October 3, 2015
On Friday a much anticipated jobs report came and went, offering what some market watchers describe as a strong excuse for the Fed not to raise interest rates. Rates on Friday started off strong, but some bond market turmoil did force a reversal of fortune, but not enough to keep rates from ending the day stronger than yesterday.
How strong? 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates are squarely in 3.75% territory, best execution, with some more aggressive lenders offering best execution rates even lower than that. FHA mortgage loan rates moved out of the previously reported range and solidly into 3.5% territory, though FHA mortgage loan rates do tend to vary more among participating lenders than their conventional counterparts.
Best execution rates are offered to those with outstanding FICO scores and other financial qualifications. The rates you see here are not available to all borrowers or from all lenders–your experience may vary. The availability of a participating lender willing to offer such rates may also be a factor.
Those not committed to a mortgage rate lock find themselves in a tough spot–rates are lower now than they have been in months, however the markets that directly influence mortgage loan rates could start putting upward pressure on rates if conditions are right–how much of an increase can you tolerate before you ask for a rate lock commitment from your lender? That is a very important question to ask yourself if you are closing soon or just aren’t sure what move to make.
Yes, rates could improve, but they could also hold steady or begin to rise again come Monday. It’s a waiting game in the current environment to see if these new, lower mortgage loan rates “hold” or if this was just a brief dip into very borrower-friendly territory.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It’s designed especially for real estate websites–a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those websites.
It’s simple to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today: http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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