This week’s news is highlighted by the consumer. Today we see Consumer Confidence numbers and Friday we see Consumer Sentiment. Consumer Confidence numbers are based on a survey of consumer attitudes on present economic conditions and expectations of the future. Consumer Sentiment is conducted by the University of Michigan and questions 500 households on their financial conditions and overall feelings about the economy. Consumer Sentiment is directly related to the strength of consumer spending.
New Home Sales will be released Wednesday and based on the Existing Home Sales report last week, this should also be a positive report as well. Supply of new homes has dropped to seven months which is the lowest level in 2 ½ years.
GDP and Jobless claims come out Thursday. The jobs report is always watched closely, but GDP should steal the attention this week as it is expected to show the first positive growth since the second quarter of 2008. The market will be watching very closely how this report plays out and could make Thursday a very busy day.
Rate Watch:
Despite an overall positive week, rates did not improve. 30 year fixed rates are still in the 5% range and unlikely to move much due to the ceiling of resistance I talked about last week. I am still recommending locking in any deals of 30 days or less.
I’ll let you know if anything changes.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!!
Mike
Mike Haeffner, CMPS
Vice President
1st American Trust Mortgage
10270 Old Columbia Road, Suite 150
Columbia, MD 21046