October 28th, 2014 6:27 PM by Dale DiGennaro
Mortgage Time
Mortgage Market News for the week ending October 24, 2014
Compliments of
Dale DiGennaro
Owner
Custom Lending Group, Inc.
www.CustomLending.net
NMLS: 298353 • Co. NMLS: 845079 CalBRE 966782/944064
Office: 707.252.2700 • Cell: 707.738.0878Fax: 707.252.1319
dale@clgroup.net
1700 Soscol Ave. Ste. 22
Napa, CA 94559
Mortgage Markets Calmer
After a couple of highly volatile weeks, there were few price swings in mortgage rates this week. With no major surprises in the economic data and little new information from central bank officials, mortgage rates ended nearly unchanged from last week.
One reason that mortgage rates remain near the best levels of the year is low inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released this week, the most widely followed monthly inflation indicator, was just 1.7% higher than one year ago. This was well below the Fed's target level of 2.0%. A separate indicator, the PCE price index, which is also closely watched by Fed officials has revealed even lower levels of inflation. There is little pressure on the Fed to tighten monetary policy with inflation at these levels.
The housing market data released this week showed improvement. Existing Home Sales posted a modest increase in September to the best levels of the year, while inventories of existing homes for sale dropped a bit. September New Home Sales saw a slight increase from downwardly revised August levels, bringing them to the highs for the year as well.
The big story next week will be the Fed meeting on Wednesday. Investors are seeking information about the timing of the first fed funds rate hike. Before the meeting, Pending Home Sales will be released on Monday. Durable Orders will come out on Tuesday. On Thursday, third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic growth, will be released. Core PCE inflation will come out on Friday. In addition, there will be Treasury auctions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.