It’s the Time To Give. The Fed’s Giving You a Lower Interest Rate!
The Fed Makes The Announcement
For its last move in an action-filled year, the Federal Reserve announced it will begin buying its pledged $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities next month.
Good News For Mortgage Shoppers!
For home buyers and mortgage rate shoppers, the timing couldn’t be better.
Because December 31 is one of Wall Street’s most thinly-traded days of the year, low volume is exaggerating the announcement’s impact on mortgage markets.
Mortgage rates opened up lower this morning and managed to close with modest improvements.
There Was Little Time to Lock In!
However, you may not have much time to act. Few mortgage lenders permit after-hours rate locking and bond markets close at 2:00 PM ET for the holiday.
If you miss today’s Fed-fueled low rates, markets re-open Friday for your second chance.
Moving Forward
It’s my personal opinion that mortgage rates will continue to improve over the next two months. Rates tend to trade in a range. Rates are currently trading in a range of 4.5% and 5.5%. As different economic announcements (like today’s) come available, rates move quickly.
If you’re working with a mortgage professional, make sure that they have access to live bond quotes. Mortgage rates are directly tied to mortgage backed securities. This is why it’s important to know what’s happening in the the market in real time. If you’d like to see where things are throughout the day, feel free to follow me on Twitter.
Stay tuned. This will definitely get interesting!
Photo Kudos: PaperByDesign on Flickr
