Kay Monigold, Author at Avenue Mortgage, LLC

Whats Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week April 20 2015 Last week’s economic reports included the NAHB Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, Housing Starts, and Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates. Other news included the weekly jobless claims report and consumer sentiment for April.

Mortgage Rates, Jobless Claims Rise

Mortgage rates moved up according to Freddie Mac. The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage increased by one basis point to 3.67 percent. The average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage also increased by one basis point to 2.94 percent.

The average rate for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages rose by five basis points to 2.88 percent. Discount points rose from 0.60 percent for 30-year fixed rate loans to 0.70 percent and fell from 0.60 percent to 0.50 percent for 15-year fixed rate mortgages. Average points for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage held steady at 0.50 percent.

Weekly jobless claims rose to 294,000 against expectations of 281,000 new claims filed and the prior week’s reading of 282,000 new jobless claims filed.

Last week’s reports ended on a positive note with April’s Consumer Sentiment report. The April reading rose nearly three points to 95.9 as compared to the projected reading of 93.5 and March’s reading of 93.0.

Home Builder Confidence Increases, Housing Starts Up

The National Association of Home Builders Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) rose to a reading of 56 against the March reading of 52. Builder confidence rose in all three components comprising the HMI. Low mortgage rates and improved labor markets were cited as factors influencing builder confidence.

Regional markets showed mixed results. Three month moving averages showed that builder confidence rose by one point to a reading of 56 in the South; the reading for the Northwest was unchanged at 42. And the Midwestern region lost two points for a builder confidence reading of 54. The West lost three points for a builder confidence reading of 58. The NAHB says that any reading over 50 indicates that more builders are confident about housing market conditions than those who are not.

Housing starts rose in March according to the Department of Commerce, but fell short of expectations. 926,000 housing starts were reported with expectations of 1.04 million starts. February’s reading was 908,000 starts. Lingering winter weather conditions contributed to fewer than expected housing starts.

What’s Ahead

This week’s scheduled economic news includes reports on new and existing home sales, the FHFA Home Price Index and weekly reports on mortgage rates from Freddie Mac along with weekly jobless claims.

Pre-sale Painting: Color Combinations to Use - and Avoid - when Painting Your Home One of the more common steps that homeowners will take when preparing to list their home for sale involves repainting the walls. Walls can easily give the home a worn, drab look when they have visible signs of dirty, smudgy fingerprints and other unsightly blemishes.

While repainting the walls can have a whitewashing effect that instantly makes the home look cleaner, brighter and more appealing, the color combinations that you choose for your home should be considered with care. You have a rainbow of possibilities for your space when preparing your home for sale, but you want to choose colors that will have broad or universal appeal to buyers and that will showcase your home in the best possible light.

Neutral or Muted Hues are Ideal

Many homeowners love to paint their walls stylish or trendy colors, and they may dislike the banal look of beige walls throughout their home. While this may or may not be what you prefer for your home, keep in mind that you are trying to transform your home so that it has broad appeal to the buyers. The colors you choose should not reflect personal taste or preference. Instead, they should be selected based on colors that may be more likely to appeal to most and that may go well with the color of furnishings most already own. Neutral or muted hues are ideal. These lighter colors can also make smaller rooms seem larger, and they can make your entire home seem cleaner.

Avoid Bold, Dramatic Color Combinations

You may have some colors on your walls that you absolutely love, and you may be sad to see them go. However, when you have a bold, dramatic color combination in a room, a buyer may instantly be taken aback by such an intense color scheme. The buyer’s attention may then be focused on your interior design efforts rather than on the home itself, and this is not beneficial to your goal of selling your home. In addition, some may love your bold choices, but many may not. They may think about how those colors would not go well with their furnishings, and they may instantly start thinking about how they would need to work hard to repaint the walls after moving in. The last thing you want is for a buyer to think about your home as needing work.

If you are preparing your home to list for sale, repainting one room or several may be at the top of your to-do list. When you are selecting your paint colors, lean toward neutral hues that may have better appeal toward a larger group of home buyers.

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – April 20, 2015

Pre-sale Painting: Color Combinations to Use – and Avoid – when Painting Your Home

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