September 24, 2015
Wednesday saw mortgage loan rates holding steady, more or less, following some improvement from the previous day. There was some weakness in bond markets that affect mortgage loan interest rates, but in spite of that Wednesday is what many in the business call a “sideways” day.
30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages held steady, best execution at between 3.75% and 4.0%. According to our sources only a small number of lenders may have offered the very bottom end of that range, with 3.875% more typical in a best execution scenario. FHA mortgage loan rates hold fast at 3.75% and as always, that best execution rate may vary more among participating FHA lenders.
Best execution rates assume ideal conditions–borrowers with outstanding financial qualifications may have access to rates at or near these levels depending on the lender, circumstances, and other factors. These rates are not available to all borrowers or from all lenders. Your experience may vary.
Industry professionals are offering some “lock” advice at the moment, due to a variety of factors including the fact that rates are still considered fairly low. Some are eyeing a Treasury auction scheduled for Thursday which could affect things in the short term.
“Locking” and “Floating” refer to the borrower and lender going into an interest rate lock agreement on a mortgage loan. Floating basically means you’re waiting to commit until conditions are more favorable.
Locking means committing to the current rate as per your agreement with the lender. Floating is never risk-free, but part of the decision has much to do with your risk tolerance–how high will rates go before you decide to lock to avoid even higher numbers? That’s the decision borrowers must make and it’s best to do so with some advice from your loan officer.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com, designed especially for real estate websites–a widget that displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those sites.
It’s 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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