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How will the mortgage market react to this week’s Fed meeting?

Information in this post is provided by Greg Wickstrand, Home Loan Consultant for HomeServices Lending.  He is a guest blogger who provides us information from a lender’s perspective.  For additional posts by Greg, please visit his BLOG.

What’s Ahead for Mortgage Rates this Week | November 1, 2010
By Greg Wickstrand

Mortgage markets remained highly volatile for the second straight week last week. Yet, over the course of 5 days, mortgage bonds ended the week relatively unchanged.

Conforming rates worsened Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — rising as much as 3/8 percent as compared to the week prior — before settling lower through Thursday and Friday.

On the week overall, 30-year fixed rates worsened, 15-year fixed held steady, and 5-year ARMs improved.

And despite all the data released last week, it wasn’t the fundamentals that were causing rates to move. Instead, Wall Street was firmly focused on the Federal Reserve’s scheduled 2-day meeting Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Downtown, Fed meeting, ken kaplan, market, mortgage rate, real estate, san diego, update

Fed dicusses “non-conventional means” to spur economy

Information in this post is provided by Greg Wickstrand, Home Loan Consultant for HomeServices Lending.  He is a guest blogger who provides us information from a lender’s perspective.  For additional posts by Greg, please visit his BLOG.

What’s Ahead for Mortgage Rates this Week:  October 18, 2010
By:  Greg Wickstrand

Mortgage markets worsened last week in back-and-forth trading, pushing conforming mortgage rates higher on the week.

Despite the uptick, however, Freddie Mac reports that rates still managed to make new, all-time lows for the third week in a row. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage is now down 1.02% since April 2010.

The United States is experiencing a Refi Boom.

As compared to 6 months ago, a new, $200,000 home loan costs $124 less per month in principal + interest.

This week, monthly payments may fall some more. It all depends on data.

Early in the week, housing data takes center stage. The National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index this morning, and, Tuesday, the government prints September’s Housing Starts figures.  Both reports figure to influence the bond market. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: federal reserve, freddie mac, home buyer, housing market index, mortgage rate, san diego

Mortgage Market Update: Volatile market makes locking best rate tough

Information in this post is provided by Greg Wickstrand, Home Loan Consultant for HomeServices Lending.  He is a guest blogger who provides us information from a lender’s perspective.  For additional posts by Greg, please visit his BLOG.

What’s Ahead for Mortgage Rates this Week:  September 27, 2010
By:  Greg Wickstrand

Mortgage markets improved last week as markets digested a bevy of data from the housing sector, plus the scheduled Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

In back-and-forth trading, conforming mortgage rates bottomed out Wednesday before rising through Friday’s afternoon close. Rates still managed to eke out improvement on the week overall.

According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates remain near their lowest levels of all time.

Despite low rates, however, rate shoppers are finding it a challenge to lock the “best price”. This is because Wall Street is conflicted about the future of the U.S. economy and, as a result, mortgage pricing has been extra volatile.

For as much data that points to economic growth, there are numbers that suggest a pullback, too. Traders are undecided in either direction and mortgage pricing reflects it. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: california, case-shiller index, consumer confidence, market, mortgage rate, san diego