Shiny Trinket

Kids set to use math, science and critical thinking skills to build the future homes of America

The U.S. homebuilding industry is always one of those entities that offers a bit of fresh air as it continues to build the homes our children and grandchildren may someday occupy. But how much do those kids know about what goes into building a house, and how valuable might that knowledge be as they go forward in life?

The National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) believes it’s of great importance, and is now partnering with the Department of Construction Science at Texas A&M University and the University of Oklahoma Construction Science Program to create real lessons plans to encourage 5th-8th grade kids’ interest in construction careers and at a minimum offer them a practical way to apply math, science, and critical thinking skills.

According to a recent bulletin by the NAHB, “The goals of the lesson plans are to engage the students, fit in a teacher’s required curriculum, and be applicable for schools across the United States. Each lesson plan includes a hands-on activity where students apply the math and science principles being taught.”

It’s amazing how a single lesson plan can cover a wide range of topics that challenge a student’s math and science skills, using topics like green building design, home energy consumption, the importance of communication and basic physics and engineering concepts. It also follows that students must also use descriptive words to paint a mental snapshot of how a home will turn out, making it a true vision of home.

The NAHB is encouraging members and local homebuilder associations to review the lesson plans and reach out to local school systems to get the plans into a classroom presentation. “The plans are very detailed and include an overview, a script, handouts and PowerPoint presentations where applicable. We want it to be as easy as possible for a builder to teach a lesson on home building,” says the NAHB. In order for building professionals to enter a classroom and teach a class, the lesson plans are written to fit within the specific curriculum that is covered in each grade and to be applicable in as many states as possible.

“The broadest set of education standards are found in the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI),” the initiative says. “The CCSSI has produced core standards in math and language arts that have been adopted in 48 states. The CCSSI were used for the math lesson plans. For science, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were used, which have the broadest adoption across states for the science curriculum.”

Reaching out to the next generation of homebuilders is always on the minds of building professionals. But even if programs like this serve to enhance students' other core learning skills, it will be well worth it.

How Rates Move:

Conventional and Government (FHA and VA) lenders set their rates based on the pricing of Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) which are traded in real time, all day in the bond market.  This means rates or loan fees (mortgage pricing) moves throughout the day, being affected by a variety of economic or political events.  When MBS pricing goes up, mortgage rates or pricing generally goes down.  When they fall, mortgage pricing goes up.  Tracking these securities real-time is critical.  For more information about the rate market, contact me directly.  I’m among few mortgage professionals who have access to live trading screens during market hours.

Rates Currently Trending: Neutral

Mortgage rates are trending sideways this morning.  Last week the MBS market improved by +35bps.  This may've been enough to move rates lower. There was a great deal of market volatility last week.

This Week's Rate Forecast: Neutral

Three Things: These are the three areas that have the highest potential to impact your mortgage rates. 1) Geopolitical, 2)Central Bank and 3) Jobs.

1) Geopolitical: Bond prices have crept up due in part to speculation that the Democrats may take the House and maybe even a seat or two in the Senate. Markets are viewing this as potentially negative for the markets. Brexit and Italy continue to cause major uncertainty about the future of Europe and now we hear that Germany's PM Merkel will not seek to reappointed as the PM, her term runs out in 2021 but may have to step down before that.

2) Central Bank: As a "hard" Brexit looms, we will get the latest policy statement from the Bank of England. The Bank of Japan will also give us their latest policy statement on Wednesday.

3) Jobs: We get a ton of jobs related data this week with ADP, Personal Income, Weekly Jobless Claims, Unit Labor Costs, Challenger Job Cuts, Non-Farm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate and more. The YOY Average Hourly Earnings will get the most attention and a reading above 3.0% could pressure bond prices.

This Week's Potential Volatility: High

Mortgage rates are at a significant technical level in a reasonably tight range. Today we're not likely to see a lot of rate volatility. The rest of the week could be a different story, particularly with the inflation and wage data due out as noted above.

Bottom Line:

If you are looking for the risks and benefits of locking your interest rate in today or floating your loan rate, contact your mortgage professional to discuss it with them.

Dona Knapp has over 20 years of experience, which is evidenced by her extensive knowledge of the lending industry, making her a great source of information for their clients. Her commitment to excellence has earned her a reputation of customer satisfaction and building relationships that last far beyond the original transaction. Her team was strategically designed to provide superior service, uninterrupted accessibility and extraordinary products to meet all your lending needs. Don't settle for less, when you can work with the best!

All information furnished has been forwarded to you and is provided by thetbwsgroup only for informational purposes. Forecasting shall be considered as events which may be expected but not guaranteed. Neither the forwarding party and/or company nor thetbwsgroup assume any responsibility to any person who relies on information or forecasting contained in this report and disclaims all liability in respect to decisions or actions, or lack thereof based on any or all of the contents of this report.