Mortgage Rates Higher, More Volatile…

Here is a recap of the past week and a half.  Monday before last, 30 year fixed rate pricing was slightly under 6% with no-points.  By Wednesday morning, it was slightly lower.  By Wednesday afternoon, it had moved up to 6.375%.  By Friday afternoon, it had moved higher still to 6.625%.  This happened as the Dow moved into the low 8000s and temporarily erased all investor gains since 2003.   This morning, rates were near 6.8% with no points, close to the highest level of 2008.

Generally, mortgage rates drop when stocks tank, but late last week the opposite happened.  Mortgage rates moved sharply higher while stocks moved sharply lower.  And the Fed cut too.  So what’s a buyer to do?  (Or anyone considering refinancing?)

My advice is keep in touch with your mortgage advisor (or call me if you don’t already have a good relationship with a lender) and watch the market.  Sooner or later, rates will come back down.  This is one likely upside of the recession we are in, or headed into.  Also, the volatile nature of market means that rates can experience large swings down or up, just as we are seeing in stocks.  So opportunity could be around the corner.  Still, if you have found a house, but have not secured a rate, you should do so as soon as possible.