Well mortgage rates have regained some of their losses from last week. Bonds have had two good days in a row, after the comments of Chairman Bernanke yesterday. He said that inflation continues to stay in check, but says the economy will continue to face “formidable headwinds”. This has been viewed positive in the bond market.
I recommend floating for now, but that could change very quickly, stay tuned.
Well its good news for the economy, but bad news for mortgage rates. In the last few weeks we had touched on historically low rates again. However we have seen positive economic news almost every day this week, especially today. Only 11,000 jobs were lost in the month of November, the expectation was 125,000 jobs lost. Also the unemployment rate came in at 10%, and was expected to be 10.2%. This is really hitting the bond market hard today, and rates are headed up as well.
As we have talked about before the climb out of this recession will not be a smooth one, we will have bumps in the road. A chart of this will look more like a W than a V.
For the near future I recommend locking as soon as you can. I will continue to keep you updated.
Mortgage Rates are flat this morning. We had big news yesterday with the Existing Home Sales coming in above expectations and at their best level in 2.5 years. Also the index that measures home prices came in with a slight increase today. Both of these are a combination of the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and record low interest rates. Remember a 30 year fixed loan this time last year was 6.25%.
I recommend locking today, have a Great Thanksgiving.
National Average Mortgage Rates Today
30 Yr FRM 4.83%
15 Yr FRM 4.32%
Bonds are up just a little today after the Fed stepped in yesterday by purchasing some more Mortgage Backed Securities. However we are nearing the end of their purchase program so look for rates to start increasing in the coming months. However in the short term we could see rates dropping as retail sales number come out for the holiday season. It will be a interest rate roller coaster over the next few months.
I recommend locking today.
Mortgage bonds started in a positive direction today, but have since moved lower. The Treasury auction of 10 year notes didn’t go well. So interest rates are headed up today.
I recommend locking today, and feel free to ask me about the new Good Faith Estimate or HUD that is effective Jan 1 2010.
Rates have come down a little this morning as the jobs reports were worse than expectations.
Please read below on Tax Credit, the President has just signed it. Contact me if you have anymore questions on it.
I recommend locking today and taking advantage of the gains.
To much anticipation and longing for further improvement in the mortgage and housing industry, the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit will be extended today. The program, scheduled to expire at the end of November, will now require buyers to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30th. The FTHB Tax Credit Extension would include:
Buyers who have owned their current homes at least 5 years would be eligible for up to $6,500
First Time Homebuyers - or anyone who has not owned a home in the last 3 years would still be eligible for the $8000 Tax Credit
The credit is available for the purchase of principal homes costing $800,000 or less - vacation homes are ineligible
The credit would now be eligible to purchasers up to $125,000 in single income or $225,000 in joint income
The credit would be extended an additional year, until June 30, 2011 for members of the military serving outside the United States for at least 90 days
Extending the credit should allow more people to purchase a home and help stop the continued downward spiral in housing prices caused by the foreclosure crisis. The extension has been a priority to the real estate industry which says that the FTHB Tax Credit has been instrumental in the turn around of the market that was a major cause of the economic downturn.
The tax credit program will cost the government about $10.8 billion and the National Association of Realtors has estimated that out of the 1.4 million homebuyers that have already used the tax credit, about 350,000 would not have purchased their home without the tax credit.
Bonds are having a good day and this should push rates back down to last week’s levels. Consumer confidence came in lower than expected and there was a Treasury auction that was well received. This news has helped mortgage rates.
Also there is a bill up for vote in the Senate to extend the $8,000 First Time Homebuyer Tax Bill until June 30th. More details this week.
I recommend floating today.
30 Yr FRM 5.00% Up 0.08%
15 Yr FRM 4.43% Up 0.06%
1 Yr ARM 4.54% Down 0.06%
5/1 Yr ARM 4.40% Up 0.02%
Rates are up today as we got positive news from Existing Home sales, they were up to 5.57m. Most importantly inventory shrunk to 7.8 month supply, down from 10.1 in April. Bonds have broken thru important support levels, and this is will increase rates even more.
Today I recommend locking.
30 Yr FRM 4.92% +0.05%
15 Yr FRM 4.37% +0.04%
1 Yr ARM 4.60% +0.07%
5/1 Yr ARM 4.38% +0.03%
Mortgage Rates are coming down just a little today after weaker than expected housing reports and inflation numbers that are reasonable. Housing starts and building permit came out today and they were well below expectations. We have talked before about during a recovery the numbers wont continue to climb, they will bounce around each month.
Today I recommend floating, but will keep you posted.
30 Yr FRM 4.92% +0.05%
15 Yr FRM 4.37% +0.04%
1 Yr ARM 4.60% +0.07%
5/1 Yr ARM 4.38% +0.03%
Mortgage Rates are down just a little from their highs yesterday. Again the stock market is driving this as stocks are down from poor reports from GE, IBM and BofA.
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization were reported better than expectations. These are positive signs from the economy. However what stocks are directing everything including bonds and rates.
I recommend floating today. Be sure to go to www.facebook.com/lukesmortgage and become a fan for a chance to win a new iTouch. Contest ends 10-21.
30 Yr FRM 4.87%
15 Yr FRM 4.33%
1 Yr ARM 4.53%
5/1 Yr ARM 4.35%
Mortgage rates are pushing back to lower levels after the beating they took last Friday. The decline in the stock market due to poor earnings reports has helped bonds and therefore interest rates.
I recommend floating today.
On Monday, October 5th, the White House came very close to endorsing an extension for the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. The White House Press Secretary said it had been a very successful program and is on a “short-list” of measures being considered to help further bolster the economy in its recovery. The likely-hood for an extension of the Tax Credit has been significantly improved (as much as 90% likely to pass). There has been no indication of the Tax Credit being revised that would increase the credit above the already available $8000 limit or offered beyond first-time homebuyers within the qualifying guidelines.
What does this mean?
Unless the Tax Credit provision is made a “stand-alone” bill or attached to an existing bill, a continuation in the program may mean there would be a lapse in availability for First Time Homebuyers, possibly in early December - since tax bills usually move at the end of the year (late December).
It is speculated that a steep drop in home prices may unravel as the current First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit is left to expire December 1st, further denying economic recovery.
If extended, the $8000 Tax Credit program would cost the government approximately $1 billion for each month it is extended as talks are in place that would determine how long it will be extended.
Further details on the possible extension of the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit will be published when they become available.
