Rates Steady to Slightly Lower; How FHA is Driving Conventional Refi Demand; Criticism of OIG’s DPAP Stance

Rates Steady to Slightly Lower; How FHA is Driving Conventional Refi Demand; Criticism of OIG’s DPAP Stance

Mortgage rates managed to maintain the improvement seen since Wednesday's Fed announcement. While the Fed did indeed hike its policy rate, the hike was widely expected and had already been accounted for in longer-term bond markets (like those that dictate mortgage rates). The easiest way to understand this is to consider that most bond market securities (like Treasuries and Mortgage-Backed-Securities) can move/change every millisecond of every business day. The Fed Funds rates, on the other hand, only changes/moves at the end of scheduled Fed meetings 8 times a year . If bond markets are reasonably confident the Fed is going to hike rates, they can begin trading accordingly well in advance. That exact scenario played out over the past month and accounts for much of the move higher in rates