Posts Tagged ‘quot’

2010 has been the year of "near record low" mortgage rates. Regular readers are probably used to hearing us say: "We're bouncing along just above record lows" "Lenders won't go any lower" "The rewards of floating don't outweigh the risks of floating" "It would take a serious economic downturn for mortgage rates to go lower" Well. MBS prices are at all-time highs (AGAIN) and I think we can officially say mortgage rates are priced at their best levels ever. If not, we're pretty darn close! Major lenders were actually buying 4.25% note rates today! As far as I remember, that was the lowest rate I saw on a rate sheet last year (that didn't cost 3 points). There were some days last year when 4.125% loans were traded, but seldom...(read more)

"The secondary mortgage market is being reconstructed. The players and the rules are changing rapidly. This is a time of tremendous opportunity for those with the knowledge and the drive to establish new relationships, enter new arenas and expand on new ideas. At the same time, unprecedented fluidity increases the challenges for businesses to keep up with shifting government policies and their impact on capital markets, small and large companies and even individual participants." That is the message offered by the Mortgage Bankers Association, who will host the National Secondary Market Conference and Expo in New York City this week, which runs until Wednesday. HERE is the schedule of events for this year's conference. Key Events This Week: Monday: 8:30 ― The Federal Reserve Bank...(read more)

Stocks are in mixed after yesterday’s mixed session. A lack of significant data on today’s schedule implies trading could be light, but headlines should be active as former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan prepares to deliver a 48-page paper entitled "The Crisis" to the Brookings Institution in Washington. According to the Financial Times, Greenspan will take issue with claims that the Fed’s interest rate slashing early in the decade caused the US housing bubble. While he will concede "that regulators underestimated the scale of the asset price bubble . . . he attributes the failing, among others, to overseas regulators, the US credit rating agencies, financial houses and mainstream economics," the FT reported. One hour before the opening bell, Dow...(read more)

Despite yesterday’s news that housing starts fell nearly 6% in February (led by weakness in multi-family starts), stock markets managed to move upwards yesterday and this morning that upward trend continues. Sentiment was in part bolstered from the language of the FOMC statement, wherein the central bank said it would maintain "low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period" and the "labor market was stabilizing". Two hours before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 30 points to 10,654 and S&P 500 futures are 3.75 points higher at 1,158.50. With equities up, the US dollar is looking weaker. Meantime, the Euro rose overnight and the pound was the top performing currency. Commodities are also heading upwards with WTI crude oil 79 cents higher at $82...(read more)

All week we said "wait until Thursday to lock", "mortgage rates will improve after the bond auction on Thursday", "the end of the week will be the best time to lock in your loan". The Treasury auction came and went. After the last round of debt was sold, $13 billion of 30 year bonds yesterday, everything that was supposed to happen in order for mortgage rates to improve...happened. Everything except mortgage rates moving lower that is! Although prices of mortgage backed securities rallied immediately after the auction, prices soon lost progress and most lenders were not able to improve mortgage rates. To remind readers, as the prices of MBS move higher lenders can offer lower consumer borrowing costs. This was a huge letdown for us. But we were still hopeful we...(read more)