What’s Next
Question of the week: What’s next?
Answer: I have been thinking of how to write this WR&MU for quite a while, but there is not a lot of thought that needed to go into it so I’ll get to the point.
Astute observers will note that the header on the Weekly Rate & Market Update has changed after almost two decades looking the same. There is a reason.
Stratis Financial is closing just a few months shy of its 25th anniversary. No longer young guys who opened a mortgage company, now older guys who all have different goals and objectives, from retirement, to starting anew, to continuing with a different mortgage company, the time has come for the six partners of Stratis to take different paths.
My path is similar to the one I have been following for the past several years, continue assisting those who need mortgage advice and products, while providing financial advice and asset management to my growing list of clients as a SEC registered Investment Advisor, through Copiam Asset Management.
Over the past few years, with the slow down in the mortgage market, I have been able to concentrate more time and effort in my advisory business. As I have investigated options for myself in the mortgage business with the closing of Stratis I have found a company that will allow me to devote time and energy to my advisory and mortgage clients. In the near future I will have the details in the Weekly Rate & Market Update.
I am excited for the next chapter of my mortgage career. I feel with the company I will be working with there will be more product opportunities for clients. The process is such that I will be able to spend more time working directly with clients to prepare them for homeownership, discuss mortgage options, and as always how both of these fit into their total financial abilities today and in the future.
Changes such as this have various challenges, of foremost concern to me is communication, therefore for mortgage inquiries, referrals (yes please!), and business please change my email address from [email protected] to:
If I properly made changes to my profile, then your reply to today’s WR&MU message will go to my new email address.
I’m hopeful as well that this has not been caught in your spam filters!
As always, I have made a short story long, so here is the long story short:
Stratis is closing, Dennis is still in business and will continue to provide excellent service, knowledge, and analysis for you, your clients, friends and family.
Thank you for supporting me and our Stratis family for these many, many years.
To schedule an initial meeting by phone or Zoom, click here for my calendar, please feel free to forward to a friend or family member!
Have a question? Ask me!
Celebrating slowing was the mood this week as the Consumer Price Index for April showed inflation slowed in the month, increasing 0.3% from March with year-to-year prices increasing 3.4%, down from 3.5% growth from March to March. Core data (CPI minus food and energy) came in at 3.6%, down from 3.8% growth in March. While the 3.4% is well above the Federal Reserves 2.00% for inflation, the slower growth in prices was well received by markets as it puts a possible rate cut by the Federal Reserve back in discussions.
More rate positive data was the retail sales number for April, positive because the data was neutral. Sales in April were up only 0.2% from March, pushed positive mainly because of the 3.1% increase in gasoline prices for the month.
Rates for Friday May 17, 2024: Rates reacted as expected for the week with data putting possible Fed rate cuts on the table, dropping from last Friday.
FIXED RATE MORTGAGES AT COST OF 1.25 POINTS LOCKED FOR 45 DAYS FOR PURCHASE TRANSACTIONS:
30-year conforming 6.50% Down 0.125%
30-year high-balance conforming 7.00% Down 0.125%
Please note that these are base rates and adjustments may be added for condominiums, refinances, credit scores, loan to value, no impound account and period rate is locked. Rates are based on 20% down with 740 FICO score for purchase mortgages.
A daily newspaper has been delivered to my home for almost all my life. When I was young, I read the sports page, especially this time of year when I would pour through the box scores for all major league teams. When we moved overseas, we got the International Herald Tribune every day and I began to read, or scan, articles and features from front page to the back (where sports were). In college, I subscribed to the LA Times and all my friends knew the best time to catch me to talk about something was sometime near the dining hall opening at 7:00 each morning where they would find me with the paper and coffee.
As long as I have lived in Long Beach (full-time as a non-student since 1984) and except for a brief period, I have received the (Long Beach) Press-Telegram every day, and the LA Times on Sundays.
Throughout my life-time as a daily paper reader, I have always read the comics, or funny pages as we called them growing up, every day. Several reading the WR&MU today have been recipients of an email or text early in the morning with a cartoon I found funny and that they would relate to. Today, over 450 people will receive a comic from yesterday that made me chuckle as it relates directly to our real estate market for the past few years.
Enjoy the panel from Marvin by Tom Armstrong.
Have a great week,
Dennis
Past Weekly Rate & Market Updates can be found on my blog page at my website www.DennisCSmith.com/my-blog
