Mortgage rates are fairly hilarious today, though theyre not hilariously higher or lower than they were on Friday. Rather, the entertainment comes from the fact that rate sheets across multiple lenders are as close to the previous business days rates as any other day of 2014. Thats incredibly uncommon, but it stands to reason given the fact that markets are fairly flat and market participants increasingly tune out on big holiday weeks. Perhaps the thesis here is that while we should generally expect muted movement on a day like today, the extent to which todays movement is muted goes beyond our wildest expectations. If lenders arent essentially saying theyve tuned out for the week, its quite the coincidence. Naturally then, last Fridays 3.875% remains firmly intact as the most prevalently-quoted conforming 30yr fixed rate for top tier borrowers. The closing costs associated with that rate are also unchanged in almost all cases. 3.75% is still available among some of the aggressive lenders or for borrowers who wish to pay a bit more up front in exchange for a lower monthly payment. Finally, several lenders are closer to 4.0% in terms of what they could offer without any discount points, but in those cases, some borrowers may prefer the monthly payment savings associated with paying some additional upfront cost. Most lenders can present multiple rate/fee options and let clients choose the one they prefer. When it comes to weighing the risks of market movement in the coming days, the extremely light level of participation in financial markets means that it takes far fewer dollars to elicit changes in trading levels. So if a deep-pocketed market participant or two happens to be trading in such a way as to put upward pressure on rates, that pressure might be a bit more acute than it otherwise would be. In addition, lenders likely wont be eager to aggressively drop rates heading into the long holiday weekend. While markets and banks are technically open on Friday, it will be far from business as usual. The Mortgage News Daily
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 23:12:19 +0000
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