Melissa's Mortgage Minute

The 10-Year bond yields were as low as 1.51% this morning. However, they have drifted back up to 1.55%. With yields so low everyone is asking, if mortgage rates have plummeted?  The answer is: NOT YET. While we are seeing slow improvement in rates, there has been no free fall. When bond yields drop the MBS securities market doesn't always follow right along and they play a big part in rate movement. The 30-Year fixed rates can be found at 3.50% for both conforming and fixed. While, the 5-Year ARM is as low as 2.375% with jumbo 7-Years at 2.75%. These are rates from specific lenders not every bank offers these. Time to shop til you drop !

 Economic data at home looked better with some of the headline numbers but looking below they were not very pretty. The CPI rose .2% this past month, primarily on rent costs and gas prices. The Philly Fed index rose to a positive number but new orders, shipments, and employment, remained negative. Jobless claims rose. Home builder sentiment rose for the highlight of the morning.  Never mind the data- global markets are still in a Brexit free fall and renewed concerns that Central Banks have lost their fire power on monetary policy. Fed funds do not fully price in a rate hike until February of 2018 now.  The Brexit is in the lead and oil is over 3% lower today. 

 The Dow is down 90 points for a six day losing streak. Europe and Asia fell as well. Oil is down to $46.30 and the Dollar is 1% higher against the Euro but has lost another 1.5% against the Yen.

 Japan did not change monetary policy. Meanwhile, German Bunds continue to fall deeper into negative territory. Fun, fun, fun!