Austin mortgage planner John Schutze gives his weekly market update:

“Mortgage rates are higher after the Federal Reserve released internal notes of it’s Sept 22-23rd meeting which mentioned some signs that the economy may be starting to strengthen.

Also, several large corporations reported strong earnings (for example Intel and JP Morgan) which pushed the stock market higher mid-week. As we’ve discussed before, when the stock market moves higher mortgage rates generally move higher as well. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) was also released this week and remains low however many economist attribute the modest increase to several Fed Stimulus programs which artificially lowered the prices that consumers actually paid for goods.

For example, the Cash for Clunkers program allowed dealers to pass lower prices to the consumer thanks to the $4500 paid to dealers from the Fed. This skewed prices lower. Without the Fed’s involvement the CPI Report may have been higher which would indicate possible inflation which is bad for mortgage rates.


Weekend Rates

The current rates on some of our programs are:

30 Year Fixed:  4.875%
15 Year Fixed:  4.375%
USDA 30 Year:  5.25%
FHA 30 Year:  4.875%
VA 30 Year:  5.0%
5 Yr ARM:  3.75%
Jumbo 30 Year Fixed:  5.875%
Jumbo 5 Yr ARM:  4.625%
30 Year Home Equity:  5.0%

*The above rates are based on a $120,000 Loan Amount with a 1% Origination Fee and 740 credit score (620 score for USDA, FHA and VA loans). Some programs require slight adjustments for smaller loan amounts.”

John finds buyers the right loan for their Austin home purchase.  Check out his Austin mortgage blog.