Happy Friday to my investor friends out there,
So far today, all is quiet on the western front. Not a whole lot of activity going on up at the ‘Wall’. My guess is there is a lot more talk about the Giants’ chances this Sunday than about stocks and bonds. Some of you may know that I am a self-proclaimed cheesehead, and last Sunday was not a good day for me and all of Titletown, USA. But there’s always next year, so on to the important stuff!
Hot off the press, the US Economy is back! Er, maybe. Again, the pessimist in me still says time will tell, and I advise you not to get too excited by the news that came out today, and neither will the seasoned investor. The NAR (National Association of Realtors) proclaimed that December’s pace of existing home sales was up a full 5 percent over the prior month. Also, the number of Americans applying for first-time unemployment benefits, declined by 50,000 during the week ending January 14th, which is the best performance since around April 2008. I’m cautiously optimistic about this number, but remember, there are always ‘tainted’ numbers this time of year, due to the seasonal hiring from Thanksgiving through the Christmas holiday. There’s still some more numbers to be hashed out, but trust me the proof will be in the pudding at the end of the month when the next round of non-arms hits the tape.
You may have seen that rates are edging up ever so slightly, in large part to our good friends over in Europe, vowing to increase the International Monetary Fund’s warchest by $600 billion to help alleviate or lessen the blow to the European countries dealing with the financial crisis that has been hitting them hard as of late. That’s good news for Europe, and good news is bad news in the mortgage world. Because positive eco news, means stock prices rise and mortgage-backed securities and bond prices drop. Also, there are increasingly positive talks between Greece and their creditors to hash out a deal soon, that may prevent a complete default by Greece. If a deal is reached, we will most likely see rates tick up just a touch higher, but nothing to be overly concerned with.
The biggest upcoming bit of eco news is the Federal Open Market Committe will get together for a couple of days of monetary policy discussions beginning Tuesday and concluding Wednesday. It is expected that there will be no change on the Fed’s stance to keep mortgage rate’s low.
Ok, now the rates.
Single-Family Residence can be purchased with 20% down and carries an interest rate of 4.875% on a 30-year fixed rate
2-4 Unit properties can be purchased with 25% down and carries an interest rate of 4.75%
Everyone have a safe, restful weekend and we’ll hit the ground running on Monday!
BawldGuy Here: Most of Chad’s contact info will be changing this comming Monday, January 23rd. When I get it, I’ll post it.
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