Rate Lock Advisory

Friday, May 23th

Friday’s bond market has opened in positive territory as stocks look to close the week on a negative note. The major stock indexes are showing early losses after President Trump threatened Apple and the EU with more tariffs. This has the Dow down 314 points and the Nasdaq down 220 points. The bond market is currently up 5/32 (4.51%), which with gains late yesterday should improve this morning’s mortgage rates by approximately .250 of a discount point if compared to Thursday’s early pricing.

5/32

Bonds

30 yr - 4.51%

314

Dow

41,545

220

NASDAQ

18,714

Mortgage Rate Trend

Trailing 90 Days - National Average

  • 30 Year Fixed
  • 15 Year Fixed
  • 5/1 ARM

Indexes Affecting Rate Lock

Low

Negative

New Home Sales

April’s New Home Sales report was released at 10:00 AM ET this morning, revealing a surprisingly strong 10.9% jump in sales of newly constructed homes. This was well above forecasts and the largest number of sales since February 2022. As a sign of strength in the housing sector, the data is technically bad news for bonds. However, this report covers such a small portion of all sales that it doesn’t carry a high level of importance in the markets. This has prevented the news from negatively affecting mortgage pricing.

Low

Unknown

Holiday Schedule

The bond market will close at 2:00 PM ET today ahead of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday and will reopen Tuesday morning. Stocks will trade a full day today but will be closed Monday also. It is common to see pressure in bonds in these situations as traders look to protect themselves from headlines over the extended holiday weekend. This may lead to a minor upward revision to mortgage rates before the early closing.

High

Unknown

Inflation News

Next week will be shortened due to the holiday, but there still is plenty of economic releases and other scheduled events that may affect mortgage rates. There are multiple items listed each day, some of which are considered to be highly important. We will get relevant reports on consumer confidence and manufacturing, the minutes from this month’s FOMC meeting, an updated GDP reading and the Fed’s preferred inflation indexes, along with a couple of Treasury auctions. Look for details on all of next week’s calendar in Sunday evening’s weekly preview.

Float / Lock Recommendation

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock 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.