February 8, 2016
Friday was a day that could have influenced rates in an important way in the short-term, but investors didn’t react much (in terms of activity that could influence mortgage rates) to the employment report issued–mortgage rates stayed where they’ve been more or less. Our sources report a few lenders may have repriced, but overall the mid-to-upper three percent best execution rates we’ve been seeing have remained through the weekend.
30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages are still being reported, best execution, between 3.625% and 3.75%. The upper number in that range is the formed “comfort zone” for FHA mortgage rates, which have dropped to a best-execution 3.5%.
FHA rates tend to vary more among participating lenders, so your experience may vary based on the lender. As always, the best execution rates listed here are not available from all lenders or to all borrowers–your access to these rates depends on FICO scores and other financial qualifications.
Looking ahead, there is plenty of potential this week for rate changes as it’s quite busy between Treasury auctions, plus Fed Chair Janet Yellin speaking two days mid-week, and Friday there’s a scheduled Retail Sales report. Investor reaction to any of these things could affect rates, so it’s good to keep an eye peeled on these scheduled events and have a discussion with your lender about locking or floating.
Industry pros are divided on whether this week’s rates will hold or if there’s more change to come this week–likely due at least in part to the scheduled events mentioned above. Floating–holding off on a mortgage rate commitment with your lender in hopes that rates will improve–is never risk-free, so it’s best to make the most informed decision you can.
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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