New-home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly surged in August to the fastest pace since early 2022, likely lifted by builders’ rampant price cuts and sales incentives to motivate buyers in a jittery economy. Sales of new single-family homes increased 20.5% to a 800,000 annualized rate in a broad advance, according to a government report issued […]
New-home sales unexpectedly jump over 20% in broad advance Read More »
Housing finance firms have been adding staff as falling mortgage rates look more likely, with stronger overall job growth raising the chances of modest business gains for the industry. “This is likely to support some additional decline in rates, which will offer opportunities at the margin for people to buy,” said Doug Duncan, former chief
Mortgage firms add staff as rate cuts look likely Read More »
Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy added 22,000 jobs in August, an anemic growth rate that could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates during their next meeting later this month. BLS reported that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.3%, while the
Economy adds anemic 22,000 jobs in August Read More »
Bloomberg News By firing one of the country’s top economic research officials, President Donald Trump might have instilled less confidence in the legitimacy of government-produced data rather than more. On Friday, Trump terminated Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, claiming that she “rigged” the data in last week’s employment situation report to hurt the
Trump’s BLS firing impacts perceptions more than numbers Read More »
Economic worries and affordability challenges continued to weigh on the housing market, new data shows, hinting that the unusually slow summer sales could portend a more bearish market in the coming months. Housing prices rose 2.3% year-over-year in May, according to new data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. This is the slowest increase in
Pronounced housing slowdown appears in latest index reports Read More »
For years, investors have found themselves at the whim of President Donald Trump’s social-media posts. Now, traders are being forced to pay attention to an unlikely official: Federal Housing Finance Agency head Bill Pulte. Stocks have swung wildly on Pulte’s comments as he opines on everything from credit score pricing, to cryptocurrencies as mortgage assets,
Pulte’s social media posts become must-follow for stock traders Read More »
Fresh US jobs figures took pressure off the Federal Reserve to consider an interest-rate cut later this month, likely leaving the central bank on hold at least until the fall. While employers added more jobs in June than forecast and the unemployment rate ticked lower, growth in private payrolls weakened. US job growth exceeded expectations in June as an
US jobs data eases pressure on Fed Read More »
Mortgage bankers and brokers have been engaging in cautious hiring and they might want to remain careful about it given the complications the latest job numbers add to the rate outlook. At 266,700, nondepositories in the industry added an estimated 1,300 positions during the May homebuying season when compared to revised April numbers as total
Mortgage jobs, others inch up, as rate cut tensions grow Read More »
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg The U.S. economy slowed faster than previously realized, according to the latest revision to the government’s gross domestic product estimate. Overall, the GDP’s rate of contraction was lowered by 30 basis points, from an annualized rate of -0.2% to -0.5%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ latest report, released Thursday. This is
First-quarter GDP revised lower; Fed has other data on deck Read More »
May’s slightly stronger than anticipated employment data dampened lenders’ hopes for further downward pressure on rates in the immediate future, as they added incrementally to payrolls for the spring homebuying season. U.S. employers overall added 139,000 jobs last month, above consensus expectations for around 130,000. Unemployment remained stable at 4.2%. Nonbank mortgage employment, which is
Jobs numbers dash hopes for rate cut, mortgage hiring rises Read More »