As a result of the Federal Reserves’ most recent policy statement released at the end of October mortgage rates jumped. Even though the Central Bank did not introduce any changes to short term rates at the end of their policy meeting in October. At the same a clear message was sent to the markets that the doors will stay open for the potential of a rate lift off in December. This doesn’t mean that a rate hike at the end of December is necessarily a done deal but it does indicate that the decision on whether to hike the rate or not depends on incoming economic data received between now and that point in the future.
Many industry experts are still counting on an increase in short term rates to happen sometime during the beginning of 2016 because the recently released data on the American economy doesn’t support an argument for an immediate rate hike.
During the last week of October, U.S. Government Bonds pulled back as a result of the tone from that Federal Reserve statement and yields increased in the middle of that final week. Mortgage backed securities, which are usually used to determine daily interest rates, also took a hit and led to increases in mortgage rates in general. The average lender quoting a 30 year fixed mortgage rate has now increased that amount to 3.875%. Although there are some lenders still making the offering at 3.75%. The reality is that mortgage rates currently are hovering at 5 month lows making home buying and refinancing opportunities an attractive opportunity for borrowers.
The 10 year Treasury note benchmark has increased by five basis points up to 2.10% and the yield on the 30 year longer term Treasury yield was higher during the final trading session at the middle of the week the last week of October.
Mortgage rates on a national basis decreased slightly during the final days of October and findings for mortgage buyers reveal that the average rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage dropped a bit lower by three basis points to 3.76%. During this same time period one year ago the 30 year fixed rate for mortgages hovered at about 3.98%. Overall this is good news for buyers and potential buyers who are considering purchasing a home to still take advantage of relatively low mortgage rates.
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