

During the past month or so, interest rates, oil prices and even gold prices have been rising. The stock market has been moving upward steadily as well, though stocks have been moving up for many years now and accelerating for the past year. With the Federal Reserve Board raising short-term rates and starting to sell assets, along with the many hurricanes we have witnessed, these higher prices are not unexpected.
In reality, it is amazing that interest rates and oil prices have stayed so low with all of these factors involved. We all would like to know where things are headed in the future–will they continue up or settle back down? The bottom line is, we can’t predict where prices and rates will go without knowing where the economy is headed. We do know the economy has been heading in the right direction since a pause which took place in the first quarter of the year.
However, we won’t have a great idea of where the economy is heading now because of the interruptions of major storms. We could have a very poor quarter or two and then have a major growth spurt because of the tremendous rebuilding that we will be undertaking. Markets always move on psychology because we can’t predict the future, but the markets are always looking for indicators of the future. Right now our indicators are likely to be even worse predictors of the future than normal. Thus, in answer to the question — where is the beef? It may be more hidden than usual.

October 13, 2017
Daily Value | Monthly Value | |
Oct 12 | September | |
6-month Treasury Security | 1.27% | 1.17% |
1-year Treasury Security | 1.41% | 1.28% |
3-year Treasury Security | 1.66% | 1.51% |
5-year Treasury Security | 1.95% | 1.80% |
10-year Treasury Security | 2.33% | 2.20% |
12-month LIBOR | 1.798% (Sept) | |
12-month MTA | 1.002% (Sept) | |
11th District Cost of Funds | 0.732% (Aug) | |
Prime Rate | 4.25% (June) |


Real Estate is American’s favorite long-term investment, according to a recent poll by Bankrate. In its Financial Security Index, which was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, they asked 1,002 adults via telephone—for money that wouldn’t be touched for at least 10 years—what did they think was the best investment? Twenty-eight percent said real estate, while cash investments came in a close second at 23 percent. Bringing up the rear was the stock market at 17 percent, gold at 15 percent, and bonds at 4 percent. Six percent of those polled answered “other.” Bankrate suggests that the reason real estate is the favorite is three-fold: rising home prices, perpetually low interest rates, and tax incentives. Plus, there’s the added bonus of having a place to call home, permanently. Source: The M Report
Zillow reported that the median rent for houses rose 1.3 percent annually to a monthly rent payment of $1,404, while median rent for apartments rose 0.5 percent to a monthly rent payment of $1,551. Median rent for houses is rising faster than median rent for apartments in half of the nation’s 50 major metros. Although 20 percent of all single-family homes were rented in 2016, up from 13.5 percent in 2006, there are fewer single-family homes to rent than a decade ago. And demand is stronger than supply: Zillow found that 45 percent of all recent renters consider renting a single-family home, but only 28 percent ended up renting one. “When the market crashed, many families lost homes they owned during the foreclosure crisis, and now may not be able to afford to buy another as home prices rise,” said Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell. “Those who want to buy are finding it difficult to find the right one, or may need a bit more time to come up with a down payment, but still want the advantage of space that single-family residences often provide. This, coupled with the foreclosure crisis turning millions of homeowners into renters, is a big reason why demand for single-family rental homes has risen over the last few years.” Source: National Mortgage Professional