Delaware Mortgage Rates Weekly Update for September 15, 204

John Thomas September 14, 2014 Tags: Delaware Home Loans, Delaware Mortgage Rates, Delaware mortgages, John Thomas, mortgage loans, primary residential mortgage

Delaware Mortgage Rates weekly mortgage market update for the Week of September 15, 2014, by John R. Thomas with Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. in Newark, Delaware. John Thomas is the Newark, Delaware Branch Manager and the author of the best selling book, Your Guide to Buying Your First Home in Delaware. Call 302-703-0727 to get a mortgage planning consultation or APPLY ONLINE for Delaware mortgage loan

Delaware Mortgage Rates moved higher all week last week to end the week about where rates were in May 2014. The fear that the Feds will raise the short term interest rates sooner rather than later sparked a sell-off in the Bond Market as well as the Stock Market which caused interest rates to move higher. If you look at the mortgage bond chart below, you can see that each day last week closed lower than the date before with the series of red candles. Mortgage bonds broke beneath floors of support and have stopped just above the 200 days moving average. If bonds stop here next week they could rally higher but there is still some downside before hit the next floor of support and the short term trend is for bonds to continue to fall. Therefore we are continuing to recommend LOCKING your Delaware Mortgage Rate if closing in the next couple days to several weeks as the risk is still for rates to move higher. We do see a recovery in bonds as they are currently oversold but the recovery could be several weeks down the road.

In Economic News, Weekly Initial Jobless Claims were released on Thursday and came in at the highest level since June at 315,000 claims. This was higher than the 300k expected. Last weeks number was also revised higher from 302,000 claims to 304,000 claims. Jobless claims have certainly reversed course from trending lower and now are trending higher and moved above the 300,000 claims mark for the past two weeks. We will continue to watch this to see if this is short term volatility or if this is a sign of weakness forming in the labor market.

Retail Sales for August 2014 showed that consumers opened their wallets as retail sales increased by 0.6% which were supported by a surge in auto sales. Retail Sales for July 2014 were also revised higher from 0% to 0.3% gain. This shows that the economy is picking up as consumers are spending more.

The Consumer Sentiment for September 2014 was released on Friday and it came in at 84.6 which was increased from 82.5 in August 2014. This report shows consumers are feeling better about the economy heading into the holiday season which could mean that the last 3 months of the year could bode well for the economy if consumer spending picks up. We also saw business inventories were up 0.4% in July 2014. Increasing inventory is a sign that businesses feel good about the economy and that consumers will continue spending.

The U.S. Dollar continues to strengthen as the rest of the world economies continue to struggle. The rise in the value of the dollar has been seen at the pump as gasoline prices have continued to drop. The price of oil is pegged to the Dollar so as the dollar strengthens, the price of oil goes down. As the dollar continues to strengthen we may see a decline in Stocks as it will become more expensive to do business overseas.

In housing news, RealtyTrac reported Foreclosure Filings for August 2014 declined by 9 percent from a year ago to 117,000. This shows that the real estate market continues to improve. This measure includes bank repossessions, default notices, and scheduled auctions.

The Veterans Administration (VA) has officially recognized same-sex marriages for VA benefits for VA home loans. This clarification was necessary regarding home loan benefits and guaranty as the VA regulations limit the use of VA entitlement on loans with co-borrowers who are not married. In order to use the benefit for same-sex marriage, your marriage must be recognized by the state where you and/or your spouse resided at the time of marriage or where you and/or your spouse resided when you filed your claim. Loans with same-sex marriage must also be underwritten by the VA to prepare for longer closing times.