Mortgage rates continue to hover at record lows, and the FHFA reports April home values up 5.5% over last year. Low rates and strong prices create opportunities for homebuyers and owners. The International Monetary Fund now expects the U.S. economy to contract by 8%...
Retail sales rose 17.7% in May, well above the 8% forecast. Although still below prior levels, it was the biggest one-month jump of all time. Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned of ‘significant uncertainty’ about the economic recovery in his semi-annual testimony before...
Consumer prices fell for the 3rd straight month in May. Underlying inflation was weak, as demand remained subdued. Low inflation typically helps keep rates low. At their June meeting, the Fed renewed their commitment to purchasing mortgage bonds. Their purchases...
Manufacturing activity rebounded from an 11-yr low in May, the strongest sign yet that the worst of the economic downturn is behind us as businesses reopen. Construction spending rose year over year in April, despite a dip due to the recent lockdowns. Residential...
Consumer Confidence Rises Consumer confidence nudged up in May, suggesting a positive turn for the pandemic-driven economic slump as the country starts to reopen. U.S. retail traffic jumped over Memorial Day weekend, according to cell phone data. Unacast reported...
Mortgage rates continue to hit record lows, and mortgage applications point to a remarkable recovery in homebuying. Purchase apps rose 6% last week, only 1.5% lower than a year ago. More than 8% of U.S. mortgages are now in forbearance, equating to roughly 4.1 million...
Consumer prices saw their largest drop ever in April, as the economy reeled from restrictions imposed to control the coronavirus. The CPI excluding food and energy fell 0.4%. Producer prices also tumbled in April, the largest annual decline since 2015. The data could...
The U.S. services sector contracted for the first time in about a decade last month, as the coronavirus pandemic brought economic activity to a screeching halt. Household debt increased to a total of $14.3 trillion last quarter, the 23rd straight quarterly increase....
The Fed met this week, leaving policy rates unchanged as expected. The Fed committed to continue buying bonds, which should help keep rates low. The 1st qtr GDP declined more than expected, down 4.8% versus estimates of 3.5%. This was the first negative reading since...
A recent Reuters poll shows a majority of economists believe we will see a "U-shaped" economic recovery, in which the economy will stabilize a while before climbing to previous levels. After the first round of paycheck protection funding disappeared quickly, Congress...
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