Over the last week mortgage interest rates have been changing several times a day. Monday we saw the bond market open up positive, drop to down about 15 basis points and by the end of the day, it was back where it started. Investors re-priced about 3 times that day. If you were shopping for a home loan, any rate you had in the morning may have been gone by noon, but back again by 4:00!! If you are comparing lenders, you need to make sure you are comparing at the same time and with the same information! Plus that rate you were quoted that sounded great may not be there anymore if you decide to lock it in!
After the Fed announced it's $600 billion quantitative easing program, the mortgage markets caught a bit of pending inflation. That caused a mortgage bond sell off that moved interest rates from all time lows to a 10 week high in just 5 days. Interest rates are roughly about .25% higher than they were a week ago.
If you are buying a home, make sure you are talking to your loan officer about interest rates and lock in your rate. If rates continue to increase, it could easily affect your mortgage approval.
If you are thinking about refinancing your home, make sure you talk to your lender now. If you wait, it may not be worth refinancing depending on your current interest rate. We never know when rates hit the bottom until they have started the climb back up.
Today's economic news showed that inflation in October was subdued and new home building dropped to it's lowest level in 18 months. Most of the building loss was in mult-family units, single family units posted a gain of 1%. Both reports are generally supportive of steady to lower interest rates however again, we saw the market open up and improve and then get worse again!
There is always a chance that rates will dip lower again, but there is a better chance that they will increase. So if you are thinking about refinancing or buying a home, make sure you talk with your loan officer and watch interest rates. If we have hit the bottom, rates will slowly continue to climb. There will always be days where rates drop a little but there will be more days where rates increase!
