Last week, cash from around the world flowed into the relative security of US Treasuries, as the Euro-zone debt crisis continues to grow.  Both the volume and speed of this global “flight-to-safety” surprised analysts.  The net effect of this major movement of money pushed down Treasury yields, dragging mortgage rates downward.  According to Freddie Mac, [...]

Mortgage rates again moved downward last week, as financial markets continued to absorb the reality of the challenges in Europe, especially in Greece.  Additionally, concerns over other countries’ debt levels generated some introspection here over our burgeoning debt levels.  On a brighter note, economic news continues to point toward recovery.  Last week, Retail Sales rose [...]

Under more normal conditions, mortgage rates would very likely have risen last week given the good economic news.  According to the Labor Department, 290,000 new jobs were added to the economy.  The unemployment rate did tic upward, but this was due to individuals who previously had stopped looking for work and have now returned to [...]

Mortgage rates continued to remain fairly flat last week, even as the recovery seemed to solidify its footing.  The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as expected.  The accompanying policy statement did note that “economic activity has continued to strengthen and that the labor market is beginning to improve.”  While the Fed believes that it [...]