30 Yr FRM 4.87% -0.07%
15 Yr FRM 4.33% -0.03%
1 Yr ARM 4.53% 0.04%
5/1 Yr ARM 4.35% -0.07%
The bond market had a bad day yesterday with the Treasury Auction that wasn’t well received. That has carried into today as well. Rates seem to be poised for another move higher. Since we are back near historic lows there are really only one way for rates to go, and that is up.
I have been asked my many followers of this blog to post actual interest rates. However that is so difficult to do given the rate adjustments for Loan To Value, Credit Score, etc. So what I have decided to do is post the National Average mortgage rate. Please understand it is possible to get a higher or lower interest rate than this given the individuals' situation.
I recommend locking today, and remember the markets are closed on Monday for Columbus Day.
Mortgage rates are headed up this morning on the news that the Reserve Bank of Australia has increased their benchmark interest rate. This is a sign that the global economy seems to be headed in the right direction. Which is not good news for mortgage rates.
This news has also given new legs to the stock market, which is further bringing down the price of bonds.
I recommend locking today.
Mortgage rates are down a little from the beginning of the week. The stock market hasn’t performed well this week and that has benefited Mortgage bonds. Today the Labor Dept reported that 263k jobs were lost in Sept. That is a higher number than was expected. In addition the unemployment rate went up to 9.8%. We will continue to see up and down numbers like this as the economy recovers.
Today I recommend locking and taking advantage of the gains earlier in the week.
Its been a wild week for bonds and stocks. With the biggest news being that the Fed will continue to purchase Mortgage Backed Securities into spring of 2010. Their hope is that rates gradually trend up rather than rise sharply towards the end of the year. This should help conventional mortgage rates stay in the 5% to 5.5% until the first part of next year.
Today mortgage rates are up a little bit. The housing numbers that were released today showed continued signs of improvement. Remember as the economy starts to improve rates will increase as a way to fight off inflation.
I recommend locking today. Have a great weekend.
Both the bonds and stocks are relatively flat today, as the market seems to be in a holding pattern. This is a light week for economic news so the biggest drivers will be the Treasury auction results and the Fed statement and rate decision which is coming tomorrow.
For all of our real estate partners there is some big news on the change to Good Faith Estimates, from RESPA. I will have some details later this week.
Today I recommend locking, have a great week.
Bonds are down this morning which means we will see an small increase in rates. As is common the stock market is having a good day and money is coming out of bonds and into stocks. However stocks seem very volatile these days and we could see them pull back before the day is over.
Also there is some big changes coming on Good Faith Estimates from RESPA. I am currently putting together a brief summary of the changes for you. While there are some positives about the change, there are also some huge negatives that are detrimental to the consumer. These changes don’t go into effect until Jan 1, 2010.
I recommend locking this morning. Have a great weekend.
The market is getting a mixed reaction with some economic numbers being a little higher than expected. This includes Consumer Price Index and Industrial Production. However the big fuel for the stock market is Warren Buffet saying the economy has bottomed out. Mr Buffet is a market mover in many ways.
All of these things haven’t been a positive for bonds or mortgage rates. However we are still in a good spot to lock in.
I recommend locking today.
As we talked about earlier in the week, there wasn’t a lot of economic news that would affect mortgage rates this week. In spite of that bonds had a nice week of gains, which is good news for interest rates. We have finally broken thru the floor that has stopped mortgage rates a number of times in the last few months. However this could be very short lived as there is big news coming out next week.
Today Consumer Sentiment came in better than expectations, typically that would be a negative for bonds however they are holding on to their gains.
I recommend floating, but would be ready to lock at anytime.
Bonds and rates are flat today, as stocks climb higher on the news that GE was upgraded by JP Morgan.
There isn’t a lot of economic news coming out this week however today’s Treasury auction on bonds could move rates.
I recommend locking today as we have seen these levels before and they don’t stay around long.
The stock market has seen a slide downward in the past few days and there has been a positive reaction from bonds and mortgage rates. The main economic factor that is holding us back from a full recovery is the employment numbers. Again today the ADP employment numbers came in worse than expectations. But the productivity numbers were in line with expectations. This shows that businesses are maximizing productivity, without adding employees. Efficiency is a positive from an inflation standpoint, which is another good sign for bonds.
Today I recommend locking as we are at a floor that we have hit many times in the past months.
What makes a loan a Jumbo?
Jumbo loans are classified as a mortgage that is above $417,000 in most areas of Texas. Before the shakeup in the mortgage industry that was the limit for all of the US. So if you lived in many parts of the East or West coast, a high percentage of the mortgages were in the Jumbo category. In 2008 Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac put increased the limit in “high cost” areas. Currently in many parts of California you can get a conventional loan for over $700,000. This is all based on the median house price in a given area.
A quick history of Jumbo loans
Any loan that is not insured by Fannie, Freddie, HUD, or VA is considered a non-conforming or portfolio loan. That means that the lender is holding that loan in their portfolio and it is not backed by a government entity. Up until 2007 many different loans were included in the term non-conforming loans. This included Subprime, Alt-A, and Jumbo loans. These loans were packaged up, securitized, and sold on Wall Street. In many cases there would be 25 to 30% of jumbo loans in these packages, the rest were subprime loans. When everyone came to the realization that many of the subprime loans were over-leveraged or non-performing, then the jumbo loans were unfairly thrown into the same category. Then the credit crunch came along. Most lenders and banks began to horde cash and not loan money. Subprime and Alt A loans were gone almost overnight and jumbo loans were not backed by any government entity. So they had a similar fate. While many of the subprime loans were done with 0 down payment and poor credit, most jumbo loans still required a 5 to 20 percent down payment and above average credit. Currently the default rates on jumbo loans done in the last 5 years are lower than almost any other type of loan done in the same period. However because the investors that bought jumbo loans have been holding on to their cash, the market for those loans has been almost non-existent for the last 18 months. For the last 10 years jumbo loans required a bigger down payment and carried an interest rate from .25% to .50% higher than a conventional loan. That all changed in 2008, for the few lenders that would still buy a jumbo loan they were charging between 1.5% and 2% more than conventional loans. This has created big problems on the housing market in the upper end of price ranges. Because of this short supply and expensive financing the luxury home market has been reliant on buyers that could pay cash for these properties. That limits a large segment of potential buyers.
