Austin Mortgage Update – Week Ending 4/17/2009

What Did Interest Rates Do Last Week?
** based on Freddie Mac weekly average survey **

30-yr Fixed – Slightly Lower
Last Week:  4.82%
Previous Week:  4.87%
1yr Ago:  5.88%

15-yr Fixed – Slightly Lower
Last Week:  4.48%
Previous Week:  4.54%
1yr Ago:  5.40%

Highlight of Last Week’s Major Economic Reports

Mixed signals continue to dominate the economic headlines, but overall the outlook continues to improve.

The Fed, for instance, noted “stabilizing” or “moderating” conditions in most regions, while weekly unemployment claims improved to a not-as-bad 610,000 last week.

The stock market has also been gaining steam, which is helping to bolster consumer confidence.

Prices are still falling.  The Producer Price Index dropped 1.2% last month and is down 3.6% from last year.  Before panic over deflation kicks in, however, do note that the Consumer Price Index fell by only 0.1% and is holding steady for the year.

What to Look for This Week

Home Sales figures will be the only major headliners, so expect more stock market activity to drive mortgage rates.

Short-Term Rate Outlook

Stable

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Austin Mortgage Update – Week Ending 4/3/09

What Did Interest Rates Do This Week?
** based on Freddie Mac weekly average survey **

30-yr Fixed – Slightly Lower
This Week:  4.78% (record low rate since 1971)
Last Week:  4.85%
1yr Ago:  5.88%

15-yr Fixed – Slightly Lower
This Week:  4.52% (record low rate since 1991)
Last Week:  4.58%
1yr Ago:  5.42%

Highlight of Last Week’s Major Economic Reports

The stock market showed off a nice rally this week, finishing 440 points higher than where it started last Monday.  This was thanks in large part to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s decision to relax its standards so that financial companies can change the way it values its assets.  The move is intended to unfreeze the credit markets, since it will make it easier for banks and other financial institutions to raise capital.

Meanwhile, the labor market continues to be bleak, as March posted an expected 663,000 in jobs lost, while the unemployment rate hit 8.5% — the highest since 1983.  The silver lining here is that the numbers at least aren’t getting worse.

What to Look for This Week

The stock market will continue to be the key driver of mortgage-rate activity, since there are no major economic data coming up.

Short-Term Rate Outlook

Stable to Potentially Higher

Stay Informed:  What’s in the News

“Texas Counties on the Grow” from Austin Business Journal

An analysis of the most recent U.S. Census report found that ten Texas counties were among the top 25 fastest-growing counties in the country between July 2007 and July 2008.

That put Texas ahead of every other state, including California, which had six counties in the top 25, and Arizona and North Carolina, which had two counties each.

The analysis was conducted by the Capital Area Council of Governments.

Texas counties that made the top 25 were Harris (No. 2), Tarrant (5), Bexar (10), Collin (12), Dallas (13), Travis (14), Fort Bend (18), Denton (21), Williamson (23) and Hidalgo (24).

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