Browse by Tags

The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage remains in the 4.375% to 4.625% range for well qualified consumers but borrowing costs were slightly higher today. The uptick was minimal though, rising costs are most apparent via higher closing costs as opposed to an increase in the actual rate (less lender credit or larger discount fee). 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/broker fee. You may elect to pay less in closing costs, but you will have to accept a higher interest rate....

We have seen several days in a row of improving lender pricing thanks to the sovereign debt concerns with Greece and other European countries. At some point this is going to come to a conclusion which will probably result in the unwinding of the “flight to safety” trade that has benefited mortgage rates recently. Once that happens, we will probably see a sizeable move lower in price with fixed income investments which increases mortgage rates. I continue to favor locking all loans closing within 30 days as I feel rates have very little room to continue to improve and the likelihood of a correction which increases rates is high. In addition, we have the Employment Situation report coming on Friday which can impact the markets in a big way… especially if better than expected. Again, much to risk with very little to gain and it is always better to lock when you should have floated than it is to float when you should have locked. ...

The week ahead is fairly light on economic data with the highest impacting events coming starting on Tuesday with the release of the minutes of the most recent FOMC meeting. These meeting notes will be scoured by market participants for any insight into future monetary policy and their outlook on the economy. The bond market will be searching for signs of a slow economic recovery while stock traders will be checking for optimism in the macroeconomic outlook. . ...

Like yesterday, early morning weakness in the MBS market led to slightly worse rate sheets at the beginning of the day. However as the day progressed, MBS prices rallied enough to allow many lenders to reprice for the better. This brought us back to where we ended the day yesterday. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage remains in the 4.75% to 5.00% range for well qualified consumers. I still say you should be locking ahead of the employment report coming Friday. If the numbers are better than expected or even not as bad as expected, rates will likely move higher. FAST. If the report comes in as expected or worse, I do not feel lenders will be passing along much lower mortgage rates. Nothing to gain, much to lose in my opinion. Still locking. ...

Mortgage rates made modest improvements yesterday thanks to a rally in benchmark Treasuries and mortgage backed securities. The extension of the Monday afternoon rates rally yesterday allowed most lenders to reprice for the better which pushed mortgage borrowing costs lower. Early on today it appeared that mortgage rates would continue to benefit from more rallying in the rates market, but that didn't last long. Since starting the session with gains, MBS prices have fallen rapidly which led to a few lenders repricing for the worse. Two steps forward, two steps back!...