Mortgage Rate Watch
Mortgage Rates Predictions and Analysis

Mortgage Rates Rise Ahead of Treasury Auction. Fail to Recover Afterward
Much like Monday, yesterday was a data-less day in the marketplace, leaving me at a loss for words and new guidance. Mortgage-backed securities prices did managed to move higher following a very strong 3 year Treasury debt auction, unfortunately MBS price appreciations were not strong enough to warrant reprices for the better and lenders left mortgage rates unchanged on the day. The economic calendar picked up today, but not much. This morning the Mortgage Bankers Association released their Weekly Loan Applications Index. The MBA survey covers over 50 percent of all US residential mortgage loan applications taken by mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts. The data gives economists a look into consumer demand for mortgage loans. A rising trend of mortgage applications indicates an increase...(read more)

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Empty Econ Calendar Helps Mortgage Rates Hold Steady. Auctions Biggest Repric...
After last week’s rates roller coaster ride that forced multiple reprices for the better and the worse, yesterday was quite boring. Mortgage rates held steady as prices of mortgage backed securities never moved too far in either direction. With very little price volatility, lenders left rate sheets unchanged on the day near the best rates of 2010. There are no major economic reports scheduled for release today. With no economic data hitting the news wires this morning, today’s trading action, like yesterday, has been slow. AQ recapped some events that happened overnight which have affected the flow of money in markets today. HERE it is if you are interested. The only event on the calendar with the ability to move mortgage rates is the first of three treasury auctions for the week...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates Hold Near Best Levels of 2010 as Benchmark Yields Rise
I described last week as a roller coaster ride for mortgage rates. A busy schedule of economic data provided much of the motivation for movement in the rates marketplace with the release of the Employment Situation Report on Friday capping off the volatile action. The jobs report indicated fewer jobs were lost than economists had forecast. This better than expected read on the health of the labor market pushed benchmark Treasury yields higher and mortgage-backed security prices lower. While most lenders repriced for the worse after the data was released, several ended up repricing for the better before the week came to a close as of MBS prices rebounded late in the day. This brought mortgage rates right back to the lows of 2010, basically unchanged on the week. To remind readers, as the price...(read more)

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How Did The Employment Report Affect Mortgage Rates?
When looking back on the week that was, it seems like mortgage rates went on a wild ride. Lenders repriced for the better and lenders repriced for the worse, sometimes they did both on the same day. Yet, ahead of the most influential economic report released by the government, rates managed to find their way back to where they started the week: NEAR 2010 MORTGAGE RATE LOWS. At least until 8:30am this morning. At 8:30 am eastern time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the monthly Employment Situation report. As stated already, this is the single most important piece of monthly economic data released to the market. Since consumer spending accounts for the vast majority of our economic growth, market participants track jobs as a way to gauge consumer demand and economic activity. If the...(read more)

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Locking Loans Ahead of Employment Report. More to Lose than Gain
Its been a wild week in mortgage rate land. Lenders have repriced for the better, they have repriced for the worse, only to reprice for the better again! And that's just two days of action. Its been a roller coaster ride to say the least, but some how we've managed to end up right back where we started: MORTGAGE RATES HAVE HELD NEAR 2010 LOWS ALL WEEK The economic calender provided plenty of reason for mortgage rates to move today. The first set of data to be released was Weekly Jobless Claims. This report provides three measures on the health of the labor market: Initial Jobless Claims : totals the number of Americans who filed for first time unemployment benefits Continued Claims : totals the number of Americans who continue to file for benefits due to an inability to find a new job...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates on a Roller Coaster Ride
Early morning weakness in the bond market led lenders to publish rate sheets with higher mortgage rates yesterday morning. However, just after lunch, the fixed income sector went on a mini rally and recaptured all the morning price losses. As the price gains held until close, most lenders did reprice for the better, bringing rates back to the best levels of the year. Following yesterday’s data free day, economic reports picked up today. First out this morning was the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Loan Applications Index. The MBA survey covers over 50 percent of all US residential mortgage loan applications taken by mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts. The data gives economists a look into consumer demand for mortgage loans. A rising trend of mortgage applications...(read more)

