Mortgage rates dropped today after the weak January Jobs report and despite a big gain over in the Equity markets. The Labor Department reported that there were 113K jobs created in January, below the 175K expected. The 4% closed at 104.91 up 25bp. Stocks surged on the notion that after two weak job reports, the Fed may taper the taper. We will continue to lock Mortgage Rates as long as the 4% Bond remains at or below resistance. The Dow rose by 165.55 points to 15,794.08, the S&P 500 gained 23.59 points to end at 1,797.02 while the Nasdaq jumped 68.73 points to end the session at 4,125.86. Oil was last seen at $99.99/barrel up $2.15.
Weekly Survey of Rates from the Mortgage Bankers Association
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.47 percent from 4.52 percent, with points decreasing to 0.25 from 0.40 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) decreased to 4.42 percent from 4.47 percent, with points decreasing to 0.11 from 0.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.53 percent from 3.59 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
U.S. stocks fell hard on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending losses after its worst monthly percentage drop since May 2012, after factory data offered a disappointing take on the economy. Read more
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will join The Brookings Institution as a Distinguished Fellow in Residence, the think tank announced Monday.
Housing News
CoreLogic reports that home prices, including distressed sales, rose by 11% in December 2013 compared to December 2012. That is down from the 11.8% year-over-year gain seen from November 2012 to November 2013.
Economic News
The U.S. economy created 113,000 jobs in January, while the rate of unemployment was 6.6 percent. Economists had expected an increase of 185,000 jobs, with the jobless rate seen holding at a five-year low of 6.7 percent. December’s surprisingly weak 74,000 jobs number was revised to 75,000 net new jobs. read more
The Congressional Budget Office said the Affordable Care Act will lead to working hours reduction equal to 2.3 million full-time workers in 2021 versus a previous estimate of 800,000.
The final reading on the U.S. manufacturing sector in January came in at 53.7, matching the prior reading. Economists in a consensus survey expected the ISM manufacturing index to dip to 56.0 in January, from the prior reading of 56.5.
Construction spending in December edged up 0.1 percent.
Economists polled by Reuters expected factory orders to decline 1.7 percent in December, following a gain of 1.8 percent in the month prior.
The ISM non-manufacturing index rose to 54 in January. Economists expected it to rise to 53.7, up from the previous reading of 53.0.
Weekly Jobless Claims decline by 20K to 331K in the latest week, which was slightly below the 335K expected.
The European Central Bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.25 percent and the Bank of England left its interest rate at 0.5% and left its asset purchase target unchanged.
Fourth-quarter productivity in the U.S. came in at 3.2 percent. It had been expected to fall to 2.5 percent from 3.0 percent.
Sources: CNBC, Bloomberg, MMG, Housingwire, MBA