October 16, 2015
Thursday was another day marked by a lack of upward movement in mortgage rates. The short week began with some improvement and by the end of the day on Thursday we have 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgage rates back in a range between 3.75% and 3.875% best execution. FHA rates are also holding steady, best-execution, at 3.5%.
Best execution rates are not available to all borrowers or from all lenders. Your experience may vary depending on your FICO scores, loan repayment history and other financial qualifications. The availability of a participating FHA lender willing to offer the rates you see here may also be a factor, depending on circumstances.
Thursday’s hold-steady behavior was in spite of activity in bond markets that can, under the right conditions, add upward pressure to mortgage loan rates. So the way some industry professionals have described the rate activity on Thursday was “resilient”.
Industry pros are mixed today, some say locking right now is a good idea thanks to the lower rates, others are inclined to advise borrowers to float unless you are within 15 days or so of your closing date. “Locking” and “floating” refer to committing to an interest rate lock with your lender, or holding off on that commitment in hopes that rates will move lower.
The short week gives way to a full market week as we settle into mid-October. Next week there are some scheduled events–economic data releases–that could and sometimes do affect mortgage rates. Next week keep an eye on housing stats (released Tuesday morning), and existing home sales (Thursday).
As always, breaking news or other activity could also affect mortgage loan rates. Will the current holding steady-to-downward momentum trend we saw this week continue? Time will tell, so it’s good to pay attention to those scheduled events as well as financial headlines.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com. It’s designed especially for real estate websites–a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those websites.
It is easy 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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