MORTGAGE BLOGPosted On October 10, 2016
Mortgage rates remain consistent since last Friday, with some sources showing a fluctuation of only a tenth of a percent. Hurricane Matthew ravaged the Southeast coast leaving behind between $4-6 Billion in storm-related damage. We will be tracking total recovery costs from the storm throughout the week. This Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers’ Association will report on their weekly mortgage applications survey. Since there was little mention of the economy during Sunday’s presidential town hall debate we will be looking forward to the Retail Sales announcement this Friday to get an idea of consumer comfort.
Hurricane Matthew – Last week’s hurricane has been downgraded to a post tropical cyclone, but many states along the Southeast are still suffering from the aftermath. CoreLogic estimates that 1.5 Million properties were damaged during last week’s storm. Lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have sent out notices to homeowners in the Southeast with information about several mortgage assistance programs available post-storm.
MBA Mortgage Applications – The purchase application index measures the increase or decrease in mortgage applications to lenders. Coming off of increases in September, we are predicting steady increases this week, as well. September closed out with a 2.9% weekly increase in mortgage applications. The Refinance Index also increased 5% from the previous week, making refinancing account for a total of 63.8% of all applications.
Retail Sales – Economic discussion was conspicuously absent from Sunday night’s debate, so we’ll be eagerly awaiting Friday’s Retail Sales announcement. Consumer spending typically accounts for 2/3 of the Gross Domestic Product and is a strong predictor of economic growth. Retail sales had a slow summer, but the seasonal uptick in auto sales lead analysts to predict an increase in September.
Other reports scheduled for this week include the NFIB small business index, job opening sand the weekly jobless claims, plus a keynote address from Janet Yellen this Friday at the Boston Fed’s 60th Economic Conference, “The Elusive Recovery.”
Sources: MarketWatch, Housing Wire, Bloomberg, World Property Journal
