No relief on mortgage rates this week
March 6th, 2008, 2:51 pm · 10 Comments · posted by Mary Ann Milbourn
(Correction: Mortgage rates changed.)
Homeowners and would-be buyers hoping to take advantage of lower mortgage rates were disappointed –again — this week. Orange County mortgage rates climbed for the fourth week in a row.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 1-point fee rose to 5.929% from 5.905% last week. A one-year adjustable rate mortgage with a 2-point fee bounced above 5% again this week. The average ARM was 5.124%, up from 4.998% last week.
People shopping for a jumbo loan — still anything over $417,000 until the newly-announced conforming limit kicks into effect — rose for the fourth week. Jumbos averaged 6.983%, an increase from 6.878% last week.
Here’s a comparison of jumbo vs. conforming rates in over the last few weeks:
| Date | Jumbo | Conf. | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-Jan-08 | 6.788 | 5.867 | 0.921 |
| 17-Jan-08 | 6.725 | 5.796 | 0.929 |
| 24-Jan-08 | 6.636 | 5.694 | 0.942 |
| 31-Jan-08 | 6.663 | 5.612 | 1.051 |
| 7-Feb-08 | 6.605 | 5.594 | 1.011 |
| 14-Feb-08 | 6.715 | 5.683 | 1.032 |
| 21-Feb-08 | 6.818 | 5.840 | 0.978 |
| 28-Feb-08 | 6.878 | 5.905 | 0.973 |
| 6-Mar-08 | 6.983 | 5.929 | 1.054 |
March 6th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
This has got to be the most inefficient way of reporting rates…just WAAAAAYYYY behind the REAL “as it happens” curve which is ALL that ever matter with mortgage rates….what is it RIGHT NOW???
Folks, rates have taken off like a fuel-injected funny car since Monday…this is the biggest and most rapid rate RISE I have EVER seen in Fannie Mae conforming loans! Since NOBODY gets loans with 1 point as is so often quoted in the media (because no one has the equity to PAY for the 1 point PLUS all the fees that would come with such a loan) I will quote you all the REAL rates at ZERO points or PAR (fees would still be included in other words): Last Friday, the 30 year Fannie Mae fixed rate was 5.75%….today after a wild ride it settled back at 6.5% after being as high as 6.75%…but that is before the many price adjustments that come with ALL loans these days meaning unless you have 720+ credit with loads of money in the bank, take zero cash out and have at least 25% equity in your home…for most their base rate would be 6.625% or higher. My understanding is for the new loan limits above $417,000 rates would be about 0.25% higher…or basically where Jumbo rates were at just last Friday!
March 6th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Larry P
I agree 100%,
I quoted a client 680 FICO, 81% LTV 6.65% for a 30 yr today, (plus mi) their response “but the paper says it is 5.9…
OC Register, you stink, you should take part of the blame for all this crap, New name for OC Register = OC Enquirer + Stop tossing crap against the wall and hoping it sticks…
The new loan limits mean nothing, it will help hardly anyone…due to lack of equity and realistic underwriting guidelines…
the jumbo rates were suppose to fall to the conforming level, the conforming rates were not suppose to rise to the jumbo rates but that is what is happening
Ironically the best rates, (5.25%, 5 yr arm) are for arm loans, Hey let’s start the trend all over again…
HEADLINE in OC Inquirer tomorrow should be “NEW LOAN LIMITS WILL HELP HARDLY ANYONE LONG TERM! HOLD YOUR NOSE CUZ HERE GOES THE COLD WATER!”
March 6th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Paul,
You can’t really blame the Register…heck, our Fed Chairman and 100% of Congress don’t even understand mortgage rates so you can’t blame a non-industry newspaper for merely parroting some industry mouthpiece and AVERAGING rates at a bunch of banks over a week’s period…and for the PREVIOUS week at that! LOL! The industry WANTS people to call their local lender/broker to stimulate business (just like that guy on that radio ad talking about “If your rate is below 5.625%, ignore this ad…” even though to GET 5.625% or less requires FOUR POINTS!) so they quote loans with 1 point at LAST week’s average! Pretty deceptive, really! So, the Register is like anyone else…they pick the “low-hanging fruit” of “averages” (which are useless) rather than getting the numbers straight daily from any of the hundreds of brokers/lenders right here in Orange County!
I will always post them here on this blog along with others if nothing else…folks if you want to see the REAL rates just scan for the mortgage professionals posts…things are happening too fast these days to rely on weekly averages from LAST week’s action!
Larry P.
March 6th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Larry P, I watch the market like a psychotic hawk,
January 23, 2008, 10 AM
conversation with more then one home owner -
Me - “5.25% 30 yr fixed, no points, we should lock your rate now Mr. Borrower!
Mr. Borrower - “no, no Paul, the paper says the rates are going to go much lower”
Me - “Um, No, that is the fed rate, has nothing to do with it, the rates have never been this low…”
Mr. Borrower - “No that’s cool, I’ll wait until it drops to 3%…”
by noon it was 5.875%, now it is 6.65%
kick kicking themselves now…
OC Inquirer -
Friday March 7, 2008
“NEW LOAN LIMITS WILL HELP HARDLY ANYONE LONG TERM! HOLD YOUR NOSE CUZ HERE GOES THE COLD WATER!”
March 6th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Matt, the Register posts rates that are three days old. You’ve been accused of this many times, and that it just throws your readers into a total misunderstanding of what actual rates are. One point quotes are soooooo yesterday. Quote zero points and call your trusted mortgage brokers (say five) on Thursday and get an average of OC rates and post them on Friday. No one in the OC cares about the Nat’l average, it’s what’s in their back yard that counts. You keep taking this abuse. How far off are you? Today’s close for a conforming loan was at 6.625% for zero points for a 30 day lock……The new conforming limit isn’t going to help when rates are moving in this direction.
March 7th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Prediction: Get conforming rates down from 6.625% to 5.5%, no points (good luck) and you may see some activity. Until then, the conforming limit change will have very little affect.