This summer, economists were predicting that 175,000 new jobs were created in June and then payroll processor ADP shared their own estimate of 368,000 with the markets.

In a panic, mortgage rates moved higher because - well, what if ADP was right?!?

The actual figure turned out to be 121,000.

That major miss jolted the [...]

Washington Mutual-owned Long Beach Mortgage announced yesterday that its underwriting guidelines are changing, effective Monday, January 8.

Following the lead of a host of other sub-prime lenders including large-players Fremont and New Century, Long Beach is hoping to avoid the fate of sub-prime lenders Ownit, Sebring Capital, and Mortgage Lenders Network. All three closed their [...]

In observance of President Ford’s death, the NYSE, NASDAQ and the Federal Reserve Board are closed today. This marks the first time that markets are closed for four consecutive days since the days following the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Despite the closures, the Federal Reserve’s regional banks will continue to operate as usual so [...]

As we head into the last day of trading in 2006, there are a lot of market players that have already left for the long weekend. That's good for them, but rough for everyone else left behind.

With so many traders on vacation this week, there are fewer buyers and fewer sellers at any given [...]

Yesterday's New Home Sales report revealed the following signs of immense strength in the housing sector and mortgage rates are moving higher on the news.

Sales registered 1.047 million versus the expectation of 1.015 million — a difference of 3.15%. Sales were revised higher by 46,000 over the past three months. Inventory levels dropped to [...]

Did you know:

After 30 years, a 30-year mortgage term is paid in full. After 30 years, a 40-year mortgage term has 57% of the original borrowed amount remaining. After 30 years, a 50-year mortgage term has 81% of the original borrowed amount remaining.

Of course, it’s not all bad for the holders of longer-term [...]

With many traders on vacation this week, the impact of economic reports on mortgage rates will be amplified.

Specifically, be wary of this week’s New Home Sales and Existing Homes Sales reports. Since July, the Fed has repeatedly told us that housing will lead to an economic slowdown. As a result, markets have placed housing [...]