Archive for the ‘Weekly Review’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : February 14, 2011

Monday, February 14th, 2011

Housing Starts through Nov 2010Mort­gage mar­kets wors­ened ter­ri­bly last week. Amid more reports of an improv­ing econ­omy and fears of pend­ing infla­tion, mort­gage rates sky­rock­eted to their high­est lev­els since April 2010. 

Accord­ing to Fred­die Mac, mort­gage rates made their largest 1-week jump in more than a year last week, tack­ing on 0.24 per­cent and bring­ing the aver­age national 30-year fixed mort­gage rate up to 5.05%.

In some mar­kets, rates are even higher.

Since bot­tom­ing out in Fred­die Mac’s Novem­ber 11 sur­vey, con­form­ing, 30-year fixed mort­gage rates are now higher by close to a full per­cent­age point. Home buy­ers across the nation have lost more than 10% of their pur­chas­ing power dur­ing that time.

Rates have also been on a his­toric run higher, increas­ing over 9 con­sec­u­tive days for the first time in almost a decade. That streak ended Fri­day with rates drop­ping slightly, and rate shop­pers are hope­ful the momen­tum lower con­tin­ues into this week.

It’s not likely. The week is loaded of hous­ing data and hous­ing has been trend­ing bet­ter. More strong fig­ures will bol­ster stock mar­kets at the expense of bonds, dri­ving mort­gage rates higher for the 4th week in a row.

In addi­tion, inflation-related fig­ures will be released. That, too, can have a neg­a­tive impact on mort­gage rates.

  • Mon­day : NAHB Home­builder Con­fi­dence Survey
  • Tues­day : Retail Sales, Con­sumer Confidence
  • Wednes­day : Build­ing Per­mits, Hous­ing Starts, Pro­ducer Price Index, FOMC Minutes
  • Thurs­day : Con­sumer Price Index

Mar­kets should increase in volatil­ity as the week pro­gresses because of the loom­ing 3-day week­end. Vol­ume will be light Fri­day in advance of President’s Day.

If you haven’t yet locked your mort­gage rate, the time to act is soon — pos­si­bly now. Mort­gage rates are well off their his­tor­i­cal lows, but still rel­a­tively inex­pen­sive. Before long, that may no longer be the case.

Tags:
Posted in Weekly Review | No Comments »

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : February 7, 2011

Monday, February 7th, 2011

Unemployment Rate (2009-2011)Mort­gage mar­kets wors­ened last week as Wall Street came to terms with the expand­ing econ­omy; and real­ized the Fed­eral Reserve may be try­ing to induce inflation.

Better-than-expected retail sales and pos­i­tive job growth buoyed stock mar­kets and sank bonds.

Mort­gage rates rose for the 4th time in 5 weeks last week, extend­ing a los­ing streak which dates back 4 months.

Today, fixed, con­form­ing rates are three-quarters of a per­cent higher as com­pared to the market’s low point, Novem­ber 3, 2010. For a $200,000 home loan, that size rate hike equates to an increase in a monthly mort­gage pay­ment of $89 per month.

Mort­gage rates are at their high­est lev­els of the year and, this week, they may con­tinue tick­ing higher.

There isn’t much data set for release this week so mar­kets will take their cues from two major events — one eco­nomic and one political.

The major eco­nomic event is Fed Chair­man Ben Bernanke’s tes­ti­mony to the House Bud­get Com­mit­tee late-Wednesday. Chair­man Bernanke is expected to speak about employ­ment, but will likely touch on other top­ics of import includ­ing eco­nomic growth, the U.S. dol­lar, and the nation’s debt ceiling.

The Fed Chairman’s com­ments will move mort­gage rates in one direc­tion or the other, so lock­ing in advance of his tes­ti­mony may be pru­dent. Mort­gage rates have more room to rise than to fall, after all.

The sec­ond major event is Egypt’s ongo­ing polit­i­cal strife. By Thurs­day of last week, Wall Street had shrugged off the region’s cri­sis and unwound the safe-haven trades that had helped mort­gage rates dur­ing the week prior.

If insta­bil­ity returns, mort­gage rates, once again, will be pres­sured lower.

Regard­less of your rate-locking plan for this week, it’s impor­tant to rec­og­nize that, although rates have risen, they’re still well below his­tor­i­cal aver­age. There­fore, rates may have a lot of room to move higher, still.

If you’re shop­ping for a mort­gage, or are now under con­tract, con­sider lock­ing your rate as soon as possible.

Tags:
Posted in Weekly Review | No Comments »

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : January 24, 2011

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Federal Reserve Meets Jan 25-26 2011Mort­gage mar­kets wors­ened last week in a holiday-shortened trad­ing week.

As the body of U.S. eco­nomic data con­tin­ues to show slow, steady improve­ment, Wall Street is becom­ing a net-seller of mortgage-backed bonds. As a result, con­form­ing mort­gages rates are rising.

This is why con­form­ing and FHA mort­gage rates rose last week. Exist­ing home sup­plies plunged to a 2-year low in Decem­ber, and unem­ploy­ment claims dropped more than expected, giv­ing hope for the U.S. econ­omy in 2011.

This week, that trend may con­tinue. There’s a lot of news set for release.

The biggest story of the week is Fed­eral Open Mar­ket Committee’s 2-day meet­ing. Sched­uled for Tues­day and Wednes­day, the FOMC’s meet­ing is the first of its 8 sched­uled meet­ings this year.

In it, the FOMC is expected to vote the Fed Funds Rate unchanged in its tar­get range near 0.000 per­cent, but it won’t be what the Fed does that’s so impor­tant to mort­gage mar­kets — it will be what the Fed says. Wall Street will be watch­ing the FOMC’s post-meeting press release for clues about the econ­omy, and the cen­tral banker’s next steps. From what it reads, Wall Street will react.

This week is also heavy on hous­ing data.

Fol­low­ing up on last week’s Exist­ing Home Sales and Hous­ing Starts fig­ures, this week fea­tures 4 addi­tional releases:

  1. Case-Shiller Index (Tuesday)
  2. Home Price Index (Tuesday)
  3. New Home Sales (Wednesday)
  4. Pend­ing Home Sales (Thursday)

Strength in hous­ing should lead mort­gage rates higher as it becomes more clear that the sec­tor is on solid ground.

Since Novem­ber 3, mort­gage rates have been trend­ing higher across the coun­try. The Refi Boom is over, but low rates remain — for now. If you’ve yet to lock a mort­gage rate, con­sider doing it soon. 

Before long, rates won’t be so low.

Tags:
Posted in Weekly Review | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »