April 26, 2016
Last week on Friday, rates moved higher. The week ended with 30-year fixed rate mortgages in a higher range between 3.625% and 3.75%, and FHA rates in their own new range between 3.25% and 3.5%. On Monday, things stayed more or less the same, though market watchers say it could be a difficult week due to a variety of factors including the Fed Statement due to be released on Wednesday. (The Fed meets on Tuesday, but releases a statement the following day.)
That statement has great potential to move rates. According to a report by Marketwatch.com, the Fed is expected to keep the option for a June interest rate hike on the table. In the past any talk of rate hikes is enough to bring knee-jerk reactions by investors over the short term, which could make for a rocky time for rates. The Fed’s statements are sometimes overshadowed by other breaking news or world events, but it’s entirely possible that this week’s statement could have a short-term impact on rates.
At the time of this writing, mortgage rates are more or less where they were on Friday, but 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages are more solidly in 3.75% territory. FHA mortgage loan rates are still in Friday’s previously reported best execution range.
The rates you see reported here are listed as “best execution” rates, which assume ideal conditions like outstanding FICO scores, and other financial qualifications. The rates listed here are not available from all lenders or to all borrowers. Your experience may vary based on your financial qualifications, the availability of a participating lender offering such rates, etc.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday all feature some kind of scheduled release of economic data, or in Wednesday’s case, the Fed statement. That means each day this week has some potential for a change in rates depending on investor reaction to the information that comes out each day.
Industry pros are a bit more unified in the “lock versus float” advice this week. It seems far riskier to float in the face of so much economic data coming out this week with potential to move interest rates. Borrowers who are close to closing but have not discussed a mortgage rate lock yet with their lender should likely make the call and get some advice-a well-informed borrower will be far happier with the outcome.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It is designed especially for real estate websites; a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those sites. It is 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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