With both U.S. and world economies improving, the bittersweet result is that residential mortgage rates have risen to higher levels. Concerns about inflation and rising bond rates resulted in 30-year fixed rate conforming mortgages rising to an average of 6.84%. While a slight further increase in rates...

The U.S. economy is measured in many ways, with factual data assigned different meanings based on the best analysis, tools, and often the bias of the observers. What is clear from recent reporting in the national media, at least from our viewpoint, is that the economy isn’t going into a steep decline...