Monday, July 22th
Monday’s bond market has opened in positive territory, starting the week with a slight improvement to mortgage rates. The major stock indexes are also showing early gains, pushing the Dow higher by 28 points and the Nasdaq up 53 points. The bond market is currently up 6/32 (2.03%), which should allow this morning’s mortgage pricing to be slightly lower than Friday’s early levels.
6/32
Bonds
30 yr - 2.03%
28
Dow
27,182
53
NASDAQ
8,199
Trailing 90 Days - National Average
Medium
Unknown
Today has nothing of importance scheduled. The rest of the week brings us four economic reports that may impact mortgage rates, one of which is considered to be highly influential. In addition to the data, there are also a couple of Treasury auctions mid-week. The most important events are set for the latter part of the week, meaning we can expect to see the most movement in rates those days.
Medium
Unknown
It starts tomorrow with the release of June's Existing Home Sales at 10:00 AM ET. This National Association of Realtors report gives us a measurement of housing sector strength and mortgage credit demand. Current forecasts are calling for little change from May's totals. A drop in sales would be considered good news for bonds and mortgage rates because a weakening housing sector makes broader economic growth more difficult. However, unless this data varies greatly from forecasts it probably will lead to only a minor change in mortgage rates.
---
Unknown
Overall, the best candidate for most active day of the week is Friday due to the importance of the initial 2nd quarter GDP reading. Thursday could also be pretty active as a result of the Durable Goods Orders release. The calmest day may be Wednesday. Although, corporate earnings can take centerstage any day of the week, so we will be looking for stocks to have a big influence on bond trading and mortgage rates also.
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... Float 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.