October 22, 2015
On Tuesday, mortgage loan rates moved a bit higher, then recovered on Wednesday. These are basically small adjustments and loan applicants may, where applicable, find the difference in closing costs rather than an actual higher or lower rate. At the time of this writing, 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgage loans were still offered by many lenders at a best execution rate between 3.75% and 3.875%.
The reason for the downward movement on Wednesday included improvements in the bond markets that affect mortgage loan rates, but there’s some European economic data due for release on Thursday that could, depending on report contents and investor reaction to that report, put pressure on rates.
FHA mortgage rates are still being quoted at 3.5% best execution, though as usual we like to remind our readers that you may experience greater variance with FHA mortgage loan rates among participating lenders. It’s always a good idea to shop around.
Best execution refers to a situation with a borrower who has outstanding FICO scores and loan repayment history. These best execution rates may not be available to all borrowers or from all lenders–your experience may vary. The availability of a participating FHA lender offering these rates may also be a factor.
Borrowers who aren’t sure whether to lock or float when it comes to an interest rate commitment with your lender should consider the advice of some industry professionals who say floating might be a bit nerve-wracking between the time of this writing and the closing bell of the trading day on Thursday. How much risk tolerance you have could inform your decision to lock or float.
Since there is at least one overseas economic factor that could play a role in which way the market moves tomorrow, it’s good to stay alert in the short term if you are planning on floating–talk the situation over with your loan officer for best results. Borrowers interested in locking–committing to an interest rate with the lender–do so right now with rates at a good place in spite of Tuesday’s upward movement. That’s something to consider if you’re examining your options in the short to mid-term.
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 is easy 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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