Rate Lock Advisory

Friday, April 23th

Friday’s bond market has opened in negative territory, causing an increase in this morning’s mortgage pricing. Stocks are showing gains of 51 points in the Dow and 97 points in the Nasdaq. The bond market is currently down 8/32 (1.56%), which should push this morning’s mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 of a discount point.

8/32

Bonds

30 yr - 1.56%

Dow

33,867

NASDAQ

13,915

Mortgage Rate Trend

Trailing 90 Days - National Average

30 Year Fixed
15 Year Fixed
5/1 ARM

Indexes Affecting Rate Lock

Low

Negative

New Home Sales

March's New Home Sales report was posted at 10:00 AM ET, revealing a 20.7% jump in sales of newly constructed homes. That was well above forecasts, even if comparing to February’s numbers that were revised upward noticeably. The increase indicates the new home portion of the housing sector rebounded from February’s slump, making the data bad news for bonds and mortgage rates.

High

Unknown

Durable Goods Orders

Next week’s calendar is filled with events that may influence mortgage rates. There is at least one item scheduled each day of the week. They include moderate and highly important economic reports, a couple of Treasury auctions and an FOMC meeting. Starting the week’s activities will be the release of March’s Durable Goods Orders report late Monday morning that will give us a measurement of manufacturing sector strength. There also is a Treasury auction that may come into play early afternoon. Look for details on all of next week’s events in Sunday evening’s weekly preview.

Float / Lock Recommendation

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.