Channing Lester- Mortgage Loans - Barrett Financial Group

07/08/2022

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that were 372,000 jobs created in June, which was stronger than expectations of 250,000. There was a -74,000 revision to April and May, which tempers the optimism slightly. While the headline looked strong, the household survey told a different picture.....

07/01/2022

Existing Home Sales, which measure closings on existing homes, showed that sales were down 3.4% in May at a 5.41M annualized pace. This likely measured activity in March and April, including much of the rise in rates, but not all of it. On a year over year basis, sales are down 8.6%, which is still....

06/14/2022

The Q2 Zillow and Pulsenomics Home Price Expectations Survey, which is something that we take part in and is a survey of the top 100 to 150 economists in the US, showed some interesting forecasts on housing: Of the 114 economists surveyed this time, participants expect on average 4.8% appreciation p...

06/08/2022

05/05/2022

Housing Starts increased 0.3% in March at an annualized rate of 1.79M units. Year over year, Starts are now up 3.9%. Single family, which is most important, decreased by 1.7% are now down 4.4% from last year. Permits rose by 0.4% last month and are up 6.7% on a year over year basis. Single family pe...

05/03/2022

Pending Home Sales, which measures signed contracts on existing homes, fell 1.2% in March, which was stronger than the 1.8% decline expected. Sales are now down 8.2% year over year. There is no doubt that higher interest rates could be impacting demand, but this is still very strong considering the....

04/26/2022

The FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) released their House Price Index, which measures home price appreciation on single-family homes with conforming loan amounts. While you can have a million-dollar home with a conforming loan amount, it’s typically measuring your lower priced homes. Prices r...

04/20/2022

Existing Home Sales, which measure closings on existing homes, showed that sales were down 2.7% in March at a 5.77M annualized pace. This likely measured activity in January and February, including some of the move higher in rates, but not all of it. On a year over year basis, sales are only down 4....

03/24/2022

Comparing the payments of both loans, the difference of $298 is a 28% increase from last year. But you cannot just look at the payment on it’s own – Incomes have increased by 6% since last year…but that’s all wage growth. Private sector wages have gone up by almost 10%, which is likely more ...

03/04/2022

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that were 678,000 jobs created in February, which was much more than expectations of 400,000. There were 92,000 in positive revisions to December and January. The Unemployment Rate decreased from 4.0% to 3.8%. The unemployment rate is derived from the ho...

02/16/2022

Home prices should continue to be supported in 2022 due to demographics. The chart shows that population growth has continued to climb while inventory levels have been on a steep decline, now standing at record low levels. This clearly shows an imbalance between supply and demand.