In this weekly market update, Jordan Keck provides a snapshot of current mortgage rates, introduces a new construction loan product, and reviews recent macroeconomic data. He notes that mortgage rates have remained essentially flat week‑over‑week, hovering around 6.26‑6.27%. Keck then explains his newly‑available one‑time‑close construction loans for VA and conventional borrowers, outlining eligibility, the land‑plus‑construction financing structure, and the benefits of automatic conversion to permanent financing without pre‑payment penalties or a final appraisal. Keck moves to Federal Reserve policy, confirming the December 10 meeting’s 0.25 % rate cut, the Fed’s statement that further cuts in 2026 will face a high bar, and the surprise announcement of a $40 billion per month Treasury purchase program. He clarifies that the cut did not immediately move mortgage rates but may influence future expectations. He then reviews labor market indicators: initial jobless claims rose to 44,236 (the highest since September) while continuing claims fell by 99,000 to 184 million. The JOLTS report shows job openings increasing from 7.23 million to 7.67 million, with hiring at a 3.2 % rate (lowest since 2011) and quits dropping to 1.8 % (lowest since 2014), suggesting a tight labor market with limited worker mobility. Finally, ADP’s November employment report shows about 20,000 jobs added, a reversal from recent weeks of job losses, raising questions about whether this signals a new trend. Keck concludes with a call to share the update and subscribe for future videos.
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Good morning and happy Friday. Jordan Keck here, your lender buddy, with your weekly market update. Interest rates fairly flat week over week. We saw a little variation higher and then back lower again, moving from 6.7— excuse me, 6.27% to 6.26%. And of course, day to day that continues to change, but snapshot week over week, still remaining fairly steady. As far as our weekly mortgage tip, wanting to talk a little bit about construction loans. This is something historically I haven't really been offering. I've been seeing other companies, um, have better products than I do. Just didn't really have any great outlets. That has changed. I am now beginning to offer construction loans on both VA and conventional. Don't have anything for FHA construction or USDA at the moment, but really great product. You can use this for owner-occupied properties. Pardon me. You can use this for investment properties or second homes, single unit up to 4 units. And if you're not familiar, the client will be able to purchase a piece of land, wrap in the cost for the construction with that, and then do a one-time close that not only takes care of the construction financing, but also automatically rolls from construction into permanent financing at the end of that term. There's no prepayment penalties. And so if rates are better at the end of it, They have the option to refinance lower, but they're not obligated to. And if rates have gone higher, they're in a great spot locked in. Don't have to get an appraisal when we're done. Don't have to renew financials. It's just, again, a one-time close at the beginning of construction, and that rolls into permanent at the end. As far as news this week, you probably already heard the Federal Reserve did meet at their meeting on December 10th and decided to cut federal bank rates by another quarter of a percent. This was expected here, you know, probably a month ago, month and a half ago, we weren't quite sure. But with more of the commentary coming out, it became more and more of a certainty that they were going to cut. So markets already anticipated that. Part of the improvement we've seen in rates in the last couple of weeks was due to that anticipation. So mortgage rates didn't really change as a result of that cut. Now, with that being said, the commentary and the future expectation of rate cuts that are discussed at that meeting, those things do potentially change mortgage rates because they're adjusting the market's expectations in the future. So with the cut, the Federal Reserve Chair Powell did say there's a high bar for having another cut in 2026, but confirmed that the BLS jobs report is overstating their growth by about 60,000 a month. So what we're seeing in the numbers is not actually reflective of what's happening in the the economy. That's good that they're acknowledging that weakness because strong jobs reports mean it's less likely that we get future rate cuts. So if they're seeing that weakness, that helps a bit in the future. There was also a surprise announcement that the Federal Reserve will be buying $40 billion per month in Treasuries. That's billion with a B starting this week. That doesn't immediately help mortgage rates, but it does set the stage for potential changes in the future depending on what the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant does. So might be some potential future rate improvements there. Next up, initial jobless claims for the week rose 44,236, which is the highest since September, and a big bounce back after the week of Thanksgiving. We usually see some big changes during the holiday week, so it wasn't a huge change. It wasn't a huge surprise there. What was a surprise was continuing claims falling 99,000 to 184 million. This is a 2-week lookback, though, on continuing claims. So be interesting to see what happens next week as Thanksgiving is out of the rearview mirror for this report. See if we also get another bounce back just like we did this week on initial claims. Next, the September and October job openings JOLTS report came out both at the same time due to the delayed release from the government shutdowns. From August to October, job openings rose from 7.23 million to 7.67. With almost all of the gains coming from the month of October. This did come in stronger than the 7.2 million number that was expected. But within the report, there were some weaker components in both hiring and the quit rates. Hiring stayed low at 3.2%, which is the lowest since 2011, and quits set a new low by dropping from 1.9% to 1.8%, the lowest since 2014. Now, normally you'd think that having a low quit rate is really good for jobs. But it's actually an indicator that people aren't leaving their jobs to be able to go and find better ones. So having a low quit rate is more indicative of a tight labor market where, yes, people are staying at their jobs, but they're not pursuing more available jobs, more opportunities, which is usually where you see gains in income. And lastly here, ADP's weekly employment report showed roughly 20,000 jobs created for the month of November. This is a big change from the previous reports that we've seen. They had a major trend of job losses showing as many as 16,000, you know, 13,000 to 16,000 losses per week for the last couple of months. So while this doesn't erase those losses as a whole, it will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of a new trend or just a one-off here and a big diversion from those previous reports. Now, as always, hopefully this is helpful for you. If you know anyone who you think may benefit, feel free to pass it along. You can subscribe to this directly to get this every week if you haven't already, and we'll see you next time. Have a great one.
