Daily News 7/29/2015

July 29, 2015

Wednesday – July 29

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported today that total mortgage application volume was little changed in the latest week, while mortgage rates ticked lower. The MBA said its Market Composite Index, a measure of total loan application volume, rose 0.8% for the week ended July 24, 2015. The refinance index rose 2%, while the purchase index was unchanged. The MBA went to say that the average contract rate for 30-year fixed rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.17% from 4.23%.

A rise in home prices is beginning to push potential buyers to the sidelines. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported that Pending Home Sales (signed contracts to purchase existing homes) fell 1.8% in June from May. This was below the +1% expected. The NAR also said limited is constraining sales as “low inventories in many markets reduced choices and pushed prices above some buyers’ comfort level.”

United Parcel Service (UPS) reported earnings this week; the shipping company is considered by many to be a barometer of the U.S. economy. UPS is the biggest member of the Dow transports, which economists feel to have a good pulse of the economy. UPS said it sees the U.S. economy slowing, which is somewhat contradictory of what Fed Chair Janet Yellen a few weeks ago when she said that she sees the economy strengthening in the second half of 2015. The big reason that shipping companies may have their finger on the pulse of the economy is because they are the middle men between what goods are produced, and for what people consume.