a mortgage banker. This means we loan our own money as well as have the option to broker to other companies for the best array of products. Right now there aren't many products to choose form but we still have the option to use othe programs we don't offer inside our company.
I graduated from the University of Utah in 2006 with a baccalaureate of arts in economics. I thoroughly enjoy watching the economy how the markets work. I have been married for 6 yrs and have 3 children. I hope that this will be a site that you can come and get questions answered about what the future is for the mortgage industry and some terms you might want to know when purchasing a home. I desire that you will come here to see what events are coming up that could affect rates.