March 20th, 2020 11:19 AM by T. Fanning
Last Updated: 3/20/20Friday's bond market has opened well in positive territory again but will be of no help to mortgage rates. The major stock indexes are in positive territory at the moment, with the Dow up 58 points and the Nasdaq up 64 points. The bond market is currently up 42/32 (1.02%), but mortgage bonds are having an ugly morning. Despite the strong gains in Treasuries and modest improvement in stocks (considering the recent volatility), we still will see a sizable increase in this morning's mortgage rates. Mortgage bonds and Treasuries have not reconnected yet, bucking the traditional trend of moving in the same direction.The National Association of Realtors announced late this morning that home resales rose 6.5% last month, exceeding forecasts. That is a sign that the housing sector was stronger than many had thought, making the data unfavorable for bonds and mortgage rates. However, the data is not important enough to draw much attention during this chaotic environment in the markets and had no impact on today's rates.Next week has a handful of economic releases that are normally relevant to mortgage rates in addition to a couple of potentially influential Treasury auctions. One or two of the reports stand out as more important than the others, but because they still cover February, they likely will not be of much interest to the markets. There is no reason to believe that the crazy volatility we have seen this week will cease next week. It is highly likely that the markets won't be interested in economic data until it starts to cover the months of March and April.Look for details on next week's calendar and this weekend's relevant events in Sunday evening's weekly preview.If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would....Lock if my closing were taking place within 7 days...Lock if my closing were taking place between 8 and 20 days...Float if my closing were taking place between 21 and 60 days...Float if my closing were taking place over 60 days from now...This is only my opinion of what I would do if I was financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.**http://www.hlmcolorado.com/DailyRateAdvisory
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