30-Year Mortgages @ 3%?? For the moment, mortgage rates have bottomed, and may be even be climbing a bit. But, broader market forces (as they say) definitely seem to be tugging rates lower this Summer. Brexit Financial Aftermath There is now a stunning $10 billion-plus in negative-yielding government bonds globally (think, Germany, Switzerland, and — surprisingly,...Read More
From Premium to Discount on 30-Year Mortgages In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, funds for jumbo mortgages virtually dried up. At a time when rates on conventional, 30-year mortgages were fetching around 4.5%, jumbo rates were 6% or 6.5% — if you could find such products at all. Today, that premium and scarcity has been replaced by...Read More
Mortgage Rates Pop 25 Basis Points Monday “Economists have predicted nine out of the last five recessions.” –Paul Samuelson Just because economists have been predicting, wrongly, for years now that interest rates are about to rise doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. Someday. In the meantime, there are periodic tremblors, suggesting that rates won’t stay...Read More
Affordability’s Three “Ingredients”: Housing Prices, Mortgage Rates, & Employment Don’t rising home prices make homes less affordable? In general, yes. The exception is when interest rates are falling faster than home prices are rising — the case right now — and wages and employment are improving (also true). From 4.6% to ???? So, from a...Read More
Lower Mortgage Rates Hike Affordability The big story in real estate this year — besides tightening inventory and rising prices in several market segments — is the effect (still) dropping mortgage rates are having on Buyers’ purchasing over. So, when 30-year rates were over 4% — what, six months ago? — a Buyer who could shoulder...Read More
Cost-Benefit Criterion “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it lots of times.” OK, so refinancing isn’t completely painless — there are some fees involved, and some paperwork to fill out (natch). But, the operative question to ask isn’t, “how long has it been since I refinanced?” or even “how much will it cost?” Rather, it’s...Read More