July 7, 2016
Mortgage rates moved lower for an eighth straight business day on Wednesday. We’re devoting some extra coverage to rates this week as the historic lows continue, but it’s entirely likely that our next report in the short term could be on rates moving higher; this is a common factor in prolonged short-term rate improvements.
There has been, in the past, a string of days where rates move lower due to a variety of factors, then a “bounce back” where the trend is broken due to economic data releases, breaking news, or some other issue that puts upward pressure back onto mortgage loan rates.
Eight days of a downward trend is a long time in the short term, and while Brexit drama has been dominating the headlines and influencing rates here at home, we’re beginning to see the Fed steal some attention back with speculation about the state of the economy overall and what the Fed might do in light of it with regard to another interest rate hike.
Remember, the Fed was a prime mover in what happened to mortgage loan rates (short term) based on investor reaction to various statements made by Fed officials about the possibility of a rate hike, its timing, and how soon another one might occur.
We’re seeing attention drift back to the Fed thanks in part to a jobs report due out on Friday. The outcome of that report may have the Fed back on track in terms of thinking about rate hike sooner instead of later-a possibility that could affect mortgage loan rates based on how investors react to the news.
On Wednesday, 30-year fixed rate mortgage loan interest rates were at a best execution range between 3.25% and 3.375%. More lenders were reported offering best execution rates closer to 3.25%, and some borrowers may notice the difference in closing costs rather than actual rates depending on the lender.
FHA mortgage rates are holding at 3.25%, and there have been few times in the past several years where conventional rates and FHA rates (best execution) fall within the same numbers. FHA rates tend to vary more among participating lenders so it’s a good idea to shop around for the most competitive interest rates.
As always, the rates listed here are best execution rates; these interest rates are not available to all borrowers or from all lenders. Your experience may vary depending on your FICO scores and other financial qualifications.
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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