Most major economic reports came in close to expected today yet we saw a big move in the Dow and bond yields. The Dow is down 224 points today as of 11:30 AM PST. The 10 year treasury yield, used to forecast mortgage rates, is down over 2 percent overall and at 3.42 percent as of 11:31 AM PST. Prices of RMBS, of which mortgage rates move opposite, are up today as investors seek safe havens wary of the plummeting stock market.
Despite changes in RMBS prices and bond yields, which have been up and down all week, it’s been a quiet week for mortgage rates which threatened to go up and down several times but remain the same. As of now following the increase in RMBS prices and decrease in the 10 year treasury yield mortgage rates are stable and more likely to go down than up.
Current Mortgage Rates
FreeRateUpdate.com research of wholesale lender’s current mortgage rates shows the following as of 11:35 AM PST. The current conforming 30 year fixed mortgage rate is 4.875 percent at par, where it’s remained for almost 3 weeks now. The current conforming 15 year fixed mortgage rate is 4.25 percent at par. 15 year fixed mortgage rates have sea sawed by an 1/8 of a point of late going from 4.25 to 4.375 percent on any given day. Current 5/1 ARM mortgage rates are as low as 3.75 percent at par. Par rates are the lowest available interest rates without the requirement by the lender for the borrower to pay additional points and fees. Typically par rates can be obtained with 1 point origination.
Mortgage Rates Forecast
The past 2 years mortgage rates have bottomed out during the holiday season. We’ll hope this trend continues this year.
About the Author. Contributing writer Edward J Ferrara III has has over 8 years of experience in both mortgage brokering and banking of loans. Ed's transferred his passion for mortgage to his articles on mortgage rates posted daily on FreeRateUpdate.com. Contact Ed by phone at (714) 694-5914 or Email him. 