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Lenders Reprice for the Better. Mortgage Rates Level on the Day
Not much to recap from yesterday. Mortgage backed securities prices rallied during the first part of the day before giving back all gains after lunch. Lenders left rate sheets unchanged on the day with par still holding near the lows of 2010. The economic calendar was empty today. We did have a couple Fed officials speaking today though. Anytime Federal Reserve officials speak, market participants pay close attention to their biases in an effort to hear any hints regarding the future of monetary policy. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Naranyana Kocherlakota spoke to Allied Executives Business at the Economic Outlook Symposium in Minneapolis. Federal Reserve President Kocherlakota emphasized how uncertain the road to recovery really is, he also explained that the Fed must be very...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates Hold Near 2010 Lows. Reviewing the Week Ahead
Mortgage rates ended last week near the lows of 2010 as mortgage backed securities prices rallied higher in the first half of the day. This allowed most lenders to publish improved rate sheets. Unfortunately these gains didn't make it through the day, MBS prices fell late in the afternoon which forced some lenders to reprice for the worse. After all was said and done rates were just about the same as Thursday's levels . We have a very busy week of data ahead with the highest impacting release scheduled for Friday morning: THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION REPORT This week began with Personal Income and Spending data. This report gives us three readings on the health of consumers. The first is personal income which shows the monthly change in income that households receive from all sources. Next...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates Touch 2010 Lows
Mortgage rates didn't make much progress in either direction yesterday despite some bond market friendly economic data and a successful Treasury note auction. Mortgage backed securities traded in a tight range which prevented most lenders from passing along improved mortgage rates. The economic calendar started this morning with weekly Jobless Claims. This report provides three measures of the labor market: Initial Jobless Claims : totals the number of Americans who filed for first time unemployment benefits Continued Claims : totals the number of Americans who continue to file for benefits due to an inability to find a new job Extended Benefits : totals the number of Americans who have exhausted their traditional benefits and are now receiving emergency benefits While an increase in jobless...(read more)

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Loan Demand Falls Again. Mortgage Rates Unchanged Today
Mortgage rates fell yesterday thanks to a much weaker than expected consumer confidence survey. This scheduled economic release combined with a few other unscheduled events forced investors to sell stocks and move funds over to the safest assets in the world, US Treasuries. This fueled a rally in mortgage-backed securities just as the day was getting started. Adding more momentum to the rally was a strong 2 year Treasury note auction. Most lenders did reprice for the better by day's end which pushed the best par 30 year fixed conventional mortgage rate back down to 4.75%. Only a few lenders were offering this rate though. First out this morning was the Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Application Survey. The MBA survey covers over 50 percent of all US residential mortgage loan applications...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates Fall After Surprise Dip in Consumer Confidence
Lenders improved mortgage loan pricing by a few basis points early on yesterday, this helped mortgage rates end a three day losing streak. Although mortgage-backed securities prices improved throughout the course of the day, they did not rise enough in price to allow lenders to pass along another round of better loan pricing. The economic calendar picked up today, at least compared to yesterday's empty schedule. First out was the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index. The data tracks monthly changes in the value of residential real estate in 20 major U.S. cities. Many economists believe until home prices rebound, that the economy will be unable to gain recovery traction. Rising home values encourage home builders to begin new construction which leads to more jobs which adds strength to...(read more)

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Short Term Lock/Float Bias and the Week Ahead
Mortgage rates rose, stabilized, then rose again and again and again on Friday last week. That's a three day skid of rising rates. Economic data wasn't necessarily great, but it wasn't bad either. The Federal Reserve did hike the rate at which they lend emergency funds to banks in need. While this event did cause a commotion and alter market sentiment, the net effect was not seen as a reason behind increases in mortgage rates. The Federal Reserve's planned exit from the secondary mortgage market has also played a minimal role in rising rates. The general explanation behind rising mortgage rates has been a slow and steady uptick in benchmark Treasury yields. Because mortgage-backed security yields track the direction of benchmark Treasury yields, mortgage rates have been generally...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates End Week on Three Day Skid. Fed Rate Hike Not to Blame
All I can say about yesterday is that it was an UGLY UUUGLY day for interest rate watchers. Mortgage rates were pressured higher right out of the gate following a warmer than expected read on producer level price inflation. And then, to make matters worse, as the day progressed, benchmark rates drifted even higher, this forced prices of mortgage-backed securities progressively lower. By the end of the day all lenders had repriced for the worse, some even did so more than once! Following two action packed days of economic data, today was a little quieter, we only had one data release. The Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning released the Consumer Price Index. This index measures the price change of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by consumers, also known as inflation, the enemy...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates on Two Day Losing Streak. Lock Bias Stands
Mortgage rates moved higher yesterday morning...and then they moved even higher yesterday afternoon! The day began with mortgage-backed securities prices moving lower, which forced lenders to increase consumer borrowing costs before many rate watchers had a chance to get to a computer. Later in the day, after the Fed released the minutes of the most recent FOMC meeting, MBS prices fell further, which brought on reprices for the worse and pushed mortgage rates up a few more basis points. To remind readers, as prices of mortgage-backed securities move higher, lenders are able to offer lower mortgage rates, however as prices decline, they are forced to raise borrowing costs. Like yesterday, we had another busy day of data today. This morning we received the Weekly Jobless Claims report. Recent...(read more)

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Lenders Reprice for Worse. Mortgage Rates Move Higher
Mortgage rates moved slightly lower yesterday as the interest rate market made modest improvements in the second half of the trading session. This allowed many lenders to reprice for the better at the end of the day. Both stocks and bonds rallied yesterday, this is not a normal occurrence. Typically when one market is rallying, the other suffers. For example if the stock market is moving higher, market participants sell less risky assets, such as benchmark Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities, to finance the purchase of higher yielding stocks. This generally results in higher Treasury yields, lower MBS prices, and an uptick in mortgage rates...that wasn’t the case yesterday as both the fixed income sector and the stock market rallied. Lots of economic data hit news wires today...(read more)

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