This week’s policy announcement from the Federal Reserve (aka “The Fed”) was hotly anticipated. In the past month and a half, traders have rapidly upped their bets on multiple Fed rate cuts in 2019 as trade tensions flared. Softer economic data only added fuel to the fire.
In other words, markets think they see a reason for a big shift in Fed […]
You’ve heard of time healing all wounds, but what about low rates healing the mortgage and housing markets? It’s not that either was particularly distressed, but both have benefited in a major way from the recent drop in rates. Just as important as the drop itself has been rates’ ability to HOLD at or near long-term lows for 2 full […]
There are refi booms and then there are refi booms! Numbers were never higher than they were during several weeks in 2009 and they were never “extremely elevated for nearly 2 years” like they were from August 2011 through May 2013. It would take some doing to get back to those levels, but relative to […]
Financial markets went on a fairly wild ride last week as downbeat manufacturing data combined with geopolitical news to lead a reversal in stocks and bonds. The current week brought just as much volatility by Thursday, but Friday took everyone by surprise–at least as far as rates were concerned.
Let’s start by taking a look at the […]
Last week saw an unexpected drop in rates as trade war headlines rocked financial markets. Things looked set to calm down this week, but the drama continued. This time around, mortgage rates were able to keep slightly better pace with the broader bond market. The result is a return to levels that are very close […]
10yr Treasury yields are widely thought to dictate mortgage rate movement. This week’s trade war headlines caused plenty of volatility and a general decline in Treasury yields, but mortgage rates had a hard time keeping up.
Before we get to the finer points of Treasuries vs mortgage rates, let’s recap this week’s reaction to various trade-related headlines. […]
To understand what’s at stake in the week ahead, we need to understand where we are and where we’ve been. With that in mind, here’s a quick recap of the past year or so in global macroeconomics.
Rates were near long-term highs in the first part of 2018 following the passage of the tax bill and generally […]
It’s never fun when this weekly newsletter has back to back headlines concerning rates moving higher, but facts are facts. The average lender is back in line with the highest levels since March 20th. What went wrong and are there any silver linings?
At the simplest level, the past several months of interest rate movement can […]
While interest rates are always a topic of conversation in the housing and mortgage markets, everyone was talking about them last week. That tends to happen when the average 30yr fixed rate threatens to break into the high 3% range after a long absence. But just as quickly as the good times started to roll, rates […]
Since February 28th, the average mortgage rate quote for the average lender dropped by roughly half a percentage point. That makes March 2019 the best month for rates since the Fed first announced quantitative easing (the bond buying program that targeted mortgage rates) in late 2008.
It’s no small coincidence that Fed bond buying was responsible for the […]
