This may come as a shock to many borrowers, but it’s absolutely true. Mortgage interest rates are not set by the Federal Reserve and, contrary to popular belief, mortgage rates are not directly tied to the yields of US Treasury bills, bonds, or notes – including the 10-year Treasury Note. That’s right. Despite what you [...]

The University of Michigan’s / Thomson Reuters widely-watched consumer confidence index shows consumer confidence moving lower driven by lack of confidence in government economic policies and increasing pessimism over unemployment, home prices and falling income. The index fell  7.7 points to 63.8, its biggest decline since March with the index falling to 76.3 from 82.0, [...]

With mortgage rates at some of the lowest levels in decades, many borrowers are considering whether a fixed rate or adjustable rate mortgage is better suited for their needs. We are going to walk you through the two main mortgage options that you can select from, along with the core benefits and some of the [...]

Understanding What Causes Interest Rate Movement Consumers are often misled when it comes to the subject of the Federal Reserve and how it affects mortgage interest rates. Often the media is the culprit causing the confusion. Many times, the Fed has taken action that caused mortgage interest rates to move in a direction other than [...]

What More Quantitative Easing Could Mean   Historic, low home loan rates have been about the only thing stable in the economy these days. This low level mark breeds complacency, especially with the buzz in the air that rates may go even lower. But the question hangs in the air like humidity on a southern [...]

If you’ve been watching the economic news, you’ve probably noticed that market experts and traders have been keeping a close eye on the Commerce Department’s Personal Spending and Personal Income reports. Obviously, those reports provide insight into the health of our economy, but did you know they also influence home loan rates? That’s right, personal [...]

After reaching the lowest levels in decades, mortgage rates have shot higher over the past two weeks. There is not a simple explanation for why this happened, but looking at the many factors which are influencing mortgage rates right now will help to understand what’s going on. In short, when investors look ahead, they see [...]

The Federal Reserve and Mortgage Rates Understanding What Causes Interest Rate Movement   Consumers are often misled when it comes to the subject of the Federal Reserve and how it affects mortgage interest rates. Often the media is the culprit causing the confusion. Many times, the Fed has taken action that caused mortgage interest rates [...]

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the question: Can Mortgage Rates Go Any Lower??? I’ve approached the question from several angles. The “double-dip” great recession option is still on the table. That means we can’t rule out the idea that benchmark Treasury yields might return to record lows and take mortgage rates along for [...]

Early activity this morning was soft for mortgage markets again; yesterday mortgage markets struggled while treasuries traded unchanged except for the 30 yr bond which saw buying to push its yield to a new low at 3.90%. Monday and Tuesday we saw strong buying of mortgages but yesterday and so far this morning there was [...]