Marion Skubi

From RealTrends.com:   By Steve Murray   This past week saw reports that for the first time in four months mortgage interest rates are headed up – slightly.  Some say this is due to signs that housing sales are percolating upwards.  Regardless, a rate increase is not a bad thing.  It will likely cause some of those sitting on the fence to get into the market.

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From RealTrends.com:  Home sales could turn out sunnier than expected this spring based on data coming out of the rental market, according to economists at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Jay Brinkmann, the trade group’s chief economist, said recently that apartment owners have raised their rates, in particular large investment trust Equity Residential ($56.91 0%). That’s coupled with fewer people, roughly 60%, who intend to renew a lease, according to a study by Kingsley Associates.

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From RealTrends.com: The Federal Reserve announced that it intends to keep rates at their record lows at least through the end of 2014 and that their targeted inflation rate is to be 2%.  The Fed announced its intention to be more transparent in communicating the direction of its rate guidance and the factors that it uses to measure the economy’s performance.

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RealTrends.com: Many housing market forecasters have said that 2012 will be the year that housing turns the corner.  For those who closely follow housing there is abundant evidence that housing has already turned the corner.  Unit sales were up in December for the sixth consecutive month, without any new Federal government assistance (other than record low rates) and according to NAR pending home sales were up 11 months in a row, even though December’s numbers appear to have drifted down somewhat.

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From RealTrends.com:  Mortgage applications jumped 23.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended January 13, 2012.  The increase in the Market Composite Index, a measure of loan application volume maintained by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reflected improvements in both the purchase and refinance business following the traditionally slow Christmas and New Year holiday period.  On an unadjusted basis the index increased 38.1 percent.

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By Steve Murray, REAL Trends.com: Last week several dozen Democratic members of the House of Representatives signed and sent a letter to Messrs. Geithner and Bernanke asking them to appoint someone new to run FHFA, the Federal entity that oversees Fannie and Freddie.  They did so because Edward DeMarco, who now runs it, is focusing on his mandate which is to protect the American taxpayer from further losses at the GSE’s.  He sees his mandate as doing just that and not on loosening standards to stimulate the housing market.

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From RealTrends.com: The December 2011 report shows that rate of housing sales increased substantially on an annualized basis from November 2011 and above a year ago.  Overall, December 2011 unit sales were up 3.7% from a year ago.

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