Crampton Inspection Service

Real Estate Services

  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
  • Resources
    • First Time Home Buyer Tips
    • First Time Home Seller Tips
    • Home Pricing 101
  • Blog
  • Visit Our Website
  • Contact

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : September 4, 2012

September 4, 2012 by Crampton Inspection Service Leave a Comment

Jobs Report In FocusMortgage markets improved last week for the second consecutive week.

With no news coming from Europe, Wall Street was focused U.S. economic data and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s planned public speech from the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Rate shoppers and home buyers in San Francisco caught a break.

The housing market was shown to be improving last week, as was the average household income nationwide — two events which would have typically moved California  mortgage rates higher. But, because the Fed Chairman used his speech to signal that new economic stimulus may be imminent, mortgage rates dropped.

The Fed is expected to launch a bond-buying program that would create new demand for mortgage-backed bonds. Mortgage-backed bonds are the basis for most U.S. mortgage rates and the new-found demand would result in lower rates nationwide. 

According to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 3.59% last week for borrowers willing to pay 0.6 discount points plus a full set of closing costs, where 0.6 discount points is a one-time closing cost equal to 0.6 percent of your loan size.

Conventional mortgage rates open this week at a 4-week best. Threats to low rates remain, however.

A European Central Bank meeting is scheduled for Thursday and the release of the August Non-Farm Payrolls report is due Friday. Both events could have negative repercussions on mortgage rates. 

For example, the ECB is expected to announce new aid measures for some its struggling member nations, including Greece, Spain and Italy. If the aid package “ends” the sovereign debt issues which have plagued the European Union since 2010, equity markets would rally on the news at the expense of bond markets. This would drive U.S. mortgage rates higher as investors dump their bond holdings.

Similarly, if the August jobs report is deemed “strong”, it would lower the likelihood of new Fed-led stimulus. This, too, would lead mortgage rates higher — perhaps by a lot.

Economists expect to see that 130,000 net new jobs created last month. The jobs report will be released Friday at 8:30 AM ET.

Filed Under: Mortgage Rates Tagged With: ECB, Federal Reserve, Non-Farm Payrolls

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Logo

Contact Us


Crampton Inspection Service

P.O. Box 6043
Moraga, CA 94570
Phone: 925-376-7707
Email: john@your-home-inspector.com
CALL (925) 376-7707

How can we help?

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Connect with Us



max-width: 80px;

Recent Articles

  • What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – March 20, 2023
  • How to Get Along With Your Homeowners Association
  • Manage These 3 Items Before Applying For A Mortgage
  • Short-Term Vacation Rentals: What To Know
  • What To Know About Property Lines
Certified with California Real Estate Inspection Association (CREIA) and American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI)

Looking For Something?

Our Location

P.O. Box 6043
Moraga, CA 94570

Copyright © 2023 · Powered by MySMARTblog