Mortgage Market Commentary

Market Commentary - Tue, Mar 03

Pending home sales fell 7.7% in January as job losses mount and consumer confidence fell. The National Association of Realtors said today that the index is down 6.4% since last year. January's pending sales rose in the West, and fell in the Northeast, South and Midwest.

According to the ICSC-Goldman Sach's Store Sales Index, same store retail sales were weaker during the last week of February, falling by -0.6% week-over-week. Sales also fell by -0.8% on a weekly year-over-year basis. This could be further evidence consumers are "saving more and spending less" during these tough and uncertain economic times.

The Fed is set to launch yet another program to help the ailing economy. The Federal Reserve will lend up to $200B for loans to consumers for education, autos and credit cards. The new program is called the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility and was supposed to begin in February. The program should generate up to $1 trillion in lending for businesses and households.

Stock markets are rebounding today after the recent carnage that has taken place. Just some facts:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 299 points yesterday and fell to 6763 - a level not seen since Oct. 1996.
The Dow hit an all time high of 14,164 back on Oct. 9, 2007
The S&P 500 stock index came close to closing below 700 for the first time since 1996.
Brought to you, courtesy of The Mortgage Market Guide.

The market commentary material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, there is no guarantee it is without error.