Concerns over inflation and a spike in Treasury yields drove rates up this week. 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 concern overseas. The ECB is continuing economic stimulus, helping to keep rates lower here. Consumer confidence rebounded in April, pointing to ...

Factory activity slowed in March, but growth in the manufacturing sector is still going strong. More companies showed signs of expanding than shrinking. By: Fred Arnold | American Family Funding 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 up on the week, but ...

Mortgage rates have consistently crept up a little each week through 2018, hitting 4-year highs. Even still, rates are historically low, which may make it a good time to buy. The rising bond yields responsible for higher mortgage rates have also shaken up the stock markets. There is a lot of fear that we may see accelerated inflation. The outlook ...

Jobless claims plunged to the lowest level since 1973 this week, the biggest drop since April 2009. Labor market strength can pressure rates higher. According to a recently released Fed report, the economy and inflation expanded at a modest-to-moderate pace from November to the end of 2017. Inflation, which pressures interest rates to move higher, is not increasing across the ...

Producer prices fell for the first time in nearly 1-1/2 years in December. This could temper expectations that inflation will accelerate in 2018. By: Fred Arnold | American Family Funding Unemployment benefit claims increased for the 4th straight week, to a 3-month high. Likely due to weather, the change doesn’t signal weakness in the labor market. The implemented tax reform ...

President Trump released his plan for tax reform this week, which is expected to stimulate economic growth. A hotter economy could contribute to higher rates. Consumer confidence fell slightly in September, despite a strong labor market. The decline is likely temporary and due mainly to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The economy grew a bit faster than previously estimated in the ...

Housing data dominated the market data being released. By: Fred Arnold | American Family Funding Tuesday launched the housing news with the Federal Housing Finance Agency report on home prices. For the month of February, home prices increased 0.8 percent. This was double the amount the majority of analysts predicted. Adding to the positive news, January’s numbers were revised from ...

As expected, the Fed raised interest rates by .25% at their FOMC meeting this week.  By: Fred Arnold What was not expected was the projection of three rates increases in 2017. Investors were expecting to hear that only two increases would be forthcoming. On this news, the bond market took a beating and yields rose rapidly. The threat of inflation ...

Mortgage rates have been slowly falling over the last month and mortgage rates have hit new lows for 2014.  In fact mortgage rates currently are about at the same level as October of last year. This should help the housing market slowly recover from a slow first four months of the year. Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita ...

By: Fred Arnold The good news…mortgage rates will remain low for the foreseeable future.  More good news…mortgage rates have dropped to the lowest point thus far in 2014.  The bad news…the economy is slowing.  More bad news…the housing market seems to be stalling considerably.  Finally…the labor markets are not recovering at the pace in which the Fed had hoped.  This ...