The stock market as of
Thursday finished with its 10th straight day or increases. The stock market continues to hit new record
highs as investors remain confident that the mostly positive economic news and
data that has been coming out will continue.
Investors do not seem to be phased by the impending March 27th
budget deadline that would shut down the government if a budget is not
passed.
In Congress the game of chicken continues to be played out by
both Republicans and Democrats and neither side seems to be blinking in regard
to wavering on their budget demands.
Most people believe that something will happen to avert a government
shut down as if that happens, the results could be devastating to the economic
recovery.
Speaking of recovery, more
and more reports show that the economy is continuing a steady path of
growth. Retails sales, real estate and
the labor markets all have been showing significant signs of improvement. The latest figures on retail sales show an
increase of 1%. Despite the payroll
taxes that have gone into effect for 2013, consumers do not seem to be deterred
about shopping.
Mortgage rates have risen
since late last week throughout this week.
Refinance applications as expected have declined as they are very
sensitive to any slight movement in mortgage rates. Purchase applications have declined only
slightly and the demand for housing is expected to continue to grow and
recover.
Nationally there is a
shortage of properties for sale which is creating multiple bid offers on
properties and this is starting to return the market to the seller’s
advantage. Getting these multiple bid
properties to appraise for the higher sales prices continues to be a challenge
as appraisers are not able to locate data to support higher prices.
Additionally, the appraisers
are unwilling to make upward market adjustments to property values based on
demand without enough supporting data.
The end result is it is going to take some time for property values to
really increase regardless of demand because if the appraisers can’t or won’t
support the higher values, the mortgage companies will not lend on the higher
sales price. Next week we will have a
clearer picture on the housing market as many housing reports will be released.
The labor market continues to
recover as first time jobless claims have dropped once again down to 332,000
for the week of March 9th.
This is the second lowest claim level since the recession. The 4 week moving average of claims has hit
its lowest point since the recession.
JJ Mack
916-517-1800
jj.mack@apmortgage.com
www.apmcroseville.com
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