Mortgage Rates

This week's news has had little impact on mortgage rates.  Trade war concerns shifted from steel and aluminum tariffs to China's history of piracy issues in technology and intellectual property. The majority of the media commentary is around the appointment of Larry Kudlow as White House economic advisor. Kudlow has a pro-growth, anti-tariff, pro-tax-cuts stance, and those are negatives for long bonds (which directly impact mortgage rates). The elephant in the room is the Senate's passing a bipartisan bill relaxing restrictions placed on the banking industry via the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.  The new…

The big news dominating financial markets right now is split between the continued improvement in employment numbers and the potential impact of the pending Tariffs on steel and aluminum. So far this year, most economic releases have met or exceeded predictions, proving that the economy is growing. But right now - the focus of the markets is on speculation about a potential global trade war when the tariff bill is signed by President Trump. As far as the upcoming Fed meeting, markets have already absorbed the effect of the pending rate increase. The…

After rising for the 5th straight week, 30-Year-Fixed mortgage rates are now at the highest levels since April 2014. 15 Year-Fixed is fairing even worse; now at the highest levels in almost 7 years. According to Mortgage Banker Association weekly survey,  30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) increased to its highest level since April 2014, 4.50 percent, from 4.41 percent, with points increasing to 0.57 from 0.56. 1 point is equal to 1% of the loan amount. The interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than…

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) have all issued their economic forecasts for 2018, including their predictions for where mortgage interest rates will be by the 4th quarter of the year. And while their attention is focused on the same key factors impacting our economy this year - individual predictions for the year ending rates range from a stable 4.1% (Fannie Mae) to a cringe-worthy 4.9% (Freddie Mac and MBA) 30 year fixed rate mortgages. Clearly -- they’re not buying their crystal balls…

The United Kingdom - surprisingly and foolishly in my opinion - voted to exit the European Union yesterday. Brexit - dutifully dubbed by the acronym loving media - will have wide-ranging effects on multiple continents and countries - including right here in the USA. One of the biggest, and most immediate, effects for Americans is how it will change mortgage interest rates. In fact, the positive change in rates can already be felt - for now. In the typical “flight to safety” reaction by international investors, they moved assets from flailing equity markets…

You checked out Freddie Mac’s average mortgage rate report. You looked at Bankrate too. You called your mortgage lender - or multiple lenders - but your mortgage rate quote is higher than the rates you see online. Why? If you are consistently being quoted a higher rate than what you see listed online you likely pose more risk to the lender and the bump to your mortgage rate is the result something called "risk-based pricing". More formally, it's known as the loan-level pricing adjustments (LLPA). They apply to Fannie and Freddie - aka…