Current Jumbo Loan Market
However things have started to loosen up, some lenders are realizing the hole in the market and are starting to finance jumbo loans again. Today I can offer a customer with good credit and a 20% down payment a jumbo loan in the low 6’s on a 30 year fixed loan. While many lenders don’t have this product we do. If you know anyone that could benefit from this information please pass along my information.
Stocks are up this morning as President Obama has reappointed Ben Bernanke as Fed Chief. This has helped stabilize the markets, investors don’t like to see changes at the top of the Fed. Bonds are down a little as stocks go up.
Also more reports were released today that showed home pricing increasing for the second straight month.
I recommend floating today, and will let you know if things change.
Also please tune in later today for my update on Jumbo loans, there have been some changes that will help the higher end of our market.
After three days good days this week, Mortgage Bonds are headed in the wrong direction. As we talked about last week, we have hit this level a number of times and have yet to go below it.
The cause of this was Existing Home Sales which came in better than expected, as the housing market continues to show positive signs. While this is good news on an economic front, it also shows signs of inflation which is the enemy of interest rates.
I recommend locking and will keep you updated on any changes.
Bonds and mortgage rates have had a wild day. This morning the CPI (Consumer Price Index) fell 2.1%. This is great news for inflation and for rates. However we are back to that floor that we have hit so many times this year. Once that floor was reached rates started to go back up.
In other news Colonial Bank has been seized by the FDIC and its assets will be sold to BB&T. This will have huge implications as Colonial had many different interests in the mortgage business.
This is a great time to lock in a low interest rate.
Rates are experiencing a little recovery of last weeks losses. Stocks are down which is fueling this rally. The big news of the week will be the Fed Policy announcement on Wednesday, however the Treasury auction will have the biggest effect.
I recommend floating today and will keep you updated as things change.
We are starting to see a run of financial numbers that show we are starting to recover from the recession. Today it was the Jobs report, coming in better than expectations and Unemployment dropping as well.
This isn’t good news for mortgage bonds, however it is good for the overall economy.
I recommend locking today, as we have broken thru a ceiling on interest rates.
Interest rates have gone up .25% in the last two days. Thanks to some good economic news and a positive run by the stock market.
Today the big surprise was the Pending Home Sales, the number was up considerably from expectations. Also inflation looks like it is staying in a good range, so that isn’t a concern at this point.
I recommend locking as I did last week.
We have seen a little relief on mortgage rates, thanks to a better than expected Treasury Auction yesterday. Also the GDP came in better than expected, however consumer spending is still down. That makes sense with the increase we have seen in the personal savings rate.
I recommend locking today we have hit the floor on rates that we have seen 3 times in the last month. Each time rates pop back up. Have a great weekend.
Mortgage bonds have been all over the place today. Currently we are in the same place we were on Friday. The cause of this big movement was the Case/Shiller Home Price Index which measures price and inventory of housing. These numbers were better than expected. However the Treasury auctioned off 42 billion in notes and this was not well received by the market. So we lost the positive ground that we saw earlier in the day.
I recommend locking today.
Yesterday mortgage bonds had a bad day, this has caused interest rates to increase about .25% from Tuesday. The culprits on the increase in mortgage rates were the run of the stock market which closed above 9,000 for the first time since January. Also the positive news on the housing market caused this. We are currently down to a 9.4 month supply, this is the best number in 8 months.
Also Consumer Sentiment, which measures consumer attitudes came in as expected.
I recommend floating for now, however things could change quickly.
Stocks and bonds are both up today, which doesn’t happen a lot. This should help rates come back down just a little bit, we are still north of 5%.
Big news of the day is Fed Chief Ben Bernanke is in front of House Financial Services Committee.
I recommend floating today, however things could change quickly.
Bonds are down today which isn’t good news for mortgage rates. The main factor in this increase is the Housing Starts for June showed an increase. The last two months of this number show that the housing recovery may be underway.
However earning announced today from B of A, GE, IBM and Citi show that the economy is still difficult.
We seem to have to started the process of recovery and because of that interest rates will be all over the place for at least the next 6 months. During economic recovery you get many positive and negative signs, and that will create havoc with rates. That is why it is so important to be working with a mortgage professional that knows what is going on in the market.
I recommend locking today, have a great weekend.
Mortgage rates have gone back up today, based on some economic numbers that could show signs of inflation. Tomorrow’s numbers will be important as well. In other news Goldman Sachs reported great earnings and paid back their TARP money.
I recommend locking today ahead of tomorrows numbers.
After gaining some ground on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, bonds gave a lot of it back yesterday. The main cause of the positive pricing was the bond auction that the Fed held earlier in the week. Rates are just a little lower than we started the week with.
However stocks are down this morning thanks to poor economic numbers from the Balance of Trade report and the Consumer Sentiment.
I recommend floating as rates seem to have broken below an important floor and we could see some more positive reaction next week.
Have a great weekend.
Stocks are down this morning, despite a jump in oil prices. Mortgage bonds and interest rates are flat. We are back to an important floor on interest rates that will be difficult to break thru. There is not much economic news out this week, however the Treasury is selling more bonds later in the week. How they sell will be important to the markets.
I recommend floating today, however the situation could change rapidly so stay tuned.
Rates came back down to last week’s level, because of the poor employment reports and the strengthening of the dollar. However these have had a negative affect on stocks.
I recommend locking today and taking advantage of the gains. Have a great Fourth of July and hold a good thought for the people that continue to preserve our freedom.
We just haven’t been able to hold onto the positive gains from last week. There is another range of resistance that we are bumping against.
Interesting news from the economy. First numbers came out today that shows that the decline of home prices is slowing in the 20 largest US cities. This may mean we are near the bottom on house prices. Secondly Consumer-Confidence came in lower than expected, indicating that consumers optimism in May was short lived.
I recommend locking today.
Mortgage bonds came back in a big way yesterday, the comments from the Fed weren’t as inflationary as they could have been and this was a positive for both the stock and bond markets.
Also Personal Income and the Personal Savings rate went up in June this should help the markets as well. The savings rate has climbed to the highest level since December of 1993.
I recommend locking today and taking the gains of yesterday. Next week is a big vacation week and weird things tend to happen on a holiday week.
Both bonds and stocks are almost flat today. We are in this strange 200 day moving average on both markets and it is creating a little bit of a stalemate.
There is speculation that the Fed will buy more bonds after their two day meetings that started today. This could give some short term relief to mortgage rates.
