Well thankfully September is over. For those of us who like low interest rates, last month was one of the worst in history. Mortgage rates have now risen to levels not seen since 2002. Remember that? The Olympics were here and I became a father. I also moved from a five-year stint at First Colony over to a start up called Security Home Mortgage
In addition to Treasury yields rising, the spread between long-term Treasury notes and mortgage-backed securities has also increased a tick. This happens when mortgages are perceived to be more risky than loans given to the federal government. For any of you who have negotiated contracts recently and saw the agreed-upon sales price decrease from the list price, it becomes apparent why higher loan-to-value mortgages could give pause to investors seeking to minimize exposure.
The BLS jobs report will be released tomorrow. It’s expected that the Unemployment Rate remains at 4.1% with a mean 85,000 new jobs being created. Hiring rates are currently the lowest they’ve been the last 15 years, but so is the measure of turnover. Hmm, that could be one of the reasons that the velocity of turnover from homeowners and homebuyers is also waning. And also, I love a good turnover!
