Existing Home Sales Rise More Than Expected:

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose more than expected in March, suggesting the housing market's downward trend may be close to hitting a bottom.

The National Association of Realtors said sales rose 3.7 percent month over month to an annual rate of 5.10 million units after an upwardly revised 4.92 million unit pace in February.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected sales to rise 2.5 percent to a 5.0 million-unit pace from the previously reported 4.88 million unit rate. Sales have now risen in six of the past eight months.

The median home price fell 5.9 percent in March from a year earlier to $159,600 which shows that the spike in demand for homes is mostly driven by the lower end of the price spectrum as new home buyers are finally entering the market.

What Happened to Rates Last Week:

Mortgage backed securities (MBS) gained +16 basis points week over week. But the real story is the activity during last week. As MBS lost -25 basis points from Monday's highs to Thursday's close (market was closed on Friday). This caused 30 year fixed mortgage rates to increase throughout the week as traders were unwilling to purchase MBS at the 100 day moving average. MBS also reacted to the stronger than expected Building Starts, Building Permits, Existing Home Sales, and the Leading Indicators.

What to Watch Out For This Week:
The following are the major economic reports that will hit the market this week.  They each have the ability to affect the pricing of Mortgage Backed Securities and therefore, interest rates for Government and Conventional mortgages.  I will be watching these reports closely for you and let you know if there are any big surprises:

Date	ET	Release	For
25-Apr	10:00	New Home Sales	Mar
26-Apr	9:00	Case-Shiller 20-city Index	Feb
26-Apr	10:00	Consumer Confidence	Apr
27-Apr	7:00	MBA Mortgage Index	22-Apr
27-Apr	8:30	Durable Orders	Mar
27-Apr	8:30	Durable Orders -ex Transportation	Mar
27-Apr	10:30	Crude Inventories	23-Apr
27-Apr	12:30	FOMC Rate Decision	Apr
28-Apr	8:30	GDP-Adv.	Q1
28-Apr	8:30	GDP Deflator	Q1
28-Apr	8:30	Initial Claims	23-Apr
28-Apr	8:30	Continuing Claims	16-Apr
28-Apr	10:00	Pending Home Sales	Mar
29-Apr	8:30	Personal Income	Mar
29-Apr	8:30	Personal Spending	Mar
29-Apr	8:30	PCE Prices - Core	Mar
29-Apr	8:30	Employment Cost Index	Q1
29-Apr	9:45	Chicago PMI	Apr
29-Apr	9:55	Michigan Sentiment - Final	Apr

It is virtually impossible for you to keep track of what is going on with the economy and other events that can impact the housing and mortgage markets.  Just leave it to me, I monitor the live trading of Mortgage Backed Securities which are the only thing government and conventional mortgage rates are