I recommend floating, and advise everyone that if the Fed gets us back below 5% not to wait around on something lower. At some point we are going to have inflation issues and those days are coming soon.
Well the volatility in bonds has continued. The main issue is inflation which we talked about earlier in the week and also the amount of bonds that are out there on the market. The Fed continues to purchase Mortgage bonds, however they aren’t having a big affect at this point.
The wild ride will continue next week. For today I recommend floating, and will keep you updated.
Well its been a crazy couple of weeks. Mortgage rates have fluctuated more than 1 point. We have settled between 5.25 and 5.5%. I anticipate staying in this range for the next 90 days or so. Right now the stock and bond markets are directly related. If the stock market rises then money is coming out of bonds and rates are going up. The opposite is also happening.
In other news Housing starts rose in May and came in better than expectations, this is a very good sign for the economy.
Today I recommend floating, however stay tuned because things could change rapidly.
This mornings Jobs Report came in far better than expectations and the previous two months' job losses the numbers were revised down to show smaller declines. This is a good sign, but there will be more negative economic news before we are out of the woods. Despite the positive news the official Unemployment Rate--which is regarded as a more reliable indication of the employment situation--actually came in higher from 8.9% in April to 9.4% in May.
Because of this positive news we have taken another hit on Mortgage Bonds. Meanwhile stocks are up on the day. However we are up against a ceiling on Stocks and they could start to move lower. This would be positive for bonds and interest rates.
I recommend locking until we have some clarity on things.
All of this volatility has driven me to go on a short vacation, I will be out of the office June 8th thru 12th. However feel free to contact my partner Rudy Verdes at 972-665-1900 if you need anything. Have a great weekend.
Mortgage bonds are falling again this morning as continued auctions of bonds are weakening the value of the dollar. It was announced an hour ago that the auction today would be smaller than originally planned, however it hasn’t helped bond prices yet today.
Jobless claims came in at expectations.
I recommend floating today, however be ready to pull the lock trigger.
Big news hit the mortgage industry today regarding the $8,000 tax credit available to first-time homebuyers. According to the Federal Housing Administration, first-time homebuyers can apply the new $8,000 tax credit toward the purchase costs of a FHA-insured home. This is hot of the presses and more details will be released soon.
Also, the Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter fell at an annual rate of 5.7%, which was better than initial estimates. This good news that the economy may by turning.
As we talked about we expected a rebound in bond prices. This started late yesterday and has continued in today.
I recommend floating today.
Yesterday, Mortgage Bonds had their worst one-day performance since October. This increased interest rates to over 5%. The cause of this was added supply in the market from the Treasury auctions and the increased number of refinances.
In other news, Initial Jobless Claims were better than expectations, while New Home Sales were just under estimates.
We should see a rebound from these prices, because the market has overreacted. However at this point our hope is to get back below 5%.
I recommend floating today.
Well we knew at some point this day was going to come.
Mortgage bonds have been absolutely killed today, mainly because of a lot of positive economic news, including existing home sales. We have increased about 1/2% since this morning. Which means we are now over the 5% mark.
On the bright side the economy is showing good signs of improvement, and that is a positive for everyone.
I now recommend floating, because a little of this is "over reaction" by the markets.
After starting down the stock market has rebounded today, at the expense of bonds and therefore mortgage rates.
The main reason for this swing is that we saw the biggest one month jump in consumer confidence in over 6 years.
I recommend locking today, stay tuned.
Mortgage bonds are flat today, mainly because the stock market is seeing another nice gain. This comes on the news that B of A is receiving a strong buy from Goldman Sachs and Lowes posted positive earnings. The other item driving the stock market is oil prices going up for the summer driving season.
There are no economic reports set for release today and this has helped rates stay flat even with the increase in stocks.
We are back to our historic lows on mortgage rates. Remember we have hit this point 5 times earlier and haven’t been able to go lower. Because of this I recommend locking.
Chairman Bernanke said last night that the results from the “stress test” are encouraging. This has helped calm both markets as money was flowing out of stocks and into bonds. This has helped interest rates come close to their lows, once again.
As we near the rate of 4.5% remember this is a floor that we have hit 4 times earlier and haven’t gone below. Because of this I recommend locking today.
Well with the more positive job reports, bonds and therefore rates have a taken a hit the last few days. However we seem to be recovering a little today.
Stocks are also trading higher on the news of the job reports, and the Bank Stress test came out better than most people thought.
I recommend floating today, but things could change quickly. Have a great weekend.
Well the stock market had a big day yesterday, and the other good news is that the bond market didn’t suffer because of it. Bonds are up again today which is good news for rates.
However the government stress test said that ten large banks need to raise capital to stay afloat in this recession. This has caused stocks to come down from yesterday’s high.
Again today I recommend floating.
The stock market is testing a ceiling this morning. If stocks are able to push thru we may see another strong push in the markets. Otherwise the market may drop back. The bond market has a nice floor of support and this is good for interest rates.
Also Warren Buffet was on CNBC this morning and was very optimistic about the financial and housing markets. He has always been ahead of everyone else, so look for everyone else to jump on the bandwagon in another 6 months or so.
With the floor of support in rates, I recommend floating.
Bonds have taken a pretty good hit in the later part of this week. As the stock market is improving money is coming out of bonds and into stocks. This has not been good for interest rates.
The Fed reported it has been purchasing Mortgage Backed Securities, however they are still not buying a lot of bonds on the lower end. Consumer Sentiment and other numbers came through within expectations.
In the mortgage industry May 1st is an important day. As Fannie and Freddie have mandated a new way to manage the appraisal process. Feel free to email me for more details.
I recommend floating as bonds are holding onto a floor of support.
Rates are off their best levels this morning, after they faced the same floor that we have now hit 4 times in as many months.
In other news, the government's "stress tests" for banks indicated that Bank of America and Citigroup may need to raise more capital. This isn't a major surprise, but does seem contrary to their recent favorable earnings reports. Also in the news, Consumer Confidence for April came in at its fourth largest gain in the history of the survey.
I reccommend locking as rates can't seem to go below this level.
Mortgage Bonds are trading flat but starting to trend downward, which is not good for interest rates..
New Home Sales came out slightly better than expected, showing a 356K pace for March, whereas only 337K was expected. The good news was that the inventory number continues to fall – now at a 10.7 month supply, compared with February’s 11.2 months.
I recommend locking as there is an enormous $101B worth of Treasury supply hitting the market next week, which could weigh heavily on Bond prices.”
