Pending Homes Sales Soar
Pending sales of previously owned U.S. Homes rose unexpectedly in July, according to the National Association of Realtors® as seen in our Bluegrass home’s market update posted last week. This index which is based upon contracts signed in July but not yet closed, increased 5.2 percent after the previous month saw a decline of -1.6%. The market was expecting another decline in the -1.5% range considering that the home buyer tax credit does not apply to any of these new purchase contracts.
While the housing market is far from being fully recovered, this is a very strong reading and is indicative of a market where we enjoy the lowest 30 year fixed rates that we have ever seen and a pool of very good inventory to select from.
What Happened to Rates Last Week
What Happened To Rates Last Week
Mortgage backed securities (MBS) reached another new record on Tuesday which caused conventional mortgage rates to fall to their lowest levels in history. However, before the market was aware of the great new pricing, we lost it as we pulled back -81 basis points from our best levels.
The reason for the pull back? After several weeks of very weak economic news, we finally had some economic data that beat market expectations. These positive reports included very strong ISM Manufacturing, Initial Jobless Claims, Pending Home Sales and Unemployment levels.
What to Watch Out For This Week
The following are the major economic reports that will hit the market this week. They each have the ability to affect the pricing of Mortgage Backed Securities and therefore, interest rates for Government and Conventional mortgages. We will be watching these reports closely for you and let you know if there are any big surprises.
| Date | ET | Release | For |
| 8-Sep | 10:30 | Crude Inventories | 4-Sep |
| 8-Sep | 14:00 | Fed’s Beige Book | Sep |
| 8-Sep | 15:00 | Consumer Credit | Jul |
| 9-Sep | 8:30 | Initial Claims | 4-Sep |
| 9-Sep | 8:30 | Continuing Claims | 28-Aug |
| 9-Sep | 8:30 | Trade Balance | Jul |
| 10-Sep | 10:00 | Wholesale Inventories | Jul |
It is virtually impossible for you to keep track of what is going on with the economy and other events that can impact the Kentucky mortgage and housing markets. Just leave it to us, we monitor the live trading of Mortgage Backed Securities which are the only thing government and conventional mortgage rates are based upon.
Mike Dunn, Holleigh Sharp & Jeff Sharp
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