Mortgage Rate Watch
Mortgage Rates Predictions and Analysis
Mortgage Rates Move Lower. Most Aggressive Lender Pricing Seen in Weeks
Mortgage rates rallied lower yesterday after the Federal Reserve reiterated they intend to keep the Fed Funds rate at at exceptionally low levels for an “extended period”. The Fed also held steady in their belief that inflation is not posing a threat to economic stability. In regard to the MBS Purchase Program, although the door for some sort of extension or reopening is not completely closed, the Fed is still widely expected to finish the program at the end of March READ MORE . Following the release of the statement, benchmark Treasury yields declined and prices of mortgage backed securities moved higher. This allowed most lenders to reprice for the better, lowering consumer borrowing costs by a few basis points . Still, the price improvements were not enough to push the par 30...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
How Did the FOMC Meeting Affect Mortgage Rates?
After moving higher following a worse than anticipated read on Retail Sales last Friday, mortgage rates made modest improvements yesterday. Activity in the fixed income marketplace was pretty boring though. Mortgage backed securities traded in an extremely tight price range as market participants sat on the sidelines in anticipation of the release of the FOMC Statement today. Before talking about the Federal Reserve, we have a few economic indicators to recap. First out this morning Housing Starts and Building Permits. Housing Starts data estimates how much new residential real estate construction occurred in the previous month . New construction means digging has begun. Adding rooms or renovating old ones does not count, the builder must be constructing a new home (can be on old foundation...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Mortgage Rates Waiting on the Federal Reserve
Mortgage rates moved higher early Friday morning following a better than expected read on Retail Sales. However, as the day progressed, benchmark Treasury yields did move lower, helping mortgage-backed securities prices recover early session losses. Most lenders did not reprice for the better after these improvements though. After a slow week of economic data, the calendar picks up in the days ahead. Starting with manufacturing data this morning.... Each month, the New York Federal Reserve conducts a survey of approximately 175 manufacturing executives in New York State on the strength of business conditions. Readings above 0 indicate expanding or improving conditions while readings below 0 indicate contraction. This data has indicated steady improvements since August of 2009. The Empire State...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Mortgage Rates Higher After Retail Sales Data. Floating into Monday
While benchmark Treasury yields moved slowly higher throughout the course of the week as our government auctioned debt to raise spending money, mortgage-backed securities managed to maintain a pretty consistent price range. After all was said and done and the auctions were behind us, mortgage rates were left basically unharmed, near the best levels of 2010. There was one more test to pass though: RETAIL SALES DATA. The Commerce Department released Retail Sales data at 8:30 am eastern this morning This report shows the monthly change in the total receipts at retail stores. Since consumer spending accounts for a large majority of GDP, market participants track retail sales to gauge economic growth. Last month’s report posted a 0.5% increase, a notable improvement from December’s disappointing...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
Mortgage Rates Escape Three Treasury Auctions Unharmed
After two dataless days and no movement in mortgage rates, action picked up yesterday. Mortgage rates opened the day lower, however, thanks to big turnout at the 10 year Treasury note auction, enchmark yields rallied and mortgage-backed security prices moved higher into the close. We sat and waited for lenders to reprice, disappointingly they never did. This isn't a surprise though, lenders are quick to take away rate sheet pricing when MBS prices are falling but really slow to pass along improvements when MBS prices are on the rise. We had a couple of scheduled economic reports that were released early enough to sway the direction of mortgage rates today. First we got Weekly Jobless Claims from the Department of Labor. This report provides three measures on the health of the labor market...(read more)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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)Forward this article via email: Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.
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Rates, analysis and mortgage-hunting tips
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