From the desk of Dan Martin...

Mortgage rates have held steady most of the week with 30 year fixed rate conventional loans in the 5.125 -5.25% range for extremely well-qualified borrowers. FHA/VA rates range near 5.50% depending on loan type, property, and FICO score.

You may have heard people talking about rates going to 4.5% soon. It would be nice, but I think people are confusing a couple different news stories…..

Bill Gross, managing director of the PIMCO bond funds family has recommended that people wait to refinance as he thinks rates will hit the mid-4’s. Unfortunately, Bill is wrong frequently. He predicted the DOW would plunge to 5000 a few years ago and instead it soared to 14,000. In addition, his bond funds have had terrible returns the last few years.

The Treasury is considering a program to buy more securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in hopes of forcing mortgage rates down to as low as 4.5%. The increased demand for mortgage backed securities would prompt mortgage rates to drop, analysts say.

I’m hopeful this will happen, but it’s not quite here yet. I’ve received many calls about refinancing this last week. Property value has become an issue so I’m diligently researching that prior to ordering appraisals. If you know someone considering a refinance, please pass my name on to them. I’ll do a thorough analysis and give them a solid recommendation.

California has experienced a first-time buyer boom because of the low rates and big house price discounts. I’m encouraged that we’ll see that in our area soon.

Have a great weekend and feel free to call anytime. Thanks, Dan

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Daniel Martin, Mortgage Planner
425-870-HOME Cell
Fax 425-355-4600