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Market Perspective


Inflation Climbs
Overview: Since the Federal Reserve meeting on January 26, the economic news has revealed no significant surprises. Inflation continued...
Feb 2, 20222 min read


Fed Policy Changes Coming
Over the past week, investors were focused on Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting. Mortgage rates fell ahead of the meeting, but rose...
Jan 26, 20222 min read


Retail Sales Retreat, Housing Starts Rise
Since the start of the year, concerns about higher inflation have been negative for mortgage markets. While there was no significant...
Jan 19, 20222 min read


Inflation Surges
Overview: Over the past week, the major economic data revealed that both wage increases and overall inflation rose slightly more than...
Jan 12, 20222 min read


Manufacturing Slows as Labor Market Remains Tight
Unrelated to any specific news, mortgage rates climbed steadily during the first few days of the new year and ended at the highest levels...
Jan 5, 20222 min read


Inflation, Omicron, Consumer Spending Remain Concerns
Overview: Over the past week, news about the omicron variant, stronger than expected inflation data, a shortfall in consumer spending,...
Dec 15, 20212 min read


Mixed Labor Market Report
Overview: Over the past week, easing concerns about the impact of the omicron variant on global economic growth was negative for mortgage...
Dec 8, 20212 min read


The Fed and The Pandemic
Overview: Over the past week, concerns about a new COVID variant caused investors to shift to less risky assets, which was positive for...
Dec 1, 20212 min read


Services Sector Shines, Fed to Taper Bond Purchases Starting This Month
Overview: There were no surprises from Wednesday’s highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting. While the services sector data surpassed...
Nov 3, 20212 min read


Strong Home Sales
Overview: While home sales were stronger than expected, the economic data released over the past week was roughly neutral overall, and...
Oct 27, 20212 min read


Consumer Spending Rises
Overview: Over the past week, stronger than expected retail sales data was negative for mortgage rates, and rates ended the week a little...
Oct 20, 20212 min read


Shortfall in Job Gains
Overview: Over the past week, investors viewed the key labor market and inflation reports as roughly neutral overall, and mortgage rates...
Oct 13, 20212 min read


Elevated Inflation
Overview: It was a volatile week for mortgage markets, as investors evaluated comments from a series of Federal Reserve officials. In the...
Sep 1, 20212 min read


Powerful Job Growth
Overview: A couple of key economic reports were the primary influences on mortgage rates over the past week. Strong labor market data far...
Aug 11, 20212 min read


Fed Policy Unchanged
Overview: Over the past week, the focus was on Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting, but it provided no unexpected news or guidance that...
Jul 28, 20212 min read


Consumer Spending Rises
Overview: Over the past week, increased concern about the spread of COVID and its potential to slow global economic growth was positive...
Jul 21, 20212 min read


Home Sales Fall Again
Overview: Mortgage rates rose sharply following the June 16 Federal Reserve meeting, but they have recovered from most of that increase....
Jun 23, 20212 min read


Inflation, Manufacturing Activity Rise
Overview: While the economic data released over the past week reinforced the view that inflation is moving higher, the major reports were...
Jun 2, 20212 min read


Home Sales Dip, Prices Keep Climbing
Overview: During a light week for economic reports, what stood out was weaker than expected housing data. As a result, mortgage rates...
May 26, 20211 min read


New-Home Sales Soar; Fed Policy Unchanged
Overview: It was a quiet week for mortgage markets. Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting contained no surprises, and the housing data was...
Apr 28, 20212 min read
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