This week brings widespread news of mortgage rates at 3-year lows. Is it true? Yes and no… More importantly, where do we go from here?
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
The Real Story Behind Rates at 3-Year Lows

After catching a break following last week’s Fed Announcement, rates managed to confirm the positive momentum this week. Weaker economic data helped, but perhaps not as much as the bigger picture concerns conveyed by falling stock prices. Meanwhile, home prices continue defying gravity.
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
Rates Could Still Go Lower, But With a Price

Financial market volatility is starting to increase in a noticeable way as we approach the middle of the year without a Fed rate hike in sight. This week’s Fed Announcement helped rates regain much of the ground lost last week. Meanwhile, housing data is mixed–generally in good shape long term, but with some shorter-term signs of slowing.
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
Fed Helps Rates Recover; Housing Data Mixed

There has been a lot of economic data to digest this week and plenty of movement in financial markets. The news is decidedly mixed for the housing/mortgage market.
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
Big Spike in Mortgage Rates and Big Changes in Housing Data

Interest rates tend to move in the same direction as stock prices, or so age-old wisdom would have you believe. It’s actually more complicated than a simple “if/then.” In fact, the following long term chart of the Dow and the 10yr yield make it look like the opposite is true!
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
Earnings Season Threatening Interest Rate Rally

2012 was a scary time for global financial markets, and that fear resulted in a golden age for mortgage rates. Fast forward to present day and it’s not as blatantly obvious in the US, but the global economy is still very much in the weeds. As of this week, European rates are back at their all-time lows for the second time since the European credit crisis.
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
The Real Reason Mortgage Rates Are Near 3-Year Lows

Ever since the Fed stepped in to save the mortgage market in 2008 by announcing that it would buy mortgage-backed-securities, the relationship between central banks and financial markets became more intertwined than it already was.
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
The Paradox of Central Banks and The Mortgage Market

By most measures the housing market has been improving consistently since at least 2010. Some would say that the pervasiveness of the improvement was only made possible by the housing crisis setting such a low starting point, but that’s neither here nor there.
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
Jury Still Out on Rising Rates and Housing Downturn

Whether or not the housing market actually needed to catch a break is definitely a matter of perspective. After all, we can’t be too upset about persistently decent housing data and mortgage rates in the high 3’s.
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
Housing Market Catching a Much-Needed Break

Last week’s headline asked if this could be the “big bounce” for rates. Unfortunately, this week’s market movement has only strengthened the case for such a bounce. While rates are still historically very low, there are a few troubling caveats.
Source: Kevin Litwicki Universal Lending
Mortgage Rate Outlook Staying Scary