The stock market is taking losses this morning and that is a positive for the bond market and interest rates. This is about three weeks in a row that the stock and bonds markets have reacted inversely, as they should. Stocks are down after the government has announced that they may convert their preferred stock to common stock in the financial institutions. This will dilute the share values, and that has investors reacting by selling.
Because of the pressure on stocks I recommend floating, but remember we are getting back to our interest rate floor that we haven’t been able to breakthrough.
The stock and bond markets are both flat this morning, after Consumer Price Index and Empire State Manufacturing numbers came in a better than expected. This after the news from Goldman Sachs earlier in the week, is adding some stability to the market.
We are reached this level on interest rates 3 times in the last 4 months, and have hit the same floor. Because of this history I recommend locking today. I don’t see much upside to floating, with this floor in place.
Both the stock and bond markets are up a little today. On the positive side of things Pulte Homes bought Centex Homes today in what essentially was a stock swap.
In the last year Centex has gotten out of the mortgage business and the homebuilding business.
Later today, the Fed will release the Minutes from its March meeting, and the government will auction off $35 Billion worth of 3-Year Notes.
Interest rates are back down to their lows of a couple of weeks ago. Again I think this is a floor on rates, we have hit it 3 times in the past and have yet to drop below it.
Because of this I recommend locking today.
Bonds are up this morning as the stock market is having another bad day. Again the bank stocks are dragging it down. This however is good news for rates as we move back down to the historic lows of a couple of weeks ago.
There aren’t any economic reports out today, but companies start to report earnings from the 1st quarter. There probably won’t be many surprises here, and it won’t be pretty.
I recommend floating again today.
The stock market is down today as a result of the bank stocks taking big hits. Again the Mark to Market change will help these companies long term, it will just take a little time to sort it out. In a “normal market” action the bond market is up because of stocks. This is what we normally see, but haven’t seen in months. Maybe this is a sign that things are starting to straighten themselves out.
The markets close early on Thursday and are closed on Friday for the holiday. Normally short weeks aren’t good for interest rates, but this one maybe a little different.
Since we are up from the lows of a couple of weeks ago, I recommend floating today.
Well the jobs report was right in line with expectations. Also revisions for January and February were pretty close to original numbers. Both the stock and bond markets are relatively flat on this news. After just one day of the new accounting rules, we are hearing that things are already looking brighter for the banks.
I recommend floating today as I think rates will come back from our losses yesterday.
Just as we talked about yesterday the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted favorably to relax mark-to-market and help financial institutions. The big change is to allow financial companies to use alternate models, like cash flow analysis, in marking assets.
Also as predicted this has helped the stock market in a big way, and has been a negative for bonds and interest rates.
Also helping Stocks is optimism that the G20 meeting underway in London will agree on ways to pull global economies out of the current recession.
Again today I reccommend locking today.
Today numbers were released that showed 742,000 jobs lost in March, far worse than expectations of 663,000 jobs lost and the worst reading in ADP's nine years of reporting as the labor market continues to struggle.
However its not affecting the Stock and Bond markets as both are flat today. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an executive outplacement company, released some findings today stating that planned layoffs at US firms fell in March to their lowest in six months.
Tomorrow the Accounting Standards Board is going to release their decision on "Mark to Market" accouting. It is expected that they will revise the current guidelines. This could be a huge boost to the Stock market, and normally that is bad for interest rates.
Because of that I reccommend locking today.
Bonds are down a little today, because the stock market is rebounding a little bit.
Interesting note on the unlikelihood of rates moving much lower - last Friday, Jack Koskinen, interim chief executive of Freddie Mac, said that home loan rates are near the bottom and that any further decreases will be small.
In other news Consumer Confidence is up a little over last month.
For now, I will continue to recommend locking, as I cant see much upside to floating.
Bonds are up a little today, as stocks are selling off.
The bad news from the auto sector is driving the stock market and US dollar down today, as a lot of people figured out we are still in recession.
While this hurts, it will not last forever.
I recommend floating for now, but be prepared to lock in this historic opportunity."
Sorry you haven’t seen an update on rates this week, a couple of family emergencies prevented me from doing my usual posts.
Bonds are up a little this morning due to reasonable inflation numbers and the fact that stocks are moving lower. Personal Income and Spending came inline with estimates. And as expected Personal Savings rate was up. Rates are in historic lows, and this isn’t a time to gamble. I recommend locking.
Also I have been receiving a lot of questions about why rates arent lower. Please watch the clip from CNBC, it sums it up well.
Yesterday afternoon the Fed gave us another surprise by announcing they will purchase another 750 billion of Mortgage Back Securities or Bonds. This news has driven rates down to the lows of a couple weeks ago.
The important thing to remember is that the Fed is buying 5% and 5.5% coupon bonds. These bonds equate to mortgages in the 5.75 to 6.5 range. This does keep rates low, but still a long way from 4% as the media is talking about. Because of this we are now showing some signs of inflation which is the arch enemy of rates. Also the large lenders are holding back and not pricing all of the market gains because they are overloaded with loans right now. It goes to a supply and demand philosophy.
I recommend locking today and taking advantage of the gains.
The Fed is meeting today and there isn’t much chance they will change rates. However their Policy Statements could have an effect on both markets. Inflation numbers came out today and were actually a little higher than expected. But remember a little inflation at this point is much better than deflation. The stock market is taking a small hit and our “steady eddy” bond market is flat again today. Which means rates are flat again, this is a welcome change from the last few months.
I recommend floating today, but will keep you updated with any changes.
Bonds are down a little this morning as the stock market is making another run upward. Wow it feels good to type that. The main reason for the run is the big banks say they are back to being profitable. Also Fed Chairman Bernake stated again that the recession should end in 2009.
I recommend locking today and taking advantage of gains the past few days.
Also check out the new "Poll of The Week"
Both the stock and bond markets have been all over the place today and are currently flat. There are a couple of reasons for the volatility today. First China is concerned the US may be spending too much on the recession. China is the largest single holder of US bonds. Also the stock market is reacting to the Congressional hearings on mark to market accounting and the news that Citigroup seems to have risen from the dead. They announced today they do not need anymore TARP money. This is a good sign.
For now I recommend floating and will let you know if anything changes. Have a great weekend.
Well how about another day of good news? The bond and stock markets are up this morning. Also Retail sales were again better than expected in February, and were revised even higher for January. These are good signs for the economy.
