Mortgage Applications On The Rise Again

Today’s economic reports included weekly mortgage applications rising again, and a welcome surprise in pending home sales for January. The NAR (National Association of Realtors) report jumped up 4.6% from December, with Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist attributing “A change in Federal Reserve policy and the reopening of the government as very beneficial to the market”. He added that higher rates had discouraged many buyers in 2018 and they are now returning to the market, which also has a boost in inventory to choose from. Expectations for 2019 existing home sales are estimated at 5.28 million, which is down 1.1% from 2018. Fed Chairman Powell is also giving congressional testimony, and markets are watching closely for any additional insights.

Currently stocks and bonds remain in their respective ranges, with both markets slightly in the red for now. Since bonds are still range bound, we will maintain our locking bias.