Rate Lock Advisory

Tuesday, April 23th

Tuesday’s bond market has opened in positive territory even though stocks are doing fairly well. The major indexes are showing gains, pushing the Dow higher by 58 points and the Nasdaq up 56 points. The bond market is currently up 6/32 (2.56%), which should improve this morning’s mortgage rates by slightly less than .125 of a discount point.

6/32

Bonds

30 yr - 2.56%

58

Dow

26,569

56

NASDAQ

8,071

Mortgage Rate Trend

Trailing 90 Days - National Average

  • 30 Year Fixed
  • 15 Year Fixed
  • 5/1 ARM

Indexes Affecting Rate Lock

Low

Negative

New Home Sales

The Commerce Department announced late this morning that sales of newly constructed homes rose 4.5% last month, exceeding expectations. Market participants were expecting to see a decline in new home sales, indicating this part of the housing sector is stronger than many had thought. Fortunately, this is considered to be a minor release because it tracks such a small portion of all home sales in the U.S. and has had little influence on today’s mortgage pricing.

Medium

Unknown

Treasury Auctions (5,7,10,30 year securities)

Tomorrow has no relevant economic data but does have the first of this week’s two Treasury auctions that may have an impact on mortgage rates. 5-year Treasury Notes are being sold tomorrow, followed by 7-year Notes Thursday. Neither of these sales will directly impact mortgage pricing, but they can influence general bond market sentiment. If the sales go poorly, we could see broader selling in the bond market that leads to upward revisions in mortgage rates. On the other hand, strong sales usually make government securities more attractive to investors and bring more funds into bonds. The buying of bonds that follows often translates into lower mortgage rates. Results of the sales will be posted at 1:00 PM ET each auction day, so look for any reaction to come during early afternoon hours.

Float / Lock Recommendation

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float 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.