Tuesday, June 23th
Tuesday’s bond market has opened in positive territory with stocks showing early losses and little else to drive trading. The Dow is now down 19 points after erasing earlier losses and the Nasdaq is down 319 points. The bond market is currently up 9/32 (4.47%), which should improve this morning’s mortgage rates by approximately .125 of a discount point.
9/32
Bonds
30 yr - 4.47%
19
Dow
51,693
319
NASDAQ
25,842
Trailing 90 Days - National Average
Low
Unknown
There is nothing of importance scheduled to be posted today. This week’s economic calendar kicks-off late tomorrow morning with the release of May's New Home Sales report at 10:00 AM ET. It tracks sales of newly constructed homes, giving us a small indication of housing sector strength. A strong majority of U.S. home sales are resales that are reflected in the National Association of Realtor’s Existing Home Sales report. Tomorrow’s report is expected to show an increase in new home sales to signal a bit of strength in the sector. Unless there is a significant variance from forecasts, the report will likely have no impact on mortgage rates. A decline would allow the report to be labeled as good news for mortgage pricing.
Medium
Unknown
Tomorrow also has the first of this week's two Treasury auctions that we will be watching when 5-year Notes are sold. This sale has the potential to affect bond trading enough to alter rates modestly during early afternoon hours tomorrow. The key is how strong investor interest is for the securities. If it was met with a strong demand from investors, we could see bond prices rise and mortgage rates improve slightly during afternoon trading. On the other hand, if the sale draws a lackluster interest from investors, mortgage rates may move a little higher during afternoon trading.
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... Lock 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.