Weekly Newsletter

NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

RSS Recent Newsletters from Brian Hale

  • What's at Stake With Next Week's Fed Announcement and Inflation Data? December 8, 2023
    It was mostly a great week for mortgage rates with the average lender near the best levels in months through Thursday. Friday's jobs report pushed rates back up a bit, but not excessively. Next week's two big ticket events could set the tone for the rest of the year.
  • Pending Sales Slide to 20-year Low December 5, 2023
    The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said its Pending Home Sale Index (PHSI) established a record low in October. The Index, a forward-looking indicator of contracts signed to purchase single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and cooperative apartments, dropped 1.5 percent to 71.4 in October, the lowest number since the index was originated in 2001 . The […]
  • Mortgage Rates Move Slightly Higher, But Still Effectively at 3-Month Lows December 4, 2023
    Apart from this past Friday, you'd have to go back to September 1st to see lower mortgage rates than today.  It probably makes the best sense to view last Friday as a slightly overdone rally as opposed to viewing today as some sort of ominous shift. More importantly, it probably doesn't matter which way it's […]
  • What New Loan Limits Mean; Should We Worry About "Worst Ever" Pending Home Sales? December 1, 2023
    It's been a good week for extremes in the housing market with rates at 3 month lows, pending home sales at "record" lows, and conforming loan limits up to record highs. Here's why at least two of those three things aren't very interesting.
  • Housing Market Thankful For Lower Rates But The True Test is in Early December November 22, 2023
    Mortgage rates have fallen significantly in November. For the housing market, it couldn't come at a more critical time, but the road ahead remains uncertain--mostly due to timing.