If you have been keeping up with current market conditions, you know we are in very tenuous times. The economic news of the day is greatly affecting the financial markets on a national and international level. I am going to send you several emails in the next few days outlining what exactly is happening, and the WHY behind it all. As always, feel free to email or call me with your questions or concerns.

GOOD, BAD OR UGLY?

All of the above, if we’re looking at last week and home loan rates. Good news came in the form of friendly inflation and employment news, which helped rates on conforming home loans improve by about .125% over the course of the week. “Conforming” home loans are those under $625,500, and subject to very standard credit, income and asset qualifying, nothing exotic, outside the box or fancy – and there’s a reason those are being singled out here as having improved. More on that later.

A little bad news came by way of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, revising previous personal savings rate estimates higher, but showing that Americans still save less than 1% of their income. If you’re not sure that you are preparing effectively for your future plans, like retirement or sending your kids to college, please get in touch with me, and let’s review your situation to see if I have an idea or referral that might help.

The ugly last week – well, it was really ugly. The media screamed all week about issues in the mortgage industry, particularly impacting what are called “non-conforming” home loans; those that are dollar amounts higher than $625,500, or with credit, income or assets not falling under traditional guidelines. Many of those rates got excessively ugly, in many cases, overnight. Why? It’s an interesting story, and not one that even the media seems to understand very well. But read on, as this week’s Mortgage Market View unpacks all the details…and what you can do now to make sure you won’t be impacted.