Spring Home Buying is up due to warm weather, Mortgage rates decreased in latest week, Humor at work is a good thing
March 29, 2017
The spring buying season is well underway and due to unseasonably warm weather in February, potential buyers signed more contracts to purchase homes than expected. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) reported that Pending Home Sales in February jumped 5.5% from January to 112.3. This was the highest level in nearly a year and the second highest level in over a decade. The NAR said the stock market’s continued rise and steady hiring in most markets fueled the increase.
Mortgage rates decreased in the latest week, while the refinance sector of the mortgage industry fell to a near nine-year low. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that the 30-year fixed conforming mortgage rate fell to 4.33% in the latest week, down from 4.46% in the previous week. Jumbo fixed rates also declined falling to 4.26% from 4.40%, while FHA fixed rates fell to 4.24% from 4.33%. The MBA went on to report that the refinance index fell nearly 3% and fell to 44% of total applications. The purchase index rose 1.2% last week and is 4% higher than the same week a year ago.
A recent survey conducted by staffing firm Accountemps revealed that injecting some humor at work could advance employees careers. The survey said that 78% of CFOs interviewed showed that an employee’s sense of humor is at least somewhat important for fitting into the company’s corporate culture, while 22% said that humor is very important. But that doesn’t mean that employees should perform stand up comedy while in the office, and humor doesn’t always fit into every aspect of daily work routines. There are some guidelines that workers should adhere to: show your personality, consider the circumstances, use the right medium, laugh with workers, not at them or at your colleagues expense and last but not least, keep it G-rated.
