Rain Next Week: Forecaster John Lindsey says Central California will get a few days of rainy weather from March 20 – 23. For March 11 the southern Sierra is only 52% of April 1 average. Temps in the 80s this week will likely cause some snowmelt in March,what little is there. Big storm would indeed be a ‘March Miracle.’
Gasoline prices are down nearly 10 cents from their high in late February says Gas Buddy. Latest numbers show an average price of $4.14 a gallon.Cheapest in Tulare is $3.83, Fresno $3.82 and in SLO the Costco is selling for $4.14.Gasoline futures in NY are down about 20 cents after rising steadily this New Year. Back in California, diesel prices have fallen about 15 cents from late February.
Rising Interest Rates Curtail Mortgage Activity: Applications for mortgages decreased as mortgage interest rates rose to recent highs during the week ended March 8. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of application volume, was down 4.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week and 4.0 percent on an unadjusted basis.
The Refinance Index was down 5 percent compared to the week ended March 1 and the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 76 percent of total applications from 77 percent, the lowest share of refinancing applications since May 2012.
Freddie Mac’s March 7 survey found 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.52 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 7, 2013, up from last week when it averaged 3.51 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.88 percent.
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