Where are mortgage rates headed?
August 29th, 2008, 7:42 am · 6 Comments · posted by Mathew Padilla, Reporter
Inflation is a persistent threat, the Federal Reserve expects to raise interest rates but is unclear on when, and the economy continues to expand, at least for now. Yet, as I noted in the previous post, mortgage rates have dropped over the past two weeks. The weekly average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan up to the old conforming limit of $417,000 retreated Thursday to 6.139 percent with a one-point fee from its peak earlier this month of 6.205 percent, which was the highest since September. So it’s time to ask again where we go from here…
Where do you see mortgage rates in next three to five months?
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Find out more about: MORTGAGE ANSWERS | MORTGAGE RATES | FORECLOSURES | HOME PRICES | INVENTORY | RENTS | FED |
August 29th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Treasuries are at their lowest point since May and are trending downward. Rates should continue follow. I don’t believe the Fed will touch rates until after the election because they don’t like to appear political.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Loan standards are tight, so new risk is lower than in a normal environment. I would expect this will keep rates at current levels, or maybe even drive them a bit lower as banks compete for the best qualified - already seeing this to some extent with the third party lenders.
Raising rates banks would be equivalent to the banks cutting their own throats – make it that much more difficult to improve their balance sheets.
August 30th, 2008 at 12:49 am
How is the economy doing right now? Good/bad? What is the perception of the economy - good/bad? What happens to long term interest rates when the economy ain’t doing so hot - up/down?
How’s the airline industry doing? Retal industry? Auto? Mortgage? Real Estate in many parts of the Country?
If you are seeing what I am seeing - you might want to do a zero cost refinance and get into a 30 year fixed if you have equity, good credit, and can qualify full doc. On a zero cost loan, when rates drop, you can refi to the lower rate for free.
Check this out!
The following is an initial list of planned retail closures:
1. Ann Taylor is closing 117 stores nationwide.
2.Eddie Bauer to close more stores. The company has already closed 27 shops in the first quarter and plans to close up to two more outlet stores by the end of the year.
3.Cache is closing 20 to 23 stores this year.
4.Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, and Catherines are closing 150 stores nationwide.
5.Talbots, and J. Jill are closing all 78 of its kids and men’s stores. Now the company says it will close another 22 underperforming stores. The 22 stores will be a mix of Talbots women’s and J.Jill.
6.Gap Inc. will be closing 85 stores.
7.Foot Locker to close 140 stores.
8.Wickes Furniture is going out of business and closing all of its stores.
9.Levitz, the furniture retailer, is going out of business and closing all 76 of its stores in December.
10.Zales, Piercing Pagoda plans to close 82 stores by July 31. It has also announced that it is closing another 23 underperforming stores.
11.The Walt Disney Company subsidiary Children’s Place filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Walt Disney, ina news release, said it has also obtained the right to close about 98 Disney Stores in the U.S.
12.Home Depot has 15 store closings.
13.CompUSA clarifies details on its store closings. Any extended warranties purchased for products through CompUSA will be honored by a third-party provider, Assurant Solutions.
14.Macy’s is closing 9 stores.
15.Movie Gallery is closing 160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit. They plan to close 400 of 3,500Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores in addition to the 520 locations the video rental chain closed last fall.
16.Pacific Sunwear is closing 153 Demo stores.
17.Pep Boys is closing 33stores.
18.Sprint Nextel is closing 125 retail locations.
19.J. C. Penney, Lowe’s, and Office Depot are scaling back.
20.Ethan Allen Interiors announced plans to close 12 of 300+ stores in an effort to cut costs.
21.Wilsonsthe Leather Experts is closing 158 stores.
22.Sharper Image: The company recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced that 90 of its 184 stores are closing.
23.Bombay Company: The company unveiled plans to close all 384 U.S.-based Bombay Company stores.
24.KB Toys posted a list of 356 stores that it is closing around the United States as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.
25.Dillard’s plans to close more stores.
26.Steve and Barry’s Clothing, which has 240 stores filed for bankruptcy.
27.Starbucks is in the process of closing 600 stores.
A lot of people aren’t able to qualify for a refinance today (property values are obviously way down with maybe another 10-20% to go, they don’t qualify full doc or their credit scores are too low) and a loan modification might be your best alternative.
Other than that, you are staring Short Sale & Foreclosure directly in the face. Know your options!
September 1st, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Fred - you said a mouthful. It’s difficult to realize our situation when you’re reading it in summary. The party if over.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
If you want to know where rates are headed, why not ask Lou Pacific”