|
Market
Comment
Mortgage bond prices finished the week slightly positive which put a little downward pressure on rates. Trading was very thin with minimal price movements. We started the week on a slightly negative note, were neutral mid-week, and closed the week positively Friday. The data was generally rate friendly. Industrial production fell 0.1% vs the expected 0.1% increase. Capacity use was 75.9% as expected. Consumer confidence was 89.1 vs 91. Weekly jobless claims were 214K vs 223K. Mortgage interest rates finished the week better by approximately 1/8 of a discount point.
LOOKING
AHEAD
|
Economic
Indicator |
Release
Date &
Time |
Consensus
Estimate |
Analysis
|
|
FHFA House Price Index |
Tuesday, Dec. 30,
10:00 am, et
|
Up 0.1%
|
Moderately Important. A measure of single-family house prices. Weakness may lead to lower rates.
|
| Fed Minutes |
Tuesday, Dec. 30,
2:00 pm, et
|
|
Important. Details of the last Fed meeting will be thoroughly analyzed.
|
| Weekly Jobless Claims |
Wednesday, Dec. 31,
8:30 am, et
|
210K
|
Important. An indication of employment. Higher claims may result in lower rates.
|
| Construction Spending |
Friday, Jan. 2,
10:00 am, et
|
Down 0.1%
|
Low importance. An indication of economic strength. Significant weakness may lead to lower rates.
|
House Price Index
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) was created on July 30, 2008, when the President signed into law the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The Act gave FHFA the authorities necessary to oversee vital components of our country’s secondary mortgage markets – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks. FHFA's mission is to provide effective supervision, regulation and housing mission oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks to promote their safety and soundness, support housing finance and affordable housing, and support a stable and liquid mortgage market.
“FHFA produces the nation’s only public, freely available house price indexes (HPIs) that measure changes in single-family house prices based on data that cover all 50 states and over 400 American cities and extend back to the mid-1970s. The HPIs are built on tens of millions of home sales and offer insights about house price fluctuations at the national, census division, state, metro area, county, ZIP code, and census tract levels. The FHFA HPIs use a fully transparent methodology based upon a weighted, repeat-sales statistical technique to analyze transaction data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHFA releases data and reports on a quarterly and monthly basis. The flagship FHFA HPI uses seasonally adjusted, purchase-only data, unless otherwise noted. Additional indexes are based on other data including refinances, FHA mortgages, and real property records.”
FHFA issues a monthly report on house prices called the House Price Index (HPI) that looks back 2 months in time. This week’s FHFA release will shed light on the current state of housing prices. A solid housing market is vital to the health of the U.S. economy.
To
unsubscribe, please hit "reply" and include unsubscribe in
the subject line.
Copyright
2025. All Rights Reserved. Mortgage Market
Information Services, Inc. www.ratelink.com
The information contained herein is
believed to be accurate, however no representation or warranties are
written or implied.
|
