Stocks decline for third straight week – Global markets declined again this week as fears of a global trade war weighed on investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 24,271.41, down from 24,580.49 last week. It is down 1.8% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,718.37, down from 2,764.88. It’s up 1.7% year-to-date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 7,510.30, down from 7,692.82 last week. It’s up 8.8% year-to-date.
Treasury Bond Yields lower this week – The 10 year treasury bond closed the week yielding 2.85%, down from 2.90% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 2.89%, down from 3.04% last week. We watch bond rates because mortgage rates follow bond rates.
Mortgage Rates stable this week – The June 28, 2018 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 4.55%, down from 4.57% last week. The 15-year fixed was 4.04%, unchanged from 4.04% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.87%, up from 3.83% last week.
Nationwide home sales fall 0.4% in May as prices continue to increase – Extremely low inventories of homes for sale were blamed by The National Association of Realtors for a 0.4% month-over-month decrease in the number of existing homes sold in May. The number of existing home sales in 2018 up to the end of May are 3% below the first five months of 2017. Prices have continued to rise. The median price paid for a home in May increased 4.9% from May 2017. Its 75th consecutively month of year-over-year increases.
Have a great weekend!
Syd