MORTGAGE RATES DROP – BACK TO LOWEST LEVELS OF 2011: The bond market finished last week 69 bps up, pushing rates back down to the lowest levels of 2011.
We are in a very volatile market right now. Pricing / rates can change a lot in a small amount of time. In the week before last, rates rose as high as 4.625% and looked like they were primed to go even higher. Then the June national employment report came out and ended up being much gloomier than expected. This pushed investors out of stocks and into bonds, and caused rates to drop back down.
I don’t foresee rates going lower than 4.375% on a 30 year fixed.
My suggestion is the same as always – if you like a loan’s pricing – lock it.
Right now 30 year fixed par rates are back to 4.375%. 15 year fixed rates start at 3.75%. 5/1 ARMS start at 2.75%.
CONSUMER SENTIMENT TOWARDS THE HOUSING MARKET: Fannie Mae’s monthly national survey reveals some interesting things regarding the current consumer sentiment towards the housing market.
For the 2nd time in 13 months, consumers projected a decline in the values of homes.
Consumers expect higher rents
and consumers expect mortgage interest rates to remain very low.
A large majority feel that this is a buyer’s market. 66-69% of the consumers surveyed thought it was a good time to buy. While only 11% surveyed thought it was a good time to sell.
With home prices low and mortgage rates low, I definitely agree that this is a buyer’s market.
