Loan Blog

Greetings Everyone,

What a roller-coaster has this been lately for the rates. We have had 3-4 reprices within the day on and off for a while now. My best advise to a borrower is to be sure that they are comfortable with their purchase and not think about the rate. If you like the rate then lock it and forget about it. I do not believe in timing the market and will never advise anyone to attempt in doing that.

The Daily Advisor is a good prognosis. But even then, I would instruct your clients to just make sure that they are comfortable with their purchase and their payment and not dwell on what they could have gotten for a rate. Our experience has been that once the borrower is done with their purchase process and after 3 months, they will no longer be able to tell you what their rates are.

I will continue to post the Daily Advisor as an informational tool for you. You are able to find the same advisor from Alamode if you have a website with them. Our company is also a subscriber to The Mortgage Market Guide that gives us a more in-depth and up to date look at what the market is doing. For more information contact me anytime at 405-205-7585 or at andi@loanturtle.com.

You can visit my website at http://www.loansbyandi.com/.

Rate Lock Advisory - Wednesday Mar. 5th



Wednesday's bond market opened in positive territory but has since fallen into negative ground as stocks gain strength. The stock markets are rallying after one of today's pieces of data showed stronger than expected results. The Dow is currently up 104 points while the Nasdaq has gained 21 points. The bond market is currently down 6/32, which with yesterday's late losses will push this morning's mortgage rates higher by approximately .250 - .375 of a discount point.

The revised Productivity index for the 4th Quarter of last year was released early this morning, showing a 1.9% annual pace. This was a slight upward revision form the initial estimate of 1.8%. Since it was only a slight revision, it has not had much of an impact on this morning's trading or mortgage pricing.

January's Factory Orders report was released late this morning and also failed to show any major surprises. It revealed a 2.5% decline in new orders that matched forecasts. Today's report also revised December's orders lower by .3%. However, neither of those figures has created enough movement in bonds to affect mortgage rates.

What did make the news today was the ISM Services Index for February. It showed a reading of 49.3, which was higher than the expected 47.5 reading and indicates that the services sector of the economy strengthened compared to January. The 49.3 is still below the recessionary indicator of 50.0, but well above January's 44.6 reading. This can be considered somewhat negative news since the reading was stronger than expected.

The Fed Beige Book will be posted at 2:00 PM ET this afternoon. This report details economic activity throughout the country by region. The Fed relies heavily on this data during their FOMC meetings, so look for a potential reaction during afternoon trading tomorrow. It probably will not cause a major sell off in the stock or bond markets, but could cause enough movement in bond prices to possibly improve or worsen mortgage rates slightly if it reveals any significant surprises.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, 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... Lock if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.