Rate Update February 13, 2009
Fixed mortgage rates are slightly higher than yesterday.
Mortgage backed bonds bounced off the ceiling of resistance at the 25 and 50 day moving averages yesterday and gave up some of the gains we saw Wednesday. The markets close today at 2pm ET and will be closed on Monday for President’s day. With this shortened holiday session, we could see quite a bit of volatility if volume of trading is down.
Yesterday the NY Fed reported that they purchased $23.2 Billion in Mortgage backed securities the past week. This brings the year-to-date total to nearly $115 Billion. This purchase plan has kept rates fairly low, but it is important to remember that Trillions of dollars a day are traded on the open markets from about every country in the world…and $115 Billion purchased by the Fed still can’t ultimately dictate where mortgage rates will go.
The current $789 Billion stimulus package is expected to be passed by Congress today so President Obama can sign this weekend. Once the specifics of the bill pertaining to the housing market, and first time home-buyer credits are laid out, I will be sure to keep you posted.
Rate Update will be back on Tuesday the 17th. Have a great weekend.
Current Outlook: Locking