First Team’s Weekly Mortgage Watch (April 20th, 2014) this week highlights the following updates:
- Last week started with mortgage rates hovering around 2014 lows, only to zip back upward at the end of the week.
- While Retail Sales and other economic data points came in relatively strong last week, the crisis across the Ukraine threatened to become even more complicated. The growing geopolitical risk kept mortgage rates from moving upward, even with Retail Sales pressing upward by 1.1%, the largest monthly increase in over a year.
- On Thursday a deal struck by the U.S., the European Union, Russia and Ukraine provided some hope that the crisis would not continue to accelerate. Bonds markets reacted with some of the pent-up, upward pressure pushing mortgage rates upward.
- This week is lighter in terms of economic data, but we will get a good snapshot of the housing market with both new and existing home sales reports due. If economic data continues to come in at or above expectations, then mortgage rates carry some of last week’s upward momentum and rise slightly higher.
- If things turn sour again in the Ukraine, rates could press back downward.
- With home prices rising, RealtyTrac is now estimating that approximately one-third of homeowners who are currently in the foreclosure process have equity in their homes. Unfortunately, many people in the process of foreclosure may not know whether or not their home has positive equity, or may have simply abandoned the home.
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Originally posted at: http://www.firstteam.com/blog/?p=8069
