Mortgage Guy Brian Cav has his weekly Massachusetts mortgage rate lock advisory. Brian and I were talking mortgages last night at the Boston Real Estate Now Blog first inaugural get together. The circular irony is that bad economic news = lower mortgage rates. But by the same token, bad economic news = less housing sales = less mortgage originations. An interesting Catch-22!
Mortgage pricing has gotten better over the past 24 to 48 hours, and the reason they have gotten better is non US related issues; Greece and economic uncertainty have kept US mortgage rates down over the past week. I would cautiously FLOAT over the next day or two and LOCK in before Friday’s unemployment numbers. Please try not to get to greedy on the beautiful Cinco De Mayo!
The 30 year conventional mortgage rate still remains in the 4.875% to 5.125% range for well qualified consumers. To secure a par interest rate on a conventional mortgage you must have a FICO credit score of 740 or higher, a loan to value at 80% or less and pay all closing costs including an estimated one point loan origination/discount. If you are seeking a 15 year term, you should expect par in the 4.25% to 4.50% range with similar costs but lower FICO score requirements.
Inquire within for current Mortgage Interest Rates. [email protected] 617.771.5021
Economic Data
Wednesday’s bond market opened in positive territory again following more weakness in stocks. The bond market is currently up, which should improve this morning’s mortgage rates by approximately .1250 – .25 in mortgage pricing..
There is no relevant data scheduled for release today, so any afternoon revisions to mortgage rates will likely come from movements in stocks. If the stock markets move into positive territory, we may see bonds fall and mortgage rates move higher. If the major stock indexes move lower, afternoon improvements to rates may follow.
The Labor Department will release its 1st Quarter Productivity and Costs data early tomorrow morning. This information helps us measure employee productivity in the workplace. If employee productivity is rapidly rising, the bond market should react favorably. It is expected to show a increase in productivity.
We also will get weekly unemployment figures from the Labor Department early tomorrow. They are expected to say that 440,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week. This would be a decline from the previous week, but unless we see a large variance from forecasts this data likely will not have much of an influence on tomorrow’s mortgage rates.
The big news of the week comes Friday when we will get April’s monthly employment numbers. They are expected to show that the unemployment rate stood at 9.7% last month and that 187,000 new jobs were added to the economy. The higher the unemployment rate and the fewer number of jobs added, the better the news 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 – FLOAT/LOCK
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 Homebuyer?
- 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?
[email protected] 617.771.5021
Credit: Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Mortgage News, MBS Quoteline, WSJ, NY Times
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