Mortgage Rates Moved Lower Again Today

Mortgage rates moved lower again today as investors remained cautious amid political uncertainty at home and abroad.  Stocks began the day higher but lost ground throughout the day - indirectly helping rates. 

There was not much going on today as we had our second day amidst a light week of economic data being released. Even with the Treasury selling the 3yr notes this afternoon, there was not much reaction to the results even though they were all right.  Tomorrow we will have the new 10yr note auctioned at Noon.  The demand is key to keep the bond and mortgage markets improving. Before this, we will get the news on Weekly Mortgage Applications and Crude Oil Inventories.

In and of itself, today's improvement was mild to moderate.  But taken together with yesterday, the gains were more meaningful as we saw better movement in the rate market versus the costs associated with the rates.  In relative terms, today's rates are as low as they've been in 3 weeks.  We've only been able to say that one other time since the election (early to mid-January), and that turned out to be a good time to consider locking vs floating.  Past precedent does not guarantee a similar outcome, but the longer the winning streak continues, the more it makes sense to look for tactical opportunities to take advantage of the gains.

In summary, this is what we were waiting for.  The last few weeks of floating has paid off.  We have seen the rates drop significantly today if you had elected to float and go against my advice the last few weeks.  The question now is when to lock.  I would hate to be this far ahead only to play my hand too long.  You must know when to walk away - right?  This afternoon, I had talked to several of my clients and wanted to let them know where we stand and maybe consider locking if you are happy now – but I would like to see this run continue with the 10yr breaking the barrier of 2/35%.  However, one should not be greedy as you can be disappointed.