March 3, 2010
March 3, 2010 by admin
March has started where February left off for the mortgage industry. Long term interest rates remain near five percent for thirty year loan terms, hovering near the lowest levels the market has witnessed in the past two years. Yields on the closely followed ten year bond have hovered around 3.6% for the past thirty days, providing consumers with a great window to explore home refinancing or securing great interest rates to purchase a new home. Interest rates for fifteen year loans remain in the mid four percent range and have been extremely stable since the beginning of the year.
The market will be eagerly anticipating the non farm payroll report for the month of February due out this Friday. Today the market received some great news with the ADP non farm payroll report which showed a drop in job losses to its lowest levels in the last 18 months. The great news for the labor markets did not help push the stock market to move higher. Reports for the manufacturing industry and the beige book report disrupted the markets initial move higher.
The markets are closely following developments from the White House and Congress as the government moves closer to hammering out some direction with the future of health care. President Obama is pushing hard for Congress to come up with a compromise in legislation to try and get health care reform accomplished. The markets have been concerned that the government’s reform legislation could end up driving the health care industry significantly lower.
International markets will also impact the direction that the stock market moves as well as influence loan interest rates. The Fed’s announcement last week to keep loan rates near historic lows should help to remove some of the uncertainty over the future of interest rates for the balance of the year. With a large focus on debt and financing, the international markets have become a major influence year to date on the markets inability to sustain a long term rally.
Consumer confidence remains quite jaded and will certainly be a challenge for helping drive growth this year. The lack of job growth from 2009 has also left the real estate industry in a state of flux. Home sales have fallen off of their recovery pace from last year and remain challenged as buyers are not motivated to purchase despite great interest rates and government tax rebates. New home sales and building permits could linger below 2009 levels and further pressure the home building industry this year. A great report from the labor markets this Friday could go a long way towards helping to restore confidence and push the markets to move higher.