Record Low Mortgage Rates Face Test on Friday
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch
Mortgage rates were largely unchanged today. The most aggressive conventional and FHA 30 year fixed mortgage rates remain in the 4.375% to 4.625% range. The "best execution" 30 year fixed rate mortgage is 4.375% plus one point for a very well-qualified borrower. If your loan pricing is subject to minimal "risk based" loan level pricing adjustments, a few lenders are offering 4.25% for less than two points at closing. The official Employment Situation report is slated to be released this Friday at 8:30am eastern. This event holds the most potential to move mortgage rates in the day's ahead. At the moment, conditions in the secondary market are not supportive of mortgage rates moving any lower. This implies anyone floating their loan on a short timeline, as in less than…(read more)
Best Execution Mortgage Rate Moves Lower. Jobs Data in Focus in Week Ahead.
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch
Mortgage rates went into the weekend at new record lows last Friday. This was the ALERT we published on Rate Watch… ALERT : There are some lenders out there, if the APP–to–CLOSING process is flawless, where a borrower could close at 4.25% right now, without paying more than 1 pt. But you're loan file is gonna have to be a real slam dunk. You must be the definition of "well-qualified". Mortgage rates moved lower as a result of continued high demand for agency mortgage-backed securities. We have described this demand as a "flight to safety" , but from another perspective, what it really boils down to is the highly-competitive loan origination environment. READ MORE A flight to safety happens when investors are nervous about owning risky assets like stocks, but do not…(read more)
Mortgage Rates Not Following the Directional Guidance of MBS Market
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch
After spending the previous week in their own little perfect world, mortgage rates hit the reset button yesterday. Borrowers who were floating their note rate saw closing costs rise by about 0.125% (of the loan amount). This modest increase in cost was however not large enough to push the best par mortgage rates out of the 4.375% to 4.625% range. On the scheduled economic data front, the housing sector was in focus today. The Commerce Department released "New Residential Construction" at 8:30am eastern. This report is more commonly known as Housing Starts and Building Permits. Housing starts data estimates how much new residential real estate construction occurred in the previous month. Building Permits data provides an estimate on the number of homes planning on being built. Recent…(read more)
Housing Headlines Disappoint. Mortgage Rates at 2009 Lows
Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch
2010 has been the year of "near record low" mortgage rates. Regular readers are probably used to hearing us say: "We're bouncing along just above record lows" "Lenders won't go any lower" "The rewards of floating don't outweigh the risks of floating" "It would take a serious economic downturn for mortgage rates to go lower" Well. MBS prices are at all-time highs (AGAIN) and I think we can officially say mortgage rates are priced at their best levels ever. If not, we're pretty darn close! Major lenders were actually buying 4.25% note rates today! As far as I remember, that was the lowest rate I saw on a rate sheet last year (that didn't cost 3 points). There were some days last year when 4.125% loans were traded, but seldom…(read more)