Your Daily Mortgage Commentary & Rate Lock Advice for Massachusetts Mortgage Rates
Courtesy of the Massachusetts Mortgage Broker
Tuesday’s bond market has opened in positive territory despite stronger than expected results form this morning’s important economic news and stock market gains. The major stock indexes have rebounded from early opening losses to move into positive ground. The Dow is currently up 58 points while the Nasdaq has gained 10 points. The bond market is currently up 4/32, which should improve this morning’s Massachusetts mortgage rates by approximately .125 of a discount point.
The Conference Board released their Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for January late this morning. They reported a reading of 55.9 that exceeded forecasts by over two points. This can be considered negative news for bonds because it indicates that consumers may be more willing to make large purchases in the near future. Since consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, any related data is watched closely. But fortunately mortgage shoppers, the data seems to have had little influence on this morning’s bond trading and mortgage pricing.
December’s New Home Sales report will be posted late tomorrow morning. It is expected to show an increase in sales of newly constructed homes, but is not important enough to heavily influence mortgage pricing.
Also tomorrow is the 5-year Note auction. Results of the sale will be posted at 1:00 PM ET. This sale doesn’t directly impact mortgage rates, but it will gives us a measurement of investor interest in U.S. securities. If the demand for the sale was strong, the broader bond market will likely react positively, making an improvement to mortgage rates possible. However, a poor demand could lead to bond selling and higher Massachusetts mortgage rates tomorrow afternoon.
Today begins the 2-day FOMC meeting that will adjourn at 2:15 PM ET Wednesday. It is expected to yield no change to short-term interest rates, but as is often the case, traders will be looking for any indication of the Fed’s next move and when they may make it. I believe that there is little chance of indicating a possible rate hike in the near future, so I don’t believe that this meeting will have the influence they usually do.
It appears that tomorrow afternoon will be more active than tomorrow morning for the bond market and mortgage rates. The morning data is not very important since it covers only approximately 15% of all homes sold in the U.S. The 5-year Treasury Note auction is not the most important of the sales that we track. But it does carry the potential to influence the bond market enough to impact mortgage pricing. And that takes us to the FOMC results that can cause more movement in the markets than both of the other events combined. So, I would not be surprised to see the most movement in mortgage rates to come during afternoon hours.
If I were considering purchasing or refinancing a home and predicting likely Massachusetts mortgage rates, I would…
Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days…
Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days…
Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days…
Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now.
This is only a general opinion of what I would do if I were considering whether to lock or float a Massachusetts mortgage based on the current mortgage market. Your individual situation may be different. Contact me if you would like advice for your particular circumstances.
For detailed information on Massachusetts mortgage rates, check out my article, “Massachusetts Mortgage Rates Revealed – How Lenders Determine Mortgage Rates Every Day“.
Copyright : Mortgage Commentary
Geof McLaughlin, better known as The Massachusetts Mortgage Broker, is a nationally acclaimed mortgage professional committed to educating and empowering consumers about all things mortgage through his popular Massachusetts Mortgage Broker blog.
Geof is a top loan originator for one of the country’s leading mortgage companies, Mortgage Master Inc, with a proven reputation of offering its clients the best Massachusetts mortgage rates and lowest closing costs. He can be reached directly at 508.656.0055 or at geof@MAMortgageBroker.com.
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