Tag Archives: mortgage rates

Should I Lock or Float? FED Minutes Reveal Rates Should Climb Before Years End

Posted on by
Reply

FOMC Minutes Suggest QE Tapering by Year-End

Ben Bernanke, Fed Chairman, blew up the bond and mortgage markets a month ago with his comments that the Fed is preparing to begin reducing the monthly purchases of treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. Rates spiked, and left folks shopping for mortgages, shaking their heads. The minutes for June’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) suggest that committee members are mostly in agreement that the current quantitative easing program (QE) should begin winding down by year-end, but the committee minutes are very clear about the committee’s intention to monitor inflation and ongoing economic and financial developments before taking action to reduce the current rate of QE. Continue reading →

Should I Lock Or Float This Week : June 24, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever been on a roller coaster? Not the little one that comes to your state fair every year, but the big one that you spend days preparing yourself for that inevitable ride of your life. Well, comments by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke after last week’s FOMC meeting caused quite the upheaval in financial markets, and put investors on the proverbial roller coaster, as they anticipated the potential effects of any rollback of the Fed’s policy of quantitative easing (QE). Chairman Bernanke said that the Fed may begin reducing its $85 billion monthly purchase of Treasury securities and MBS toward the end of this year. Continue reading →

Should I Lock Or Float This Week : May 13, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Over the past 7 trading days, Mortgage rates were wounded with 2 of the largest one-day spikes in over 2 years. Rates rose last week with average rates a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rising from last week’s 3.35 percent to 3.42 percent with buyers paying all closing costs and 0.7 percent in discount points.

We are in a definite “locking” bias at the moment. As I am publishing this blog, rates are still trending worse this Monday morning. Continue reading →

Should I Lock Or Float This Week : April 29, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Mortgage rates fell again last week and are again near record lows.

According to Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage did achieve a record low of 2.61 percent as compared to 3.1 percent one year ago.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell to 3.40 percent and near the record low of 3.31 percent.

Low mortgage rates are helping homeowners with refinancing and are boosting housing markets as more buyers can qualify for mortgage loans. Continue reading →

What Mortgage Rates Are Doing This Week :February 11th, 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Mortgage rates worsened last week in response to more indications that the U.S. economy and global economic trends are improving. Global economic data was stronger than expected; which generally boosts investor confidence and leads to higher mortgage rates in Sacramento and across the country.

We may see a reversal of this trend in the short-term because the stock market remains overbought and ready to retrace, the obvious question is when? With little economic news this week, there is no reason the stock market should improve or interest rates should change much. Until the stock market retreats, U.S. interest rates are not likely to decline much. Continue reading →