Here’s our Mortgage Guy Brian Cav’s weekly report on mortgage rates. I also read an interesting blog post on how Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano has helped interest rates.
Mortgage rates went up a bit this morning. Why? Because the stock market rallied from an eight session low yesterday. This has been a pretty slow week in regards to economic data up to this point. The 30 year fixed is in the 4.875% to 5.25% range for qualified borrowers. You must have a mid FICO score of 740 or better and a loan to value below 80%. I am still in favor of LOCKing right now because I believe there are a few factors that are pressuring rates higher. The stock market seems likes it is only going to continue to go up plus there are more Treasury auctions on Thursday. These rates are low now… LOCK them in. Yes you should be thinking about refinancing!
Economic Data
Wednesday’s bond market has opened in positive territory despite a lack of economic news. The bond market is currently up, which should improve this morning’s mortgage rates pricing
It’s another quiet day in the markets, particularly in bonds. There is no relevant economic data being posted today. The stock markets are being driven mostly by earnings results. But those reports do not directly affect the bond market or mortgage rates.
Tomorrow morning brings us the release of March’s Producer Price Index (PPI). It will give us an important measurement of inflationary pressures at the producer level of the economy. The core data is more important to market participants because it excludes more volatile food and energy prices. If it shows rapidly rising prices, inflation fears may hurt bond prices since it erodes the value of a bond’s future fixed interest payments, leading to higher mortgage rates. However, a slight increase, or better yet a decline in prices, would be good news for the bond market and mortgage rates.
Late tomorrow morning, the National Association of Realtors will post March’s Existing Homes Sales numbers. A similar report to this one and actually the week’s least important data- March’s New Home Sales will be released Friday morning. Both are expected to show increases from February’s levels.
Also being released tomorrow are the weekly unemployment figures from the Labor Department. They are expected to show 450,000 new claims for benefits were filed last week, down considerably from the previous week. Generally speaking, a higher than expected number of claims would be considered favorable for bonds and mortgage rates.
FLOAT or LOCK
If I was closing on a Home Mortgage in the next 0 to 15 Days – LOCK
If I was closing on a Home Mortgage in the next 15 to 30 Days – LOCK
If I was closing on a Home Mortgage in the next 30 to 60 Days – LOCK/FLOAT – Tough Call
If I was closing on a Home Mortgage in the next 60+ FLOAT
This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
- Are you a possible Massachusetts First Time Home buyer?
- Do you have a Real Estate client inquiring about current Mortgage Rates?
- Do you have any Refinancing questions?
- Should you be thinking about Refinancing out of your ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage)?
- Have your Real Estate clients been Pre Approved?
Inquire within for current Mortgage Interest Rates. [email protected] 617.771.5021
Credit: Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Mortgage News, MBS Quoteline, WSJ, NY Times
