What a difference a week makes. After the market craziness last week, the stock market has been once again launching to the stars. Through Thursday, the market is up 432 points.

The market rose 221 points on the latest positive economic data on the economy on Thursday. Prior to the market open on Friday, Dow Futures are up over 150 points, which indicates a significant market rally at the opening bell. The futures are being driven by the great news out of Japan that the government is going to expand their stimulus program.

One of the fears that has been tempering the market lately is that Japan and China are experiencing an economic slowdown. Stimulus should bolster the Japanese economy.

The biggest mover of the market this week was Thursday’s report on GDP. Economic growth accelerated beyond almost everyone’s expectations at a rate of 3.5% for the 3rd quarter. This comes after the 2nd quarter’s less than stellar growth of only 1.3%. Despite the fact that the government has been cutting stimulus to the economy, it seems that the U.S. rebound continues to gain steam.

Stock Market News

As expected, the Fed announced the completion of the bond-buying program which has been going on since the great recession. It has been thought that the Fed’s program was the only reason rates have been staying low on mortgages. However, despite the Fed ending the stimulus program, it seems that mortgage rates have barely moved.

In the last few weeks, mortgage rates had dropped down to lows that we have not seen in the last 12 months.

However, because of the positive economic data and the mostly better than expected corporate profit reports released this week, mortgage rates have moved back up to where they were a couple of weeks ago. By historical standards, rates continue to remain very low and home purchasing extremely affordable.

The pending home sales report released on Monday showed signs that the low mortgage rates have been having a positive impact on purchase transactions. The index for pending homes sales rose 0.3% for the month of September. This is an improvement over the prior months 1.0% decline.

Although September’s increase is relatively small, it should translate into an improved existing home sales report in November.

One thing that has caught many people by surprise in the housing market is that despite the recent decline in mortgage rates, both applications for purchases and refinances have not increased.

Real Estate News

In fact, purchase apps declined 5.0% and refinances dropped 7.0% for the week ending October 24. No real explanation is given for the decline.

Next week’s potential market moving economic reports are:

• Monday November 3rd – ISM Manufacturing Index & Construction Spending
• Tuesday November 4th – Factory Orders
• Wednesday November 5th – MBA Mortgage Apps & ADP Employment Report
• Thursday November 6th – First Time Jobless Claims
• Friday November 7th – National Employment

As your mortgage professional, I am happy to assist you with any information you may need regarding mortgage or real estate trends. I welcome the opportunity to serve you in any way I possibly can.