Mortgage Rate Commentary- 05/29/2009

Here's your Daily Commentary report compliments of Jeff Drew and Star Mortgage!

Friday’s bond market has opened in positive territory after this morning’s economic news failed to give us any significant surprises. The stock markets are showing minor losses with the Dow down 18 points and the Nasdaq down 5 points. The bond market is currently up 10/32, which should improve this morning's rates by approximately .250 - .375 of a discount point.

The more important of today’s two reports was the revision to the 1st quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It showed that the economy contracted at an annual pace of 5.7% during the first three months of the year. This was an upward revision from the previous estimate, but was slightly weaker than the 5.5% decline that was forecasted. This means that economic activity was stronger than previously announced, but was not as strong as analysts' revised forecasts. This basically is good news for bonds, however, the amount of the variance was not enough to heavily influence trading or mortgage pricing this morning.

The University of Michigan updated their Index of Consumer Sentiment for May late this morning. They said the index stood at 68.7 compared to the 67.9 that was previously announced. This means that consumers were a little more optimistic about their own financial situations than was expected. That can be considered negative news for bonds, but as with the GDP revision, the results were not enough to affect mortgage rates.

Next week is packed with relevant economic data for the markets to digest. It begins with two reports Monday morning that are relevant to bonds and mortgage pricing. Early Monday morning we will see April’s Personal Income and Outlays data that will give us a measurement of consumers’ ability to spend and their current spending habits. It is expected to show a decline in both readings.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will post their manufacturing index late Monday morning. This is a fairly important report because it measure manufacturer sentiment. It is expected to show a slight increase from March’s reading, indicating that more surveyed manufacturers felt business improved this month than the last month.

Look for more details on next week’s data and events in Sunday’s weekly preview. It will likely be a pretty active week for mortgage rates with relevant data being posted four out of the five days.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Float if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now...

©Mortgage Commentary 2009


* Please note that if you have a mortgage rate and monthly payment you are comfortable with you may want to consider locking that rate. It is very difficult to predict the market in these very volatile times. Most lenders have a mortgage rate renegotiation policy. Contact me for details.