Interest Rate Level as Regulator Valve Anyone in the market for a new mortgage — or trying to refinance an existing one — can attest to how volatile interest rates are today. Certainly, one key ingredient is the unprecedented uncertainty in the credit markets. However, another, more recent factor is understaffed lenders. According to local...Read More
Dropping Mortgage RatesStill “Artificially” HighWhere should mortgage rates be right now? If historical relationships held, the rate on a 30 year mortgage would be 3.5%(!). No, that’s not a typo; going back a decade or more, long-term mortgages cost typically cost about 150 basis points more than the 10 year U.S. Treasury Bond yield. The...Read More
Combating a Deflationary Mindset One of the unintended consequences of falling prices — for new homes, existing homes, mortgage rates, etc. — is that would-be Buyers get out of the way, and wait for even bigger drops. There’s some anecdotal evidence that that’s the psychology behind many Buyers’ reluctance to buy or even refinance at...Read More
