Trigger Leads – with the market shift and 80% reduction in refinance from this time last year many companies are purchasing ‘trigger leads’ which the credit bureaus can legally sell. After getting your credit pulled for a pre-approval the 3 credit bureaus will legally sell your information to companies that will then ‘soft pull’ your credit. Then they will spam text/call you in the hope to capture your business. Check my mortgage tips page to learn how you can opt out of these calls as well as ask your representative to vote on a bill that will prevent them.
Mortgage Rates – improved very slightly this week as the price of Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) increased in response to the European Central Bank raising their interest rate for the first time in 11 years. MBS ended the week above an important layer of support. We’ll see if that level sticks this time. Mortgage rates are up approximately 2.625% from this time last year.
Jobs – the number of people filing for unemployment for the first time increased again last week and is now above 250,000 for the first time. The four week moving average is at the highest level since December.
Manufacturing – both the Philadelphia and NY manufacturing index showed firms are not optimistic about future business.
Home Sales – declined by 5.4% in June and are down 14% year over year. Inventory increased from 1.16M to 1.26M and is up 2.4% on a year over year basis. There is now a 3 months supply of homes (balanced market is closer to 6) but they are still selling very rapidly, averaging only 14 days on the market. First Time Home Buyers accounted for 30% of sales, cash buyers 25, investors 16%, and foreclosures/short sales less than 1% of all transactions.
Mortgage Applications – to purchase homes declined by 7% last week and are down 19% year over year. Refinances are down 80% year over year and make up 31% of transactions.