MORTGAGE RATES CURRENTLY TRENd
During the week ending 1/13, mortgage application submissions saw a huge 27.9% surge. Refinance application submissions soared 32% week-over-week while purchase application submissions jumped 25% week-over-week.
Retail sales slipped 1.1% month-over-month in December. They were expected to decline 0.8%. Weaker economic data like the above typically leads to lower rates, all other things being equal.
The NAHB housing market sentiment index had a much-need increase in January – likely due to the recent swing of positive rate news.
Continuing jobless claims increased by 17,000 during the week ending 1/7, rising to a level of 1.647 million. Initial jobless claims fell by 15,000 the following week.
Building permits had a much smaller fall in December, decreasing by 1.6% vs. 10.6% the month before. Housing starts fell 1.4% but exceeded expectations.
Existing home sales slipped 1.5% in December to a level of 4.02 million – better than what experts had predicted.