March 23rd Home Loan Commentary

Daily Loan Rate Commentary by Lee Sharpe Charlotte Home Loan Consultant

Thursday's bond market has opened in negative territory following the release this morning's housing sector data. The stock markets are showing losses with the Dow down 38 points and the Nasdaq down 6 points. The bond market is currently down 6/32, but I am not expecting to see much of a change in this morning's mortgage rates.

Today began with the Lab or Department posting last week's unemployment filings, which were announced at 302,000. This was a drop of 11,000 from the previous week and was lower than what analysts had expected. Still, this data is not considered to be of much importance to the markets and did not influence bond trading.

There are two housing related reports scheduled for release this week. The first was February's Existing Home Sales report released late this morning. The National Association of Realtors said that home resales rose 5.2% last month, exceeding forecasts by a wide margin. This was the largest month jump in sales since February 2004 and indicates that the housing sector may not be softening as quickly as some had thought. This is considered negative for the bond market and mortgage rates.

Tomorrow morning brings us the release of February's Durable Goods Orders. This report gives us a measurement of manufacturing sector strength. It tracks new orders for big-ticket ite ms, or products that are expected to last three or more years. This data is known to be volatile from month to month but is still considered to be of high importance. Analysts are expecting it to show an increase in orders of approximately 1.3%. A larger increase would be considered a negative for bonds and could lead to higher mortgage rates tomorrow morning.

The last report of the week will be released late tomorrow when February's New Home Sales will be posted. It will likely have little influence on mortgage rates as it covers only approximately 15% of home sales in the U.S.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.

March 23rd Home Loan Commentary

Charlotte Home Loan And Mortgage Tips

This and many other free tips on the Charlotte mortgage process and offering are compliments of Lee Sharpe of STS Financial Corporation.

STSFC is a Charlotte Mortgage and Home Loan firm located in beautiful Huntersville, NC providing professional services to the greater Carolinas. STSFC services areas such as Huntersville, Mooresville, Davidson, Lake Norman, Charlotte, University City, Matthews, Rock Hill and Concord North Carolina.