Your Daily Mortgage Commentary & Rate Lock Advice for Massachusetts Mortgage Rates
Courtesy of the Massachusetts Mortgage Broker
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:
This morning’s bond selling has picked up steam into afternoon trading. The bond market is now down 38/32, which will likely cause upward revisions to Massachusetts mortgage rates shortly. We can expect to see another upward revision of approximately .250 of a discount point over this morning’s .375 – .500 increase we already saw. It appears that the today’s Treasury auction did not go as well as some had thought, leading to more selling in bonds.
The stock markets have also seen plenty of fluctuation since this morning’s opening levels. Stocks started selling before bouncing off earlier lows. The Dow is currently down 42 points while the Nasdaq is down 15 points. These are close to where they were at this morning’s update.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported early this morning that new orders for durable goods rose 0.5% last month. This was close to forecasts, but a larger than expected increase in orders that exclude more volatile autos is helping to fuel today’s early selling. This indicates that demand for big-ticket items improved from January, giving us a sign of economic strength.
February’s New Home sales data was also posted this morning. It showed a moderate decline in sales of newly constructed homes, which could be considered good news for bonds and Massachusetts mortgage rates. However, this data is not important enough to heavily influence trading and unfortunately has been a non-factor in today’s rates.
There is no important economic data scheduled for release tomorrow. We do have weekly unemployment claims from the Labor Department, but we usually do not see mortgage rates react to this data unless they show a significant surprise. Current forecasts have tomorrow’s release showing 450,000 new claims for unemployment benefits being filed last week. This would be a decline from the previous week, but unless we see a much smaller or larger number it likely will have little impact on tomorrow’s Massachusetts mortgage rates.
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…
Lock 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.
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.
Comments Closed