The Lending Landscape - a view from our friends at Mortgage Capital Partners:

I work with a host of terrific 3rd party vendors and providers, including Lenders, Title & Escrow Companies, Financial Planners and more. One of my go-to Lenders is Graham Wong with Mortgage Capital Partners. He sends me frequent market updates and I wanted to post his recent musings on the market to this blog page. I encourage you to visit their site for more information - http://www.mortgagecapitalpartners.com/

The lending landscape - a view from our friends at Mortgage Capital Partners:

Minutes from the Fed’s last FOMC meeting point to more policy rate hikes ahead. Officials have seen an increase in economic growth and an uptick in inflation. The Fed doesn’t control mortgage rates, yet rates are influenced by the Fed’s actions. As the Fed raises policy rates this year, mortgage rates will likely follow. Jobless claims hit a near 45-year low last week, pointing to strong job growth in February. A strong labor market supports the growing economy.

Existing home sales fell unexpectedly in January, possibly due to tight inventory and rising mortgage rates. Home supply has declined for 32 straight months. New housing starts were up though, to a 1-yr high of 1.326 million in January. Building permits soared to their highest level since 2007. While builders are busy creating new homes, condos are lacking. Condos are 7% of the multifamily market (down from an average of 22% from 1985-2003).