New Conforming Loan Amounts Announced

Every year, the Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) determines and announces what the “conforming” loan limits will be for each county. The loan limits generally follow the average cost of living trends, so it’s no surprise that the new loan limits for 2019 will be ...

Economy News
It’s been an interesting month. Not one, but TWO companies reached an unprecedented milestone of having a $1 Trillion market cap (Apple and Amazon). As stocks and the economy in general continue to break all-time records again and again, the Feds (FOMC) continues to stand behind their projections ...

Economy News
Consumer prices barely rose in June, but the underlying trend points to inflation. Rising inflation will likely lead to more Fed rate increases and higher rates. Producer prices rose more than expected in June, another factor pointing to inflation. This jump was the largest annual increase in 6 ...

Economy News
First quarter economic growth was solid through slightly lower than expected at 2.2%. An improving economy can pressure high rates. Mortgage rates improved as overseas investors took to the safety of U.S. bonds. Political turmoil in Italy was the largest catalyst as their markets crashed. The ...

Economy News
Members of the Fed expressed expectations that inflation will continue to rise this year. Higher inflation will likely contribute to higher mortgage rates. The 10-yr Treasury broke the 3% yield mark for the first time since 2014. While inflation is growing domestically, lack of inflation is still a ...

Economy News
Factory activity slowed in March, but growth in the manufacturing sector is still going strong. More Companies shows signs of expanding that shrinking. Tariffs on goods from china continued to dominate the headlines this week. Trade war concerns have helped keep mortgage rates from rising. Jobless claims were ...

Economy News
The new Fed Chair Jerome Powell appeared for his first time in front of Congress this week. His upbeat economic views moved markets and put pressure on current rates. Consumer prices increased in January, and inflation had its largest gain in 12 months. Inflation pressures rates higher, including ...

Economy
The Fed did not raise policy rates at last weeks Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, but we are expecting a likely increase when they meet in March. Consumer spending increased in December, reflecting a strong labor market. Supported by a growing economy, inflation pushes rates (including mortgage rates ...

We are starting the month of May with rates being about the same as the previous month, indicating a relatively low rate volatility. Inflation at the wholesale level, rose .5% in April and is up 2.5% for the last 12 months, which is pressuring future rates to rise. The ...

March has certainly been an eventful month for the economy and housing market. We saw that the Fed raised policy rates at the beginning of March, which helped tame inflation. The Fed also forecasted future increases, which helped tame inflation (which has been rising lately). Inflation is a big factor ...