Forecast for the Week 

The middle of the week is chock full of key reports, and all eyes will be on the Fed meeting.

• Important housing news will be released this week, beginning on Tuesday with Housing Starts and Building Permits. Existing Home Sales will also be reported on Thursday.
• Weekly Initial Jobless Claims will be released on Thursday. Last week’s claims came in at 332,000, lower than estimates, but will this continue?
• Also on Thursday, the Philadelphia Fed Index will be released. Last week, the Empire State Manufacturing Index for March came in better than expected, so the markets will be watching to see if the March reading of the Philadelphia Fed Index will follow suit.

In addition, the Federal Reserve will meet for its two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, with the monetary policy statement released on Wednesday. The statement will be dissected for any hints on the current purchase programs of Mortgage Backed and Treasury Securities. If there is any further talk of halting the programs this year, it could lead to lower Bond prices and a push higher in home loan rates.

Remember: Weak economic news normally causes money to flow out of Stocks and into Bonds, helping Bonds and home loan rates improve, while strong economic news normally has the opposite result. The chart below shows Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), which are the type of Bond that home loan rates are based on.

When you see these Bond prices moving higher, it means home loan rates are improving — and when they are moving lower, home loan rates are getting worse.

To go one step further — a red “candle” means that MBS worsened during the day, while a green “candle” means MBS improved during the day. Depending on how dramatic the changes were on any given day, this can cause rate changes throughout the day, as well as on the rate sheets we start with each morning.

As you can see in the chart below, Bonds were able to remain above a key support level, while home loan rates remain near record lows. I’ll be watching closely to see what happens this week.

The Mortgage Market Guide View… 

Make the Most of Your Calendar

It’s been said that time is money, and time is indeed a precious commodity. Here are some great tips for using the recurring event function in your calendar so that you can make time work for you.

Daily Social Media Activity. The best time to post on Facebook and Twitter is right around lunchtime on weekdays. That doesn’t mean you have to write the posts at the same time every day. Create a calendar reminder in the morning when your head is clear and write your posts, then just use the scheduling feature for proper timing (on Facebook it’s the little clock icon next to the “Post” button, on Twitter you can use TweetDeck, or to handle both at once try HootSuite.

Daily/Weekly Staff Meetings. If you aren’t meeting with your staff on a regular basis you’re missing vital gaps in your service or losing out on critical opportunities to grow your business. Brief, scheduled communications are the answer

Weekly/Monthly Networking. If you haven’t been to a networking event in a while then schedule a few. In fact, make these functions a recurring event in your calendar. That way, people get used to seeing your face on a regular basis–just showing up is often the only icebreaker you need.

Thank You Notes. Schedule a recurring time every week in your calendar to write thank you notes to clients or referral partners you’ve worked with recently. Even taking fifteen minutes to write two or three letters a week can make a big difference over time.

Annual Events. Hosting an appreciation party or annual reviews for your clients, referral partners or colleagues is a great way to deepen your connection with them.

Start using these simple tips today and be sure to pass them along to your referral partners and colleagues.

Economic Calendar for the Week of March 18 – March 22

The material contained in this newsletter is provided by a third party to real estate, financial services and other professionals only for their use and the use of their clients. The material provided is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment and/or mortgage advice. Although the material is deemed to be accurate and reliable, we do not make any representations as to its accuracy or completeness and as a result, there is no guarantee it is without errors.