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Mortgage rates improved last week, marking the first time since mid-May that has happened.

The rate drop is the result of how mortgage markets interpreted the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday press release.

In it, the Fed said:

Inflation pressures should lessen soon
Growth should remain steady this year
The credit market is currently fragile

Separately, none of this was news [...]

A Home Equity Line of Credit is bank product that grants homeowners access to the equity in their home at anytime, usually using checks.

Often called a HELOC, these equity-based credit lines function very much like credit cards:

The rate is adjustable, tied to Prime Rate
There is a minimum monthly payment
There is a pre-set spending/credit limit

But different [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee left the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 2.000 percent this afternoon, as expected.

In its press release, the Federal Reserve noted the co-existence of inflation and recession.

On inflation, the Fed said that energy and food prices are contributing to an “elevated state” of inflation, but that it [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee adjourns from its 2-day meeting at 2:15 P.M. ET today. It’s widely expected that the group will leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 2.000 percent.

However, it’s not what the Fed does today that has markets so interested. It’s what the Fed will say.

One of the Federal Reserve’s [...]

Most homeowners make four housing-related payments each month:

Principal on a mortgage
Interest on a mortgage
Taxes on the real estate owned
Insurance for the real estate owned

Collectively, these payments are known by the acronym PITI but don’t let it fool you — a homeowner’s monthly expenses are still called PITI even if one or more of the elements [...]

Mortgage rates edged higher for the fifth straight week and the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now at a 10-month high.

One reason why rates are spiking is because the temporary jolt from higher energy and food costs is starting to look like a longer-term trend.

For example, high energy prices get a lot of press, but [...]

Flooding in the Midwest has displaced thousands of families and caused billions of dollars in damages.

It may also cause mortgage rates to rise.

As the extent of the damage becomes more clear, prices for grain and livestock are soaring. For example, a host of dietary staples are suddenly more expensive at the supermarket, including:

Meat
Pork
Chicken
Dairy
Eggs

Rising food [...]

Home buyers are often surprised when a “rate quote” from the morning won’t be honored in the afternoon. Sometimes, the assumption is that the loan officer is just being sneaky.

This couldn’t be less true.

Rate quotes change in the middle of the day because mortgage markets are in constant flux. All day, every day [...]

A “Housing Start” is a new home on which construction has commenced and in May, Housing Starts fell to a 17-year low nationally.

At first glance, this may seem like a negative for the already-battered U.S. housing market.

It’s not.

Falling Housing Starts reflects the broader real estate market and shows us that builders are working [...]

Each month, University of Michigan researcher survey the U.S. population about their thoughts on the economy — is it improving, it is worsening, is it staying the same.

May’s consumer confidence survey registered it’s lowest reading since 1980.

Given the recent headlines, that shouldn’t be surprising:

Unemployment is spiking
Gas prices are at an all-time high
Housing markets [...]