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Mortgage Rates
30 Yr FRM 4.96% 0.01%
15 Yr FRM 4.33% 0.01%
1 Yr ARM 4.12% -0.10%
5/1 Yr ARM 4.09% 0.04%
30 YR Tres 4.58% -0.01%
Fed Prime 3.25% 0.00%

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  • Friday Rally Leads Mortgage Rates Lower

    by Victor Burek on July 31 2009, 4:21 PM

    Not too often do we see a MBS rally on Friday, but it is happening today. Currently MBS are up .75 basis points which has resulted in most lenders repricing for the better. Fellow mortgage professionals are seeing improvements to price but it appears that lenders are not passing along all the gains. Quite often lenders are more conservative on their rate sheets on Friday hedging against any unknown events taking place over the weekend.
  • Mortgage Rates Lower After Treasury Auctions

    by Victor Burek on July 31 2009, 10:33 AM

    The roller coaster theme continued yesterday but in reverse from the prior two days. If you recall, on both Tuesday and Wednesday mortgage backed securities rallied early on but gave back all the gains following disappointing treasury auctions of 2 and 5 year notes. Yesterday, MBS moved lower in the morning but following a successful auction of 7 year notes they managed an impressive rally closing higher on the day and at the highest levels of the week. A few lenders repriced for the worse in the morning as MBS moved lower ahead of the auction; however, after MBS moved higher and held onto the gains into close most lenders repriced again but this time for the better. To remind readers, mortgage rates are set by the trading of mortgage backed securities (MBS) in the secondary market. As investors buy MBS, the price of the security moves higher which lowers mortgage rates but as investors sell MBS, the price moves lower to attract buyers which increases mortgage rates.
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  • Frustrating Mortgage Rates Environment. Discussing "No Points" Loan

    by Victor Burek on July 30 2009, 11:38 AM

    The theme of the week continues. Mortgage backed securities were again unable to hold onto early morning gains following a less than expected Durable Goods orders report. A very disappointing Treasury auction is to blame for the turnaround which moved MBS much lower on the day which sparked reprices for the worse from most lenders; however, by day’s end MBS did crawl their way back closing at the same level at which they opened. This late day rebound allowed some lenders to reprice for the better bringing rates back to opening morning levels. As a reminder, today is day 1 of the new Truth in Lending Amendment that I wrote about on Tuesday. Parts of this amendment are good in my opinion, but it will result in some delays in closing loans. Make sure you allow for this delay by locking your loan for an adequate amount of time.
  • Erratic Mortgage Rates in Volatile Marketplace

    by Victor Burek on July 29 2009, 9:46 AM

    The roller coaster theme of recent weeks continues. Yesterday mortgage backed securities were unable to hold onto impressive early morning gains following weak demand at the 2 yr Treasury note auction. After the results were announced MBS gave back all the gains that had been built up in the first half of the trading session. Most lenders passed along better rate sheets just before noon eastern, but took back the gains a couple hours later, bringing mortgage rates back to status quo on the day. We do get another round of auctions today and tomorrow so be prepared for the possibility that the road ahead will remain bumpy.
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  • The Roller Coaster Ride Continues. Mortgage Rates Improve

    by Victor Burek on July 28 2009, 10:15 AM

    Reports from fellow mortgage professionals are indicating that mortgage rates are improved this morning. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage is in the 5.00% to 5.25% range for the best qualified consumers. In order to qualify you must have a FICO credit score of 740 or higher, a loan to value of 80% or less and pay all closing costs including 1 point loan origination/discount/broker fee. You may elect to take a higher interest rate with reduced costs. For consumers electing to access home equity, you should expect either a higher interest rate or increased costs.
  • Rates Roller Coaster Ride & Discussing FHFA's HVCC Comments

    by Victor Burek on July 27 2009, 1:24 PM

    Last week was roller coaster for mortgage backed securities. After a nice rally on Tuesday and Wednesday which brought the par 30 year fixed rate mortgage back under 5%, by Friday MBS ended up where the week began. We have seen a consistent pattern develop lately where each time rates break the 5% barrier, they only remain there for a short period of time before sentiment shifts to drive mortgage rates higher. Driving this movement is the see sawing of investor sentiment from the green shoots theory of a quick economic recovery to a more MBS friendly path of a slow sluggish long recovery. Market participants believing in the green shoots theory have moved the Dow Jones over the 9000 mark. This has caused fixed income to move lower in price increasing yields and mortgage rates. On Friday, the par 30 year conventional rate had moved back to 5.25% for the best qualified consumers.
  • Mortgage Rates Fail to Hold Below 5.00%

    by Victor Burek on July 24 2009, 8:50 AM

    In what has become a common occurrence of late, mortgage rates failed to hold below 5%. Following a sizeable rally earlier in the week, mortgage backed securities prices fell nearly a full point yesterday. Consequently lenders were forced to reprice for the worse multiple times and mortgage rates moved higher. By day's end the par 30 year fixed rate mortgage had moved o 5.25% after reaching 4.875% on Wednesday.
  • Mixed Markets Move Mortgage Rates Higher

    by Victor Burek on July 23 2009, 10:18 AM

    Mortgage rates ticked lower yesterday after mortgage backed securities rallied on Tuesday. However, yesterday weakness in fixed income began to snowball and prices of mortgage-backed securities began to deteriorate. Unfortunately that weakness has carried over to today and mortgage rates have given back previous gains.
  • Mortgage Rates Move Below 5%