The other important item today is that the House Financial Services committee will be discussing the mark to market accounting. This could have a big impact on both the bond and the stock markets. We recommended to float yesterday and it looks like that may payoff, we had a great end of the day on the bond market and it should reduce interest rates .125% today.
I recommend taking advantage of the gains and locking today.
The stock market is up a little today, holding onto the big gains from yesterday. The bond market and interest rates are flat. The main reason for the run on the stock market had yesterday is the possibility that the Mark to Market system is going to be fixed. If you are looking for one big reason that banks aren’t lending this is it. If they can correct this we are on the way to economic recovery. Mortgage rates have been flat the last couple of days, which is a nice change.
I recommend floating today as we see how things shake out.
The stock market is off to the races today, after Citigroup announced they are looking at profits instead of losses in the next few months. Also it helped that Treasury Secretary Geithner and Fed Chairman Bernake had positive statements for Congress. They said that the recession should be over by year-end. Chairman Bernanke also reiterated that the major banks would not be allowed to fail. Normally a run up in the stock market would be detrimental to bonds and interest rates. However as we have said before this is not a “normal market”, so mortgage bonds are pretty flat today.
I recommend locking, and will keep you updated.
The stock and bond markets are relatively flat this morning. The biggest news of the week is when the SEC Chief Accountant and Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standard’s Board will be in front of Congress on Thursday to discuss the mark to market system. This is one of the biggest reasons that so many banks, investment banks, and insurance companies are in the shape they are in. If they can amend the current system it will go a long way to helping the credit system get back on track.
I recommend locking today, and will keep you updated.
As we talked about yesterday the jobs report was ugly today. The US economy has lost 4.4 milliion jobs since December 2007. However it would make sense in the current environment that the stock and bond market would take a sharp dive on the news, and then reverse course to the positive direction all in less than an hour. This market continues to be wild and we anticipate that continuing for the long term.
Whether you are buying or refinancing a home right now, it is important to be realistic in terms of interest rates and not be greedy at the same time. We suggest setting a realistic target interest rate that makes sense. So that when rates get to that level lock it in and count your blessing for the historic low interest rates that we have currently.
I recommend floating today, but that could change quickly. So stay tuned…
Earlier this week President Obama rolled out the Housing Recovery Plan. The main focus of the plan is for refinancing current mortgages and modification of mortgages with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The two initiatives are designed to significantly expand the numbers of borrowers who can refinance or modify their mortgages to a payment that is affordable now and into the future.
Home Affordable Refinance includes new refinancing flexibilities for homeowners whose loans are owned by Fannie and Freddie. Key features include:
Additional Flexibilities: Most borrowers refinancing an existing loan will not be required to buy new or additional mortgage insurance if the loan at the time of the refinance is more than 80 percent of a home's value. Any existing mortgage insurance may be carried forward to the new loan. In addition, Fannie Mae can refinance loans up to 105 percent of a home's value with this new flexibility, so even borrowers who are "underwater" -- who owe more than their home is worth -- may be able to refinance. This will expand the number of borrowers able to take advantage of lower interest rates that reduce monthly payments, or refinance into a more sustainable mortgage.
What Borrowers Need to Know:
To qualify, your mortgage loan must be owned by Fannie or Freddie
You must have a solid payment history on your existing mortgage.
The expanded refinance flexibility ends in June 2010.
Home Affordable Modification
Through the Home Affordable Modification, Fannie Mae will work with loan servicers across the country to help distressed borrowers modify their current loan into a mortgage that is more affordable and sustainable. Loan servicers participating in the program may reduce interest rates, lengthen the payment time frame or take other steps, such as principal forbearance, to bring the monthly payments down to as low as 31 percent of the borrower's gross (pre-tax) income.
What Borrowers Need to Know:
To modify a loan through Home Affordable Modification, it must be for your primary residence.
You need not wait to become delinquent with your payments -- a plan can be put in place as soon as you think you may have trouble making your mortgage payment.
The program is for mortgages originated prior to January 1, 2009.
Certain eligibility requirements, including attesting to a financial hardship, may apply in some cases.
To ensure borrowers currently at risk of a foreclosure have the opportunity to apply for a Home Affordable Modification, Fannie Mae servicers have been directed not to proceed with a foreclosure until a borrower has been evaluated for the program.
The stock market has taken another large dive today, and in the bond market we have broken thru that important ceiling we talked about yesterday. The big news of the week is scheduled for tomorrow, with the Jobs Report. This report is expected to be pretty ugly. Tomorrow we will be posting the details of President Obama’s Housing Plan.
We have changed to a floating stance, but will let you know if anything changes.
Normally we try to break things down on a level that’s easy to understand, but today we need to be a little more technical. Yesterday Bonds reached a ceiling on the 25 day moving average. It will be difficult for bond prices to go above this level.
Also the stock market is rebounding today. That is also hurting bond prices, which will raise interest rates. President Obama released the Housing Rescue Plan today and we will break it down for you as soon as we have more details.
Today I recommend locking, and will keep you informed.
The stock market is seeing a little rebound off of the really bad day yesterday. As expected there is some money flowing from bonds into stocks, but at this point its not really effecting mortgage rates. Today, Ben Beranke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will discuss the budget with Senate and House committees, and their plans to help the economy.
Today I recommend floating, and with one finger on the lock button.
The stock market is taking another hit today, thanks in large part to AIG announcing they need another government bailout. Currently the Dow is below 7,000 for the first time since 1997. Normally money would be flowing into bonds and reducing interest rates. However bond traders believe that we are poised for a rebound in the stock market which will hurt bond prices long term. Obviously we need a sign this time that the financial markets are getting better, not worse.
Today I recommend floating, but will have one finger on the lock button all day.
The stock market is taking a small hit this morning and bonds are relatively flat. In what are small victories (we need to take any we can get) Consumer Sentiment and Chicago Purchasing Index came in above expectations. However Gross Domestic Product came in worse than expectations and the lowest reading since 1982.
Today the Treasury will announce plans to take over 36% stake in Citi, as we have talked about this is one step closer to the first Nationalized bank.
Today I am still recommending floating. Have a great weekend.
Today’s news really doesn’t have any surprises in it, however we have seen a small bounce back from yesterday in the stock market despite the bad news. Jobless claims were a little worse than expected rising to 667,000 last week. New home sales have dropped to 309,000 and that is the lowest level since they began tracking that number in 1963.
