Mortgage Market Guide for 01/14/09
A bit of a quiet opening today on the rate markets. I'm hoping that if there is any momentum it will be towards improvement. The retail sales numbers came in and they weren't so hot. Actually dismal. Retail sales were off by 2.7%.
When we are in a deflationary cycle rates improve. When we are in an inflationary cycle rates get worse. Retail sales numbers like the ones we are seeing are deflationary. I'm expecting rates to open a little better this morning.
We are strongly in the low 5's and in some instances depending on the lender we use may touch the high 4's for a 30 year fixed for a platinum borrower. The lower the rate lender source the more difficult the loan process. These low rate lenders will nit pick every nuance of the loan. They are especially hard on appraisals. I will be attending a conference the rest of the day so I won't be able to update the rates if there are any major changes... I don't expect any.
10:31 am pst... I take that "don't expect any changes..." comment back. I've seen three new sets of rates sheets and it looks like mortgage rates are getting hit a tiny bit. If you think this is volatile, you haven't seen anything yet. Wait til stagflation kicks in.
