Technically, Bonds continue to receive support from the 25-day Moving Average. Good news for Mortgage Rates. With Stocks looking weak, we will continue to Float Mortgage Rates/Not locking.
The capital markets were very quiet with low volumes on Friday. There were no economic reports. The 3.5% ended at 100.97 up 12bp and closed just near where it closed last Friday. Stocks continued to drop with 4 days of losses in five and had their worst weekend since June. The Dow fell 72.81 points to 15,425.51, the S&P 500 dropped 6.06 points to 1,691.42 while the Nasdaq finished the week at 3,660.10 down 9 points. Oil was last seen at $106.01/barrel up $2.62.
Housing News
Representing a new post-bubble high, Las Vegas experienced a 31.2% jump in annual home prices in July, becoming the first metro to surpass 30% growth since the beginning of the recovery.
In the latest home data index released by Clear Capital, July home price trends continued to be strong both nationwide and when broken down between the nation’s four major regions.
Nationally, home prices grew 9.3% from last year, and were up 1.6% over the previous quarter. Interestingly enough, national home prices remained 33.4% below peak values, indicating the new norm for the nation’s housing.
“While July home prices continue to ramp up throughout the country led by Las Vegas posting more than 30% yearly growth, let’s not forget a healthy recovery means moderation as the new normal takes hold,“ said Alex Villacorta, vice president of research and analytics at Clear Capital. Read more
Economic News
Weekly claims for state unemployment insurance totaled 333,000 in the most recent week. Economists had expected claims to rise to 337,000, compared with 326,000 in the previous week.
U.S. self-reported daily consumer spending was $89 in July, little changed from the $90 reported in June and May, according to a poll by Gallup. The relatively flat spending levels of the past five months are consistent with the weak gross domestic product reports of the past three quarters, the polling company said.
Sources: MMG,CNBC,Housingwire, Bloomberg