Rates Improve Slightly on Weaker Economic Data

 Mortgage interest rates improved slightly on the week as economic data was mostly weaker than expected.  Economic data weaker than expected included May Retail Sales excluding automobile sales, May Industrial Production, May Capacity Utilization, and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.  In Europe, the Euro-area economy contracted 0.2% in the first quarter, extending its recession into a sixth quarter.  In China, industrial production was below forecasts on a year over year basis.  The World Bank cut its forecast for global economic growth from 2.4% to 2.2%.  Inflation data in the U.S. was mostly tame.  May Export Prices Import Prices were weaker than expected.  The May Producer Price

Volatility in the market continues as many investors are being forced to re-price their mortgages multiple times per day.  In the past week, we've seen rates move from a low of 2.04% on Friday up to a high of 2.25% yesterday.  Today we saw rates start at 2.18%, rise to 2.22%, drop to the low for the week of 2.17% and then start back up.  All that based upon no economic reports.

The yields today started climbing today after the Treasury sold $21 billion of 10 year notes at a yield of 2.09%, amid weak demand.  That represents the highest yield we've seen in months and mortgage rates followed suit. This is the weakest demand we've seen since last August, resulting in the highest yields, we've seen since October.  The most plausible explanation is that

Coloradans’ growing confidence in the economy may be pushing the local economy in a positive direction.

The Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. reports that consumer confidence in metro Denver has hit a five-year high even as the region adds new jobs at a steady pace.

The organization’s Monthly Economic Summary for June 2013 shows that consumer confidence rose to 89.1 – the highest point since March 2008 – in the Mountain Region, which includes Colorado. The index rose by 23.6 percent over the previous month and increased by 51.8 percent compared with May 2012.

The Monthly Economic Summary provides a snapshot of metro area economic activity, as well as its relationship to national and regional economic trends.

“Consumers are more

If the time has come to turn the bathroom into something more than a bathroom (i.e.: a place for relaxation and pampering), then consider the luxury hotel experience with neutral colors, towel warmers, heated floors and an oversized shower with its own seating, according to Yahoo! Homes.

Here are some suggestions from Yahoo! Homes about how to turn a bathroom into something more akin to a spa:

Neutral-colored floors that keep toes warm

With only its subtle colors, natural stone and wood, and luxurious cuddly robes, spas invite customers to relax.

Neutral-colored floors can make a personal bathroom appear bigger, and tile that resembles wood provides the ability to do this without the fear of needing to wipe up every drop of water that gets on

Boulder ranked first among 91 medium cities nationwide in New Geography’s 2013 edition of the Best Cities for Job Growth.

The ranking identifies the cities demonstrating the most momentum in the “job creation sweepstakes,” according to New Geography. The biggest winners are the metro areas adding higher-wage jobs in America’s two biggest-growing sectors – technology and energy.

New Geography bases its rankings on short-, medium- and long-term employment performance, and takes into account both growth and momentum — whether growth is slowing or accelerating. As a result, areas that have made the strongest recoveries from deep setbacks often do well.

The blending of energy and other sectors also helped Denver grow a strong economy and rank ninth

Colorado’s appreciation rate, which increased 11.96 percent from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, allowed it not only to rank among the top 10 metropolitan areas nationwide for house-price appreciation compared with the last quarter of 2012, but to move in the rankings.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency ranked the state No. 7 – up one position from the previous quarter – in its 2013 first quarter house-price appreciation index. None of Colorado’s seven metros ranked in the top or bottom 20 metro areas, and Denver-Aurora-Broomfield was the highest-ranking Colorado metro at No. 36 with a one-year appreciation rate of 5.91 percent. Boulder came in at No. 76 out of 306 metros and fifth among Colorado metros with a one-year

While buyers are braving the sluggish economy to find their dream home in the Boulder area, it appears many home owners have yet to find the courage to enter the market.

Home sales and prices are rising steadily, but low inventories are still holding the Boulder-area market back, according to Ken Hotard, senior vice president of public affairs for the Boulder Area Realtor® Association.

“The market continues to be characterized by lower inventories than needed to meet current demand,” he says. “While mortgage interest rates are going up slightly, they’re still at historic lows, luring buyers into the marketplace. We also continue to see significant cash sales hovering between 25 and 30 percent.”

The 1,346 single-family homes on the market in April

Rates Flat As Employment Report In Line With Expectations Mortgage interest rates were somewhat flat week over week despite high volatility as today’s employment report for May was in line with expectations.  May Non-Farm Jobs increased by 175k on expectations that they would increase by 167k.  Non-Farm Private Jobs increased by 178k, the same amount as expected.  The unemployment rate increased to 7.6% on expectations that it would remain unchanged at 7.5% as 420k people entered the job market but only 315k found jobs.  As a result of today’s employment report, it is still uncertain whether the Fed will soon begin to curtail the existing quantitative easing in the form of $85 billion in Treasury and Mortgage Backed Security purchases per month.  Other

Since Friday's high water mark for the 10 year treasury of 2.18%, we've seen a sharp drop on Monday to 2.08%, a jump back up to 2.15% on Tuesday and then today a drop down to 2.09%.  Unfortunately, that kind of volatility is all too common these days.  For mortgage rates, we have seen a definite increase, then a slight decrease and at mid afternoon today, the 30 year was sitting right at a support level of 103.  If we can manage to close below it 103.00, we might see a good run for interest rates.  If we do it will probably be short lived but we'll take what we can get. 

What's going on?  Mostly we have an oversold market (bad for rates) which should theoretically, correct (good for rates), some conflicting economic data and a very pessimistic investor

Our roller coaster ride continues but the slight drop since Wednesday has given way to a steep climb today.  The 10 year long bond fell from Wednesday's high of 2.16% back down to 2.11% by yesterday afternoon.  This morning, the drop continued momentarily falling to 2.08% but then we moved up to 2.18% by mid day.  Mortgage rates have followed the 10 year pretty closely the past few days and we've already seen most investors re-price for the worse once today.  All that being said, we still have investors hanging on to 3.99%.  Historically, 4% is FANTASTIC!

So what's happening?  Mostly it's been a continuation of the pessimistic view of the bond market.  Yesterday's Jobless Claims Report came in weaker than expected (good for rates) and last week's