Chicago Home Options

Ginger Bonneau

  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
    • First Time Home Seller Tips
    • First Time Home Buyer Tips
  • Reviews
  • Contact Ginger

Retail Sales Weak In December; Home Affordability Gets A Boost

January 13, 2011 by Ginger Bonneau Leave a Comment

Retail Sales (2009-2010)Consumers keep spending, the economy keeps growing.

Mortgage rates are easing lower this morning on just-released, slightly worse-than-expected Retail Sales data from December 2010.

Excluding motor vehicles and auto parts, December’s sales receipts were $1.5 billion higher from November. Analysts had expected a number north of $2 billion.

Despite falling short of estimates, however, December’s reading is the highest in Retail Sales history, surpassing the previous record set in July 2008, set during the recession. In addition, December’s strong numbers helped 2010’s year-over-year numbers go positive for the first time in 3 years.

Although the data is a mixed bag for Wall Street, home affordability in Lincoln Park is improving today.

The link between Retail Sales and home affordability may not be up-front obvious, but in a post-recession economy like ours, it’s often tight. Retail Sales is another name for “consumer spending” and consumer spending makes up more that 70% of the U.S. economy.

As spending grows, the economy tends to, too.

Investors recognize this and start chasing “risk”. It becomes a boost for the stock market, but those gains are made at the expense of “safe” asset classes which include mortgage-backed bonds. Mortgage-backed bonds are the basis for conforming and FHA mortgage rates so, as bond markets sell off, asset prices fall and rates move up.

Thankfully, rate shoppers will avoid that scenario today — at least for today. December’s Retail Sales results are a factor in the bond market’s early-day improvement. Conforming and FHA mortgage rates across the state of IL should be lower today.

Despite the good news, if you’re shopping for a mortgage, consider locking your rate as soon as possible. Mortgage rates are coming off a 2-week rally and look poised to reverse appear — especially with a full docket of data due for next week. As mortgage rates rise, purchasing power falls.

Filed Under: Retail Sales Tagged With: Home Affordability,Consumer Spending

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Ginger

Contact Ginger


Consultant
Office: 312.254.0200
Mobile: 312.608.1125

Connect with Me

Let’s Keep In Touch!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Recent Articles

  • Buy A Home This Year To Build Wealth
  • What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – March 1, 2021
  • An Overview Of Private Mortgage Insurance
  • The Top Tips For Impressing A Potential Buyer At Showings

Looking For Something?

Categories

Our Location

1586 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60642

Copyright © 2021 · Powered by MySMARTblog