Mortgage Rates Moved a Bit Lower

Mortgage rates moved a bit lower, but not so much that it affected the rates that were quoted yesterday.  The most prevalently-quoted conforming 30yr fixed rate for top tier scenarios was pushed solid to 4.125%,   but depending on various fees as I mentioned before does not make much sense, some still want 4.00%.

October employment data is now less than 48 hours away.  This morning ADP reported it counted 230K new jobs in October, about in line with most estimates.

The House and Senate are in the control of Republicans. What will they do, how will they do it? Overall it depends on how the President handles it and what kind of push Republicans will face with the tea party extreme right wing. One thing we do not expect is another government shutdown as Republicans tried a few years ago. 

What the President should do for his party is make an attempt to cooperate - stonewalling now on every issue will hurt Democrats two years from now. This administration by all accounts has not had a good record in geo-politics i.e. the middle east.  Republicans do have somewhat of an upper hand in that area. What leaders in both parties must do is cool the extreme right and extreme left - America is fed up with Washington, hope the politicians understand that.

Janet Yellen is going to take more heat now when she testifies and reports to Congress next year. Republicans have been vocal that the Fed needs to get out faster than what the Fed has advocated up until now. Conservatives have been pushing for a tighter monetary policy for the last two years. Not likely though that the Fed will lose its independence - that has to remain, just more voices for the Fed to consider. This is one area where the tea party needs to cool their jets.

In summary, we seem to still be in a holding pattern until important data is released the rest of the week (Jobs Report and ECB Rate Decision). Although in my view it seems the bias in rates is to drift higher unless something comes out that strongly pushes the momentum lower.

Keep a strong look at the markets and continue to cautiously float if you do want to take a risk. Remember, if you want to know the benefits of locking your rate today versus floating, simply give me a call at 314-744-7806 or visit me on my website at www.CallTheMoneyMan.com. I have access to real time Wall St. data and instant market alerts with breaking news that I monitor throughout the day to assist us on making the informed decision.