The Treasury V. The Fed

This morning we got a pricing update! We are once again able to pay your closing fees on some refi products – you pay nothing at the closing table. We do not know how long we will have access to this pricing so check out our Find Your Best Rate tool on our website. If your rate is over 2.999%, we may be able to save you money every month with no out of pocket cost!

Some interesting news in the market this morning as Jerome Powell and Steven Mnuchin clash after Mnuchin declined to extend multiple COVID relief programs claiming, “they have clearly achieved their objectives”. The Fed, in vocal opposition of Mnuchin’s statement said, “The Federal Reserve would prefer that the full suite of emergency facilities established during the coronavirus pandemic continue to serve their important role as a backstop for our still-strained and vulnerable economy”. Both Powell and Bostic (who we talked about earlier this week) of the Fed claim that there are still many tools that can be used in a healthy way to continue the stable recovery of the economy fearing a drastic increase in the cost of capital for banks and businesses if Mnuchin is wrong. It will be interesting to see if President Elect Biden will take the side of the Fed and extend these programs or agree that the stimulus has served its purpose.

Next week we will be getting appreciation numbers. This is going to be an important figure that will help with the distinction between appreciation and the rising median home value that we talked about a couple of weeks ago. We will also get PCE numbers for inflation. It will be interesting to see how the recent restrictions will effect the 1.4% inflation that we have seen in the last 5 months.

Mortgage backed securities continue to climb pushing mortgage rates lower. We are holding a locking bias going into the weekend to secure the gains seen this week and take advantage of our ability to pay your fees on some refi options.