“Fed Cuts, Rates Rise — Wait, What Just Happened?”

TODAY’S MORTGAGE RATES

Mortgage Rates went up about .15%
over the past 7 days with the
Mortgage Backed Security (MBS)
market trading down -30 bps.

Here are your Average Mortgage
Rates across the country according
to Mortgage News Daily.

On Wednesday, the FED cut the
Federal Funds Rate by 25 bps.
They also announced they will end
their balance sheet run off in
December, effectively investing more
money into bonds and U.S. Treasuries.
Both items are positive for rates,
yet rates went up again after
the FED Meeting.
Why?

FED Chief Jerome Powell continues to
put his foot in his mouth during his
press conferences. His hawkish tone
and commentary spooks the markets and
is largely responsible for rates going up.

If he could just use a little more
tactfulness with his words, we would
likely see much better results. His
comments that the FED lowering the
Federal Funds rate again in December
is “not a foregone conclusion” and “far
from it” sounds normal at first glance,
but the weight of the FED Chief’s
words and tone have a major impact
on the markets. He should know this.

A simple “We will evaluate the data
and decide if a rate cut is necessary
in December” is saying the same
thing, but comes off much less defiant.

I still believe that the Wednesday
FED news is positive for the
long-term direction of interest
rates and we will likely see rates drop
slightly in November once the press
conference gets farther in the
rearview mirror.

As the Government Shutdown enters
into record territory, we are still not
seeing many of the reports that
the market uses to evaluate trades
and ultimately impact interest rates.

There are a lot of characteristics that
go into a mortgage rate – credit score,
investor, loan to value, loan amount,
costs, etc. Please call me to go over
your specific scenario so we can
price your loan out accurately.

THINK THE MARKET PASSED YOU BY?
THINK AGAIN.

If you stepped back from your home
search over the past few years, you’re
not alone – and you’re definitely not
out of options. In fact, now might be
the ideal time to take another look.
With more homes to choose from,
prices leveling off in many areas,
and mortgage rates easing, today’s
market is offering something you
haven’t had in a while: options.

Experts agree, buyers are in a
better spot right now than they’ve
been in quite a long time. Here’s
what they have to say.

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