    by Victor Burek on July 22 2009, 11:09 AM

    Mortgage backed securities and treasuries went on quite a rally yesterday following Ben Bernanke’s first day of testimony on Capitol Hill. After opening to the downside, the fixed income sector started to gain momentum during Mr. Bernanke’s testimony as he gave details on the Fed's expectations for a slow economic recovery. Mr. Bernanke suggested the economy is bottoming out but that it will take some time before stable economic growth is achieved. All lenders did reprice for the better with some passing along multiple price improvements as the rally continued to official close. By day’s end we had several lenders offering 4.875% as the par rate for the best qualified consumers.
  • Mortgage Rates Lower as Risk Aversion Sets In

    by Victor Burek on July 21 2009, 1:02 PM

    Reports from fellow mortgage professionals indicate that mortgage rates are a few basis points lower today. This places the par 30 year conventional rate mortgage in the 5.00% to 5.375% range for the best qualified consumers. If you are planning on accessing home equity, you should expect a higher interest rate or increased closing costs due to the loan level price adjustment fees initiated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this year.
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  • Mortgage Rates Moved Higher Last Week

    by Victor Burek on July 20 2009, 12:41 PM

    Last week proved to be tough for mortgage backed securities. Many mortgage professionals and consumers alike cheered as rates opened Monday at 4.875%, the first time below 5% in over a month. However, that same crowd was booing as the week progressed as Friday saw rates open at 5.25%. It seems that investor sentiment has shifted yet again back to a quicker economic recovery scenario. Driving the change in sentiment were several companies from Bank of America to Google that reported better than expected earnings and a couple economic reports that came in better than expected. This shift is pulling money out of the safety of fixed income and into the riskier but potentially higher returning stock market. Throughout the upcoming week we still have some other key earnings reports with companies from Wells Fargo to Coca Cola yet to report. Strong earnings reports can have the potential to continue the current sentiment of a quick economic recovery which will make it difficult for MBS to post any gains which could result in lower mortgage rates. Overnight, stock markets around the globe posted strong gains which continue to apply pressure on fixed income. At the open this morning, MBS continued their recent trend of moving lower in price which moves rates higher, but have since stabilized near Friday’s last levels.
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  • Mortgage Rates Stabilize as Stocks Start to Stall

    by Victor Burek on July 17 2009, 12:43 PM

    Mortgage backed securities managed to stabilize yesterday and recapture most of the losses over the previous couple of days. This improvement comes in spite of a continued rally in the equities market after better than expected earnings announcements from several companies including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Google, Intel, and IBM among others. Some lenders did reprice for the better as the gains held through close.
  • Mortgage Rates Tick Higher Again

    by Victor Burek on July 16 2009, 1:11 PM

    Mortgage rates took another step higher yesterday following a 3% rally in the stock market. Tame inflation and “not as bad” industrial production numbers have resparked the green shoots theory of a quick economic recovery. Market participants, not wanting to miss out on the rally, quickly sold their fixed income investments to move their money into the higher risk but higher return equity markets. In total, mortgage backed securities moved lower in price (as price moves lower, rates move higher) by 75 basis points which forced all lenders to reprice for the worse with some issuing a couple reprices as the losses snowballed into close. Losing much more was MBS’s closest relative, the benchmark 10 year note, which sold off and moved to a higher yield of 3.63. Just a few days ago, the 10 year note was trading under 3.30 in yield. After mortgage rates briefly touched 4.875% the other day, they have quickly turned and by day’s end yesterday par was sitting at 5.25%
  • Equities Rally Continue to Pressure Mortgage Rates

    by Victor Burek on July 15 2009, 12:38 PM

    Mortgage backed securities had another losing day yesterday moving lower in price by .375 in discount. Many lenders did reprice for the worse as the losses held through close. The stock market is one of the driving forces behind bond market losses at the moment as bond traders are taking some of their cues about the long term economic outlook from current stock performance. Sparking the stock market rally was the much better than expected earnings from Goldman Sachs and Johnson and Johnson. If stocks gain, it puts a damper on the safety-oriented mentality that can spur demand for bonds like treasuries and MBS. Although MBS have lost a fair amount of ground recently, bond and stock traders alike are waiting for additional data before a firm trend is likely to develop. This includes several of the more anticipated earnings announcements as well as the scheduled economic data. Of particular importance, according to many market participants, are earnings from JP Morgan, Bank of America and Citi. Once those chips are down and this reasonably busy week of data is over, there is a higher potential for a trend to develop in MBS for better or worse.
  • Mortgage Rates Higher as Stock Market Awaits Earnings

    by Victor Burek on July 14 2009, 12:54 PM

    After spending the majority of the session in a stable range yesterday, prices of mortgage backed securities lost their steadiness and ticked lower heading into the close forcing most lenders to re-price for the worse, increasing mortgage rates. The bond market sell off was a factor of the stock market moving higher as traders set up for better than expected Goldman Sachs earnings. This morning those expectations were confirmed as Goldman reported Q2 diluted earnings per share of $4.93, easily beating forecasts. Later in the week JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citi will report earnings, look for the market to buy the rumor, and sell the news...meaning earnings reports will likely be priced into the market before they are released which will make for some illogical price movements following earnings posts.
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