Vanguard weekly update (11/27/09)

According to this week's Vanguard report - the economy continues its upward slog, as chronicled by this week's mixed bag of reports. Consumer confidence, consumer spending, and home sales rose more than forecast, but durable-goods orders defied expectations by declining. Meantime, a revised estimate of third-quarter real gross domestic product (GDP) finds output growth softer than initially thought.

For more information on this report please visit the Vanguard(R) Economic Week in Review

Bankrate.com: Mortgage rates drop to all-time low

The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 13 basis points, to 5.06 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders.

That's the lowest rate on the 30-year fixed in the 24-year history of Bankrate's weekly mortgage index. Previously, the all-time low had been 5.13 percent, on April 1 this year. (In case you're wondering, the highest was 12.31 percent -- in the first-ever survey, conducted Sept. 25, 1985.)

One year ago, the mortgage index was 6.33 percent; four weeks ago, it was 5.34 percent.

The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 13 basis points, to 4.48 percent. That, too, is a record low. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage was unchanged, at 4.58 percent. That's a record low dating back to when Bankrate started collecting 5/1 ARM rates at the beginning of 2005. And the benchmark 30-year fixed jumbo fell 29 basis points, to 5.95 percent. It was 5.6 percent in June 2003.

PrivoCorp - the fastest contract processing company for mortgage home loans expects volumes to increase as a result of this. As it is, PrivoCorp is experiencing an increase in the volume of loans submitted as well as the value of the homes being transacted. Although this is not a scientific indicator - seems to indicate that economy is moving in the right direction (at least there is a confidence in the direction of movement).

For more information please check out the bankrate.com website.

Average loan size up slightly to $173k

The average loan file size processed by PrivoCorp increased slightly to $173,807. This is about 10% up from last month.

Would definitely like to get thoughts on what others are seeing out there? Not that this is a scientific predictor, but could be used as an indicator of where things are headed.

It would be nice to get thoughts on what others out there are seeing. PrivoCorp (http://www.privocorp.com/) is a contract processor of mortgage home loans in several states in the country. Please contact us for any information on mortgage home loan processing.

Good news returns?

Economists were given a respite from last week's packed agenda, as only two reports were released this week. The Department of Commerce announced that the U.S. trade deficit widened in September to $36.5 billion. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims fell by 12,000, to 502,000, suggesting that the labor market is starting to improve. With little economic news to digest, the S&P 500 Index rose 2.3% to 1,093 (for a year-to-date total return of about 24%) for the week ended November 13. The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 11 basis points to 3.43% (for a year-to-date increase of 118 basis points).

Vanguard posts a weekly at http://www.vanguard.com/visit/econweek111309. Check out this website for more information.

USA Today: Trial mortgage modifications offered to nearly 1 million

According to the USA Today, Lenders in the government's Making Home Affordable program have extended mortgage modifications to more than 650,000 delinquent borrowers since April — a fifth of those eligible, the government reported Tuesday. For more details visit USAToday.com.

The fundamental question that would need to be answered in our opinion from those opting for this type of modification - what got them to this point in the first place? The government would need to use this information for more structural reforms on the economy front (if that is where the problem is - and more likely than not, is). This modification program is just a band-aid for the problem. Wonder what others think? Please post your comments below.