The following GDP basics explain what the term GDP means and how it is calculated.  The GDP is the Gross Domestic Product of a country, and is a metric that is used to measure the health of the economy of that particular country. It is fundamentally a measurement of consumer and government spending, the difference […]

This morning saw two relatively positive reports come out. The markets had little reaction to this data, as they continued to monitor the equity markets and the situation in Europe for any new information that might provide more insight into the situation there.  GDP and Consumer Sentiment Data Released The first report was the release of […]

This week has been marked by historically low mortgage rates and one of the tightest trading ranges of the year. Mortgage rates changed very little throughout the week, ending the week very near to where they started. This means that if you have not already locked in your rate at the current historically low levels, […]

The markets continued to monitor the Greece Debt situation this week. Although Greece is working through a solution to prevent default, there is still concern about whether the existing solution will actually work. Should there be news of any issues with the Greek resolution, look for increased downward pressure on mortgage rates. Beige Book data […]

After hitting all time historical lows last week, mortgage rates have opened up this week flat, with little to no change from last week. We start the week with news of the death of Kim Jong il, which may play a role in the market in the future, but seems to have little affect on […]

Mortgage rates opened the week lower as European concerns continue with Spain and Italy becoming new areas of focus. The market is also concerned over the progress of the Congressional Super Committee or lack thereof. Since this is a shortened week for the Thanksgiving Holiday, it’s hard to know what is in store for mortgage […]

Greece, Greece, Greece The market is closely watching and waiting for a resolution to the Greek debt default drama playing out in Europe. This headache for the markets, in addition to the continued fears about the United States’ economic health, have played key roles in pushing US mortgages rates to historic record lows over the […]

Last week was fairly stable as mortgage rates leveled off a bit after weeks of slowly moving off of all time record lows. This week will see the market watching the data data that is being released for the Consumer Confidence Index, Case Shiller Index, New Home Sales and Pending Home Sales Index. Positive news […]

Consumer Confidence Numbers Released The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, remained essentially unchanged in September after declining sharply in August. The index data came in at 45.4 which is up slightly from 45.2 in August. In other words, the index is showing that consumer confidence is unchanged, which sounds about right. Case-Shiller Home Price Index The […]

U.S. Treasuries prices rose this morning (good for lower mortgage rates) as news the U.S. economy grew at an even slower pace in the first half of the year than was previously estimated, raised yet more fears the economy was at a real risk for recession. Gross domestic product, a measure of all goods and […]