About Government Refinance and Home Purchase Programs

In a turn of events that has surprised Wall Street, U.S. treasury bonds have become surprisingly popular with investors again recently. As investors pour money into treasury bonds, the yields on the bonds are dropping, and as usual, mortgage interest rates have been dropping right in step with the yields on the 10-year treasury note. As a result of these global financial trends, mortgage interest rates in the U.S. have dropped to lows not seen in the last 12 months. While rates are not back to the lows we saw in late 2012 and early 2013, they have been slowly inching that direction for more than a month.

With mortgage rates at 12 month lows, now is an excellent time to contact us in the contact form in the sidebar about refinancing programs, or contact us about home purchase programs in on this page.

The downward trend in mortgage interest rates that started a few weeks ago has continued unabated. Mortgage interest rates are now at new lows for 2014 and the downturn in the stock market stock market this week has helped that trend. A string of disappointing reports on the state of the U.S. economy has sent stock buyers running into bonds and that retreat by investors has lowered the yields on bonds which in turn is lowering mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are not approaching the all time lows on rates we saw in 2012 yet but this downturn in the market has created some of the lowest rates we have seen in the last 12 months.

If you have considered refinancing your mortgage, contact us right away in the form in the sidebar. Or if you are looking into buying a home contact us in the form on our home purchase page. There is no telling how long this current dip in rates will last so moving quickly is a good idea.

On the heels of the recent surprisingly bad U.S. GDP report, mortgage interest rates have been dropping in the last week. That GDP news has driven investors away from stocks and toward bonds which in turn has been compressing the yield on bonds. As of Friday the yield on the 10 year Treasury Note was just a tenth of a percent above its 2014 low. As a result, mortgage interest rates are testing new 2014 lows this week as well.

If you have considered investigating a government backed mortgage, now is a great time to get the ball rolling. Fill in the contact form on your right for guidance on refinances. For help with government backed home purchase programs fill in the contact form on our home purchase page.

Are you interested in seeing the trend in government-back mortgage interest rates? The easiest way is to track the yields on the 10 year Treasury Note, also called the 10 year T-Note. While this is only a rule of thumb way to track rates, it is one of those rules of thumb that is generally reliable and useful.

What we are seeing lately is that the par rate, or rate that requires no buy down, on 30 year fixed conventional (Fannie/Freddie) mortgages have been coming in at roughly 2% higher than the yield on the 10 year T-Note. For instance, the yield on the 10 year T-Note closed at 2.59% yesterday. The par rate on 30 year fixed conventional mortgages was roughly 2% higher than that, coming in around the mid 4’s. With FHA and VA loans the par rate has lately been coming in about 1.6% higher than the T-Note yield. So as of yesterday the par rate on 30 year fixed FHA and VA loans was in the very low 4’s.

Keep in mind that there are other factors involved in mortgage rate trends so this rule of thumb is just that; a quick, rough way of estimating trends. Also, this is just the current trend on 30 year fixed loans — rates for government-backed 15 year mortgages or the various ARM mortgages available tend to be significantly lower than 30 year fixed rates.

The good news is that mortgage interest rates remain very low by historical measures. That is excellent for anyone looking to buy a home. It is also good news for anyone looking to refinance to a better mortgage. Contact us today for more guidance on available programs and rates.