July 17th, 2020 10:35 AM by T. Fanning
Last Updated: 7/17/20Friday's bond market has opened down slightly despite some favorable economic news. Stocks are showing minor losses at the moment, pushing the Dow lower by 37 points and the Nasdaq down 3 points. The bond market is currently down 1/32 (0.62%), but weakness late yesterday is going to cause this morning's mortgage rates to be higher than Thursday's early pricing by approximately .125 of a discount point.June's Housing Starts was posted at 8:30 AM ET with the Commerce Department announcing a 17.3% jump in new home groundbreakings. The increase shows strength in the new home portion of the housing sector, but the number of new home starts was close to forecasts. Because this is a moderately important release that failed to bring a major surprise, we can consider the data neutral for mortgage rates.The preliminary July reading of the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment was posted at 10:00 AM ET. It came in well below expectations at 73.2. Analysts were expecting to see an increase from June's 78.1, indicating that surveyed consumers were not as optimistic about their own financial situations than many they were last month. Because waning confidence usually translates into weaker levels of consumer spending, this was good news for bonds and mortgage rates.Next week has little scheduled that is expected to affect mortgage rates. There are a couple of monthly economic reports set for release, but none of them are considered to be important. The week starts with nothing set for Monday that we need to be concerned with. Look for details on next week's activities in Sunday evening's weekly preview.If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would....Lock if my closing were taking place within 7 days...Lock if my closing were taking place between 8 and 20 days...Float if my closing were taking place between 21 and 60 days...Float if my closing were taking place over 60 days from now...This is only my opinion of what I would do if I was financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.**http://www.hlmcolorado.com/DailyRateAdvisory
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