However today we are recommending floating as mortgage rates have popped up in the last few days, we may see some push down in the next few days. If anything changes I will keep you posted.
Today has not been a good day for Stocks or Bonds, even after the President’s positive speech last night. Some of it may have to do with Chairman Bernanke statements to congress, however yyesterday it had the opposite effect. Also the Existing Home Sales for January were even lower than expected, and the amount of homes listed for sale is the lowest in two years.
Same song, different day I recommend locking today.
Yesterday the stock market reached levels not seen since 1997. A lot of economists and forecasters are of the belief that we have officially hit bottom. Bonds are flat even on the news of the worst consumer confidence report since 1967. The main reason to watch the stock market as it pertains to mortgage bonds is it seems to be ready to bounce higher. If that happens investments will start to come out of bonds and into stocks.
Today is not different than the previous 5 days, I recommend locking as mortgage rates are flat today.
MORE DETAILS on President Obama’s Stimulus Plan
The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan includes two initiatives to help struggling homeowners. Many of the plan’s details are still being worked out and will not be announced until March 4, here is an overview of the plan.
Refinancing Initiative
Currently families who own less than 20% equity in their homes have a difficult time refinancing and taking advantage of the historically low interest rates. Therefore, the refinancing initiative in the new plan provides refinancing help for homeowners with less than 20% equity in their homes or who owe more than their home is worth. This initiative is open to homeowners who have conforming loans which are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who owe up to 5% more than their home is worth. People that qualify under these guidelines can refinance into a 30 or 15 year fixed loan. We do not know yet what the credit score requirements will be.
Stability Initiative
This is to provide help to individual families as well as entire neighborhoods by helping reduce foreclosures and stabilize home prices. It is intended to help homeowners who are struggling to afford their mortgage payments, but cannot sell their homes because prices have fallen significantly. The goal of this initiative is simple: “reduce the amount homeowners owe per month to sustainable levels. Homeowners who are current on their mortgages but are struggling can still apply for this program. As such, this is one of the few programs designed to help homeowners who may face delinquency soon, but are current at the moment. Since the focus of this initiative is on helping families and neighborhoods, investment properties do not qualify. This initiative also includes a number of additional elements and incentives that benefit homeowners and lenders alike, including
Supporting Low Mortgage Rates
As part of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, the Treasury Department is increasing its funding commitment to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ensure the strength and security of the mortgage market and to help maintain mortgage affordability. This portion of the plan will use using funds already authorized in 2008 by Congress for this purpose. The increased funding will enable Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to carry out ambitious efforts to ensure mortgage affordability for responsible homeowners, and provide forward-looking confidence in the mortgage market.
www.treas.gov/initiatives/eesa/homeowner-affordability-plan/ConsumerQA.pdf
Bonds and Stocks are relatively flat today. This comes even after the big news of the day that the Government may take a 40% ownership position in Citigroup, because of their inability to pull themselves up. As we have been talking about for a week or so this is one step closer to Nationalizing some of the large banks. How about some GOOD NEWS? Reuters reported that many economists that forecast believe we will begin to show signs of recovery in the second half of the year.
As we have said for a few days mortgage rates have hit a floor and can’t seem to breakthrough. I recommend locking today. Be sure to check out the post from last night in regards to the “New First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit”.
I have been receiving a lot of questions about the changes to the new Tax Credit, here are the highlights.
This credit is equivalent to 10 percent of the purchase price of the home--although it's capped at $8,000--and applies only to first-time home buyers and principal residences. But unlike an earlier $7,500 home buyer tax credit, this one does not have to be repaid.
Who is considered a first time homebuyer? For the purpose of this legislation, a "first-time home buyer" is someone who hasn't owned a principal residence for three years before buying a house. (The date of purchase is considered the day that the title is transferred.) That means if you've owned a vacation home--but not a principal residence--within the past three years, you would still qualify for the credit.
Only those who purchase a home on or after January 1 and before December 1, 2009 are eligible for the credit. Anyone who bought a home last year won't be able to take advantage of it.
The tax credit is subject to income limitations. Single buyers need a modified adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less to qualify for the full credit, that's $150,000 for married couples. Those earning more than these thresholds may be eligible for reduced credits.
Because the tax credit is "refundable," qualified buyers can take advantage of it even if they don't have much tax liability. This means if you owed $1000 in taxes, instead of paying you will receive $7000 as a tax refund. Or if you were already getting money back you will get back an additional $8000.
Buyers have to own the home for at least three years in order to capitalize on the credit. If they sell the home before then, they will have to return the credit to the government. With the historic low interest rates and home prices that have decreased. You also have the goverment paying you to buy a house.
The stock and bond market has been all over the map today, with the news being Overall Consumer Price Index rising to .3% in January and the CPI also coming in near expectations. One of the causes for the stock market behaving poorly is Senator Chris Dodd’s comments regarding Bank of America and Citi. He stated that it might make sense to nationalize them at some point. This means they would be owned by the government. Both banks are disputing these comments, but many people in the industry have been thinking this for a few months. To hear a high ranking Senator say it, just drives it home.
As we have talked about the last few days, Interest Rates have hit a floor and are having a hard time breaking thru it. Again today we recommend locking. Have a great weekend.
Mortgage bonds are headed down this morning, which is not good news for rates. As we have said in previous days, we seem to have hit a ceiling on bonds. At this point bonds are headed lower and that means rates will start to trend up. The big news this morning was unemployment numbers which were very poor, again. Also the Producer Price Index which measures inflation was up. While this was a surprise it is also good news, because deflation is so much worse that inflation.
As you might guess I recommend locking today.
I have been fielding a lot of questions in regards to President Obama’s plan for mortgages. There is a lot of confusion, because the plan is pretty vague at this point. However here is what we know so far. The plan would allow up to 5 million homeowners who now are close to owing more than their homes are worth to refinance mortgages through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It will also establish a $75 billion fund to reduce monthly payments for another 3 million to 4 million homeowners facing foreclosure.
"President Obama signed the $787 Billion Stimulus Plan yesterday. See below for some of the details that are out. As for the economic news of the day, Housing Starts fell in January, again. Bonds have been all over the map today and are currently flat.
I think that we have hit a floor on rates, that will be difficult to go much lower. As I have recommended the past few days, I would lock today.
