The Mortgage Note

 Wednesday, March 26, 2008 8:54:22 AM

Existing home sales increased in February for the first time, recovering some of the losses from January.  The report on new home sales for February will be released today; watch for an update when that information becomes publicly available.

The March Consumer Confidence Index, which evaluates the willingness of the consumer to spend, was down to a five-year low for the month, to 64.5; it was projected to be 73.4.  This translates to good news for bonds, which translates to good news for mortgage rates overall.  However, there is still some instability in the stock market, so this week will probably be a bit of up and down for rates.

Analysts expect the February Durable Goods Orders Report from the Commerce Department to show an increase of 0.8%; a larger increase will mean increased stock activity, and decreased bond activity, which leads to increasing mortgage rates today....

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