Chris Richter

Mortgage Thoughts

• 90% of Case-Shiller Markets Improve in April June 30, 2010
  As a Chicago mortgage lender, I don't mind the cities on Case-Shiller's list, but it is only 20 cities. It does nothing to help forecast the price of your lake home in southwest Michigan. […]
• Interest Rate Predictions | Week of June 28, 2010 June 29, 2010
  This Week's Interest Rate PredictionsMonday opened aggressively again. Another 50 basis point gain. As a reminder, in the good ol' days we used to call any double-digit day "volatile." Now it's the norm. […]
• May 2010 Existing Home Sales: Better Than The Headlines Suggest June 23, 2010
  The Existing Home Sales report shows a slight drop in May. It was the first drop after a three-month run up, but it is still the the second highest figure since November 2009. […]
• Thoughts on Mortgage Rates in a Fed Week June 22, 2010
  There almost zero expectation that the Fed will change the Fed Funds Rate tomorrow when the meeting adjourns, but that does not mean that we're forecasting mortgage rates to remain unchanged. […]
• Interest Rate Predictions This Week : June 21, 2010 June 21, 2010
  FHA and conforming rates both saw lower rates causing a surge in refinancing activity. For a brief moment on Thursday, mortgage bond prices reached their best levels of the year. […]
• National Mortgage Closing Costs Higher June 9, 2010
  Somewhat surprisingly, the national average for closing costs is going higher while mortgage rate averages are going lower. […]
• Interest Rate Predictions: Week of June 7, 2010 June 7, 2010
  Conforming and FHA mortgage rates dropped for the fifth time in six weeks and, once again, rates are trolling back near all-time lows. […]
• Jobs Report Crushes Interest Rate Predictions June 4, 2010
  This week's Interest Rate Predictions were watching today's jobs report. First Friday of the month we get the Bureau of Labor Statistics' "Non-Farm Payrolls" report from the prior month. […]
• Consumer Confidence Surges: Pressure on Chicago Home Loan Rates June 2, 2010
  A recap of yesterday's weekly Mortgage Rate Predictions: High confidence = good economy = worse mortgage rates.Well, confidence surged, yielding the highest reading in 34 months. Just think about that, for nearly three years we've been looking at monthly readings that have averaged below a 50% reading. […]
• Mortgage Rate Predictions: Week of June 1, 2010 June 1, 2010
  For the first time in five weeks, both conforming and FHA Chicago mortgage rates rose. The all-out global financial crisis was downgraded to a somewhat global financial crisis and we saw stocks gain at the expense of bonds, including mortgage backed securities. […]