Rates
Mortgage rates trended up this week, as we received some pretty good US economic news and OPEC might actually find a way to increase oil prices.
Consumer Confidence was at a 98.6 vs est. of 101.00, although it missed the mark, the number is still quite high, baseline is 50.
- New Home Sales for September 593,000 vs est. of 600,000, still an outstanding number.
- Weekly Jobless claims 258,000
- Durable Goods Orders 0.2% vs est. of 0.2%, VERY nice number.
- Pending home sales, September up 1.5% vs est. of 1.2%
And the Big Daddy of the week, GDP for 3 quarter, 2.9% vs est. of 2.5%, WOW, although preliminary, that is one of the highest GDP’s we have had in a while, and almost hit that magical 3.0% mark.
So with all these numbers, and that high GDP, these was some concern that the Federal Reserve could raise rates this week, unlikely, but there was a small few that is anticipating this.
These numbers are all but assuring a Fed Rate increase in December, the final number will be Unemployment numbers, which will come out this week and the 1st week in December. As long as those numbers meet expectation, the Fed WILL raise rates in December.
Now, something technical to watch for, in my weekly chart, I have put the 200 day moving average, you can see we have tested that moving average a couple of times, and bounced off it. This is a VERY strong bottom of resistance for the bond markets. IF we breach that line and CLOSE below it, we will probably see a pretty dramatically sell off of bonds, which would more than likely add .125 to .25 to mortgage rates. Something to watch for and to be concern about.
Lock them loans, no room to gamble
RESPA violations
A couple of weeks ago, at the MBA conference, the head of the CFPB, Richard Cordray, spoke. In the speech, he indicated that the CFPB would focus on 3 areas in 2017, those areas are:
- -Consumer Complaints
- -Redlining
- -RESPA Violations
I have linked here a NAR RESPA FAQ section, they seem to keep updating it, (Link Here) but the moral of the story is, always ask your Broker.
Here are some of the latest RESPA Violations which have been mentioned in training: http://www.realtor.org/topics/real-estate-settlement-procedures-act-respa
- -Mortgage lenders/Title Companies paying for green fees/carts while golfing with Realtors.
- -Mortgage Lenders/Title Companies advertising on Realtor’s Web Site.
- -Mortgage Lenders/Title Companies having exclusive access to offices and/or Monday Morning Meetings.
- -Mortgage Lender/Title Companies paying for your tickets to a sporting event.
Moral of this story, don't put your license or your bank account in jeporady, know the rules.
Realtor Safety
And on another subject, Realtor Safety, Recently a Realtor in Las Vegas was stabbed, showing a home: Link to Story Here
NAR again, has a pretty good web site with regards to Realtor Safety: http://www.realtor.org/topics/realtor-safety