MBA Mortgage Applications --
Spurred by near record low interest rates, the number of mortgage and refinancing applications last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA Market Composite Index, which measures loan application volume, rose 3.2% from a week earlier. The previous week, mortgage applications dropped 10.5%. The Refinance Index was up 3%, although the refinance share of mortgage activity ticked down to 82.3% from 82.4%. The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.25% from 4.34%.
New Home Sales --
Sales of new single-family homes rose 6.6% to a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate of 307,000, which was ahead of estimates that anticipated 300,000. On Monday, a report showed sales of existing homes also were stronger than expected, rising 10%, and the two reports lend support to some economists who believe housing demand hit a bottom in late summer. The pace of new-home sales is still well below the 414,000 rate in April, when the market was buoyed for a credit for first-time homebuyers that has since expired. There’s also still plenty of supply, with the government estimating supply of 8 months of unsold homes; down from 8.6 months in August. The stock of unsold houses fell 1% from August and dropped 19% from Sept. 2009.
Durable Goods --
Durable goods orders rose 3.3% in September, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Civilian aircraft accounted for most of the increase in September. Aircraft orders rose 105% in September after a 30% decline in the prior month. Boeing Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!ba/quotes/nls/ba (BA 70.03, -1.27, -1.78%) reported strong orders in September compared with August. Details of the report were not as strong as the headline suggested. Excluding the 15.7% rise in transportation orders, durable-goods orders were down 0.8% in September, the second decline in the past three months. Orders for core capital equipment goods fell 0.6% in September after a 4.8% rise in August, a signal that the manufacturing sector is cooling off.
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