Mortgage Rates/Comments for Tuesday, 9/21/10

September 21, 2010 by Fairhope Realty Group
Good Tuesday morning folks,
After a nice 141-point advance in the stock market yesterday and closing at the highest levels since mid May, the U.S. stock market is mixed so far this morning even with a better-than-expected report out on housing.  Investors are also looking forward to the policy statement by the Federal Reserve later today (I had thought that their policy statement would be released on Wednesday – sorry about that).  As we’ve discussed, analysts are looking for different “signals” by the Fed which could give a hint of the direction of interest rates in the future.
As of 10:25 AM, the stock market is down about 6 points to 10,746 on the Dow while the bond market is stronger so far today.  It looks like investors are just marking time this morning until they hear what the Fed has to say early this afternoon.
The Commerce Department reported this morning that U.S. New Housing Starts for August surged 10.5% on an annually-adjusted basis from July’s numbers.  Today’s report showed the highest level of housing starts in four months and was much better than analysts had expected.  But that upbeat report is tempered by the fact that new jobs are still not being created at a fast enough pace to sustain a high level of new construction growth going forward.  Also, Building Permits for August rose 1.8% from July, but were still down 6.7% from the same time last year.  Of course, we like to see positive numbers, but again we need to see a brisker pace of jobs growth in order to sustain a strong housing recovery.  We’re just not there yet.  But hopefully, we’re getting closer.
Today’s Synovus Mortgage rate sheet (attached) is showing lower rates.  Our 30-year fixed mortgage rates are 4.25% for conventional, FHA, and VA loans and 4.5% for USDA loans.  That’s 1/8% lower than yesterday’s rates.
And as always, if I can help you with any mortgage needs, please feel free to give me a call at my Coastal Bank & Trust office at 626-7566, or on my cell at 232-7753, or just drop me an email.  Thanks again and I hope you all have a good selling Tuesday.
Danny Corte
Mortgage Loan Originator
Synovus Mortgage Corp.
(with Coastal Bank & Trust)
If you’d like an analysis like this done for a specific neighborhood or town in Baldwin County, AL, please feel free to call or email me and I’ll be glad to put one together for you.
Also, if you’d like more information on the Fairhope, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Daphne or Baldwin County  markets, or on specific properties down here, feel free to email me at Terryl@FairhopeRealtyGroup.com; or call me at 251-990-8838.
You can also visit my web-site and search the MLS on your own at www.FairhopeRealtyGroup.com.