Desk of Bob Siefert

Gross Domestic Product Falls Short

Amid all the turmoil surrounding the US debt ceiling talks, weaker than expected economic data and increased concerns about Europe helped mortgage rates improve this week. A lack of progress in the debt ceiling talks has left investors with a high level of uncertainty, causing a great deal of volatility in mortgage broker markets. The [...]

No Change From Fed

Investors focused on the Fed meeting and Greece this week. A reduced growth forecast from the Fed and continued concerns about the situation in Greece helped mortgage rates move a little lower. As widely expected, the Fed made no change in the fed funds rate, and Fed policy appears unlikely to change in the near-term. [...]

Inflation Higher

I looks like a great time to buy multi-family units. There was a lot of volatility during the middle of the week, but mortgage rates ended nearly unchanged. Weak manufacturing data offset higher than expected inflation readings. Similarly, increased social unrest in Greece early in the week was balanced by renewed hopes on Friday for [...]

Dimon Asks Bernanke Whether Post-Crisis Rules Are Holding Back U.S. Growth

Here’s an article I found today that I thought was very interesting! – Bob Siefert By Dawn Kopecki – Jun 7, 2011 5:02 PM PT June 8 (Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon asked Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke whether regulators have gone too far by reining in the [...]

Mortgage Loans | Jobs Data Falls Short

- From the Desk of Bob Siefert Friday’s Employment report was a disappointing indicator of the current state of the US economic recovery. This report, along with just about every other economic measure released this week, was weaker than expected. As a result, mortgage rates fell to a new low for the year. Against a [...]

Mortgage Loans | Mortgage Rates Reach Low for Year

From the desk of Bob Siefert Many factors were favorable for mortgage rates this week. Weaker than expected economic data, strong results for the Treasury auctions, and renewed concerns about weaker European countries all helped mortgage rates end the week at the lowest levels of the year. All of the major economic data released during [...]