Harwich Port, MA

Trend and Forecast in Mortgage Rates on July 29, 2010 - Improving, or...?

Here are some of the events affecting mortgage rates today:

What Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) Are Doing Today:

• The price of the FNMA 30-Year 4.0% MBS coupon opened at 102.09 this morning - the same as yesterday's close.
  
  
• At 9:30 AM, the 4.0% MBS coupon was trading at 101.97 - down 4/32 from its opening.

Remember, on mortgage backed securities (MBSs), as the price goes down, the yield goes up - and so do mortgage rates. I expect that mortgage rates will be up to 0.125 points worse in price this morning as compared to yesterday.

Price Trend in Mortgage Backed Securities:

The chart below shows the price trend of the FNMA 30-Year 4.0% coupon over the past 30 days from 6-29-2010 to 7-29-2010:

Economic Reports, News, and Events Affecting Mortgage Rates Today:

• Jobless Claims - 457,000 new claims for unemployment were filed last week, 3,000 less than expected, and 11,000 less than the upwardly revised 468,000 claims filed the previous week. The four-week average for unemployment is fell by 4,500 to 452,500 while continuing claims for the week of July 17 rose by 81,000 to 4.565 million. All signs indicate the economy has been recovering of late, but the jobless rate remains stubbornly high. This data is usually not considered to be very important to the mortgage market and had no effect on mortgage rates this morning.

In other news, the Treasury Dept. will be auctioning $29 billion in 7-Year Notes today. The Notes are used to finance the massive government debt. If there is a strong demand for the Notes, we should see the bond market move higher (resulting in lower mortgage rates) during afternoon trading. However, a lackluster interest from buyers, particularly international investors, would indicate a waning appetite for longer-term U.S. securities and lead to a broader selling in bonds and mortgage backed securities. The selling of mortgage backed securities could result in higher mortgage rates.

Trend in Mortgage Rates:

The chart below shows the trend in mortgage rates over the past 3 years:

Mortgage Rate Forecast:

Mortgage rates are at their historic lows - they haven't been this low since the early 1950s. They could possibly go even lower as the global economic crisis continues. However, the stock market is over sold while the bond market is over bought. It also appears that banks in Europe are not as bad off as previously thought. Mortgage rates could head up soon as the markets begin to correct themselves. As such, I would not risk the chance waiting for lower mortgage rates.

If you're happy with the mortgage rate being offered to you today and if you don't want to risk mortgage rates moving higher, then you should apply and lock in now. It's better to have locked when you should have floated than it is to float when you should have locked.

Are you in need of a mortgage to purchase a home? Or want to refinance an existing mortgage into a lower permanent fixed rate? Or want to take cash out of the equity of your home? Or consolidate debt and reduce the monthly bills? Then be sure to request a mortgage rate quote today!

The Trend in Home Sales in Harwich Port MA - Improving, or...?

Home prices in Harwich Port on average are rising! Home prices have risen 30.8% since June of 2009.

The current average listing price of homes for sale in Harwich Port MA is $1,023,476, down 1.7% from a month ago. Compare this to the current median sales price of $383,250 - where half of sales are above this amount and half below it.

3 bedroom homes are selling for more. Prices of 3 bedroom homes are up 31.1%. Below is a chart of the trend of median prices of homes for sale in Harwich Port MA over the past 5 years through June 2010:

Harwich Port Recently Sold Homes

While cyclical, the number of sales have been relatively flat for all styles of homes in the past 5 years, but are down slightly from just a few months ago:

Harwich Port Recently Sold Homes

So what does all this mean? Well, if you're looking for a home in the town of Harwich Port, you better not mess around too much. While sales are overall are relatively flat, prices of homes have risen in the past year.

While sellers aren't in control of this market, buyers still should be reasonable in their offers when negotiating. Be sure to contact me, Lew Corcoran, toll free at 1-800-984-3341, when you're looking to get pre-approved for a purchase of your next home in Harwich Port or in the surrounding area. Otherwise you may end up frustrated, disappointed and, unfortunately, perhaps misled.