Orla McCaffrey

speaker

593 appearances 13 recordings 1 series first heard Mar 2020 last heard Jun 2022

Orla McCaffrey’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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WSJ Your Money Briefing · Mortgage Rates Fall to Another Record Low · 17 Jul 2020 podcast

I mean, with the wild swings in the stock market, the 10-year treasury yield dropping below 1%, the 3% mortgage rate is definitely up there in terms of historic events of 2020. voice-verified

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WSJ Your Money Briefing · Coronavirus Fears Drive Mortgage Rates to Record Lows · 17 Mar 2020 podcast

About 40% of home purchases take place between March and June annually.

So we're really in the thick of it here.

But there are concerns from agents, from mortgage lenders about how much of that appetite might be curbed because of the coronavirus and how it might affect consumers.

Mortgage rates are near an all-time low.

Last week, they hit 3.36% after they were at 3.29% the week earlier.

And just to give some context, this is the lowest rates I've ever been in the 50 years since Freddie Mac started tracking mortgage rates.

So it really makes borrowing costs cheaper for consumers.

Rates have ticked higher just a bit because once they hit that low of 3.29%, everyone kind of got on board and called their lender and said,

hey, how can you lower my payment?

I want to refinance.

And that was way too much volume for lenders to handle.

So now they are raising rates, kind of inflating them artificially, just so they can handle a number of refinance customers.

Yes.

Lower interest rates means it's cheaper to borrow, so you'll be paying less over the course of a 30-year mortgage.

But there also is one downside, which is that because rates are lower, it means everyone can afford more, so you will have more competition, which could drive prices up, especially for starter homes, which are in short supply.

Driving them lower has been the decline in the yield of the 10-year treasury, which often is kind of a barometer for the 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

Because people are concerned about what the virus might do to the economy, they are buying up government bonds, which is driving down those yields and raising the prices.

So a couple of ways.

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