I’ve gone out of my way on several occasions to explain why mortgage rates are not directly affected by Fed rate cuts. Now this week, the Fed cut rates and mortgage rates dropped abruptly the very next day. Is it time to revisit this logic?
Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
What's Behind This Week's Big Drop In Rates?

In about 2 weeks, the big bond rally of 2019 (i.e. the big drop in rates!) will officially be 1 year old (because it actually began in the 2nd week of November). This has been a uniquely interesting year for rates. Granted, there are plenty of other years with the same sort of big overall movement, blatantly obvious motivations, paradoxically subtle motivations, and uncertainty-inducing curveballs, but few have combined all of those components.
Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
Is It Time To Worry About Rising Rates?

Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
Why Do Rates Care About Brexit?

It would have been hard to make it through this week without hearing about Friday’s trade deal progress, but how does it affect you? At face value, a healthy trade partnership is good for the global economy, but if you need a mortgage any time soon, the trade deal just pushed your rate higher.
Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
The Trade Deal Just Made Your Mortgage Rate Higher, But There's a Catch

As of Thursday, most major news outlets and even several important trade organizations ran headlines claiming mortgage rates were flat this week. But rates are actually much lower compared to last week. What’s up with that?
Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
Don't Believe The News on Mortgage Rates

Looking at the calendar (and the weather, depending on where you live), summer may seem like an increasingly distant memory, but for housing market data, things are just heating up.
Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
Housing Market Ended Summer With a Bang

While this newsletter series has said it many times before and in many different ways, it bears repeating (and perhaps some extra emphasis this time around): THE FED DOESN’T SET MORTGAGE RATES.
Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
ONCE AGAIN: THE FED DOESN'T SET MORTGAGE RATES!

Remember the summer of 2013? Fans of low rates would rather forget it. Specifically, the 2nd to last week in June 2013 marked one of the most abrupt mortgage rate jumps on record. You’d have to go back to 1987 to see anything bigger.
Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
Worst Week For Rates in 6 Years. Fed Rate Cut Won't Help

Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
Best Year For Rates Since 2002, How Low Can They Go?

It’s easy enough for media outlets to accurately report the underlying facts when it comes to mortgage rates and housing. It seems far harder to find consensus when it comes to what those facts mean and why things are the way they are. Let’s clear up some of the misconceptions driving this phenomenon as we recap the week’s market movement and housing-related developments.
Source: Kevin Litwicki MBSLIVE
Let's Shatter Some Housing/Mortgage Misconceptions