March 14, 2016
Mortgage loan interest rates moved higher last week–every day except one (Tuesday) saw small moves that, over time, have pushed rates closer to 4.0% (for 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages) best-execution.
30 year fixed-rate mortgages ended the week on Friday at a best execution range between 3.75% and 3.875%. In some cases the move higher is reflected in closing costs rather than an actual rate change. But if the upward trend persists we could see this range disappear in favor of 3.87% or a new range with 3.875% at the low end.
FHA mortgage rates have remained in their best execution comfort zone range between 3.25% and 3.5% but it is likely not long before this range goes away. FHA rates do take their time catching up to the changes compared to conventional loans, but FHA rates also tend to vary more among participating lenders.
And as always, “best execution” refers (for both FHA and conventional mortgage loan interest rates) to ideal conditions where the lender has outstanding FICO scores and other financial qualifications. The rates listed here are not available to all borrowers or from all lenders; your experience may vary.
The week ahead is full of potential for rate movement–there’s a Retail Sales data release on Tuesday, a Fed announcement on Wednesday, the release of Consumer Price Index data on Wednesday. All of these have serious potential to push rates depending on investor reaction to the information.
Locking or floating is going to be a tricky call this week-it may be best to get some sage advice from your lender before deciding to float. Floating is never risk-free, but this week could bring elevated risk due to the importance of some of the scheduled economic data releases and other events scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
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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