Stimulus Plan Snapshot
First-time homebuyers who purchase homes from the start of the year until the end of November 2009 may be eligible for the lower of an $8,000 or 10% of the value of the home tax credit. Remember a tax credit is very different than a tax deduction – a tax credit is equivalent to money in your hand, as opposed to a tax deduction which only reduces your taxable income. If a couple makes about $150,000 or $75000 as a single filers, they will see a reduction in the credit.
Tax Incentives to Spur Energy Savings and Green Jobs — This provision is designed to help promote energy-efficient investments in homes by extending and expanding tax credits through 2010 for purchases such as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation.
Landmark Energy Savings — This provision provides $5 Billion for energy efficient improvements. According to some estimates, this can help modest-income families save an average of $350 a year on heating and air conditioning bills.
Repairing Public Housing and Making Key Energy Efficiency Retrofits To HUD-Assisted Housing—This provision provides a total of $6.3 Billion for increasing energy efficiency in federally supported housing programs.
Expanding Housing Assistance—This provision increases support for several critical housing programs. It includes $2 Billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties.
President Obama’s Foreclosure Plan
Refinancing for Up to 4 to 5 Million Responsible Homeowners to Make Their Mortgages More Affordable.
A $75 Billion Homeowner Stability Initiative to Reach Up to 3 to 4 Million At-Risk Homeowners
Supporting Low Mortgage Rates By Strengthening Confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
This plan is still a little vague, however we will hear more details in the weeks to come. While this is good news for individual homeowners, it will likely be good for the housing industry as a whole. That’s because, assisting struggling borrowers before they default should help stop the wave of foreclosures, which are estimated to top two million this year. That, in turn, will help stabilize home prices.
Well its another wild day in the markets, as President Obama is scheduled to sign the largest Stimulus Plan since the Roosevelt Era. The stock market has dropped today on the news of Japan’s economy sinking to its worse levels since 1974. However there is some good news, Walmart had higher than expected earnings for the 4th quarter.
All of this has been positive news for mortgage rates, as we have gained back the ground lost on Friday. We are facing some resistance and there is still the idea that bonds will decrease in value with the amount of debt the government is taking on. I recommend locking today, as we have suggested for the last few days.
Here are a few highlights of the stimulus package that will be signed today.
We will do a breakdown on the entire package once it is released.
Read more...
Today will have some ups and downs on the bond market. The market closes early today and is closed Monday. There is typically some irregular trading before a 3 day holiday. The stock market rebounded last yesterday after news that President Obama was working on a plan to help individuals delinquent on their mortgages. The Fed has now purchased 115 billion of Mortgage Backed Securities, this has not had the dramatic affect on interest rates as some predicted. Many experts believe that we are headed for higher interest rates, with the amount of debt the Fed is taking on with the new Stimulus package.
I recommend locking today, and will keep you updated with any changes. Have a great weekend, and bless those of you that have a holiday on Monday.
Well we got some good news this morning. Retails sales showed an increase for the first time in a while, and Jobless claims dropped a little. However the stock market isn’t looking to much at those numbers, instead they are focused on the Stimulus plan that was finalized last night. Many expect it to be on President Obama’s desk to sign by Monday.
We have had 4 good days in a row on the bond market, it has been a long time since that happened. I recommend locking today, as rates are near an all time low.
Well the market is flat today, and this is after two days of good gains by bonds. Yesterday the stock market lost over 4% after the unveiling of the New TARP plan. Interest rates are holding steady, which is nice feeling these days.
Overall I think that rates will go up long term to combat the amount of spending that the Fed is having to do in stimulating the economy. The CEO of the largest bond holding company in the world PIMCO, has stated that he believes the same thing.
I would recommend locking if you are closing within 45 days. Also if you have been thinking about refinancing, now may be a good time to pull the trigger.
Well the stock market didn’t respond well to the Senate’s passing of the new Stimulus Package or the unveiling of the new plan by the Treasury Secretary. However yesterday afternoon and this morning have been positive for mortgage rates.
There has been much speculation in recent months about the Fed getting mortgage rates to 4.5%. In a recent interview Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart said “The Treasury, not the companies, would bear the cost under proposals to use the companies to drive down mortgage rates to about 4.5 percent. That proposal was under consideration as part of a comprehensive housing-recovery plan being developed by the Treasury. That was a hot idea for a while, it’s cooled off.” It seems as though the powers at be have decided to buy Mortgage Backed Securities (Bonds) and let the rates price themselves in an open market.
I recommend floating for now, unless you are closing in the next two weeks. If you fit into that range I would advise in locking soon. I will keep you updated as the situation changes.
Well don’t hold your breath, but so far this morning the stock and bond markets are relatively flat this morning. However I doubt the rest of the week will be as tame.
Everyone seems to be holding their collective breath waiting on the news from Washington regarding the new stimulus plan. This plan has already taken some shots over the weekend, because not every dollar is helping the economy. The new Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner has delayed his plan for TARP until tomorrow.
I recommend floating for now unless you are closing before Friday. Have a great week.
Well the stock market didn’t pay any attention to the worse Jobs report since 1974, and it has held onto its early gains. The Labor Department reported today that 598,000 jobs were lost in January the expectation for this was 540,000.
The run up of the stock market is having a negative impact on Bonds and therefore Mortgage rates. In a “Normal” market the numbers today would have had exactly the opposite affect. However we all know that this market is anything but normal.
I recommend floating unless you are closing in the next week. We should see a change if the new Stimulus Package is approved by the first part of next week. Speaking of the new Stimulus
The Senate last night passed an expansion of the tax credit proposal. The proposal would be available to all purchasers (not just first-time homebuyers). The key elements are:
"It's another crazy day for interest rates. Bonds have already traded in a wide range so far today. Today the employment picture continued its gloomy outlook ADP Employment figure showed 522,000 jobs lost in January. Based on this report, the Jobs Report for January will likely come in near 500,000 jobs lost, which is exactly what economists are forecasting. We will get this report on Friday. For know I reccommend floating unless you are closing in the next 15 days.
Read more...
Whether you are purchasing a new home or refinancing a current one you need to understand mortgage rates. Up until a year ago rates were very similar from lender to lender, and as long as you had a 620 credit score you were able to get the best rate possible. Now EVERYTHING has changed. The goal of this site will be to keep you updated on interest rates, and any major changes in loan programs.
In addition we will pass along little ways for you to save money on everything in your world, and that is something everyone needs these days.
Feel free to pass along this site to any of your friends.
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