Mortgage interest rates decline slightly for the week ending 5/22/2020

Mortgage interest rates for buying a home on the Palos Verdes Peninsula declined this week ending 5/22/2020. The following are excerpts from the newsletter on interest rates published by HSH Associates”

“There was considerable refinance activity in place before the COVID-19 shutdowns happened. There was enough, in fact, to rather overwhelm mortgage lenders and cause some to even price defensively as to meter inbound business. That was late February and March; since then, refi activity has waned, but of late, purchase activity has ticked higher, or at least that seems to be the trend when looking at the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly mortgage applications index. In the week ending May 15, applications for refinancing slid again, dipping another 6.5% and are now in a five-week slide. However, the mirror image to that is another increase in applications for purchase-money mortgages, which rose 6.4% and are enjoying a 5-week string of increases. Should demand for mortgage money continue to ease there is an increasing chance that lower rates will begin to appear in the markets, bringing new record lows and in turn probably sparking new demand. As such, any downtrend for rates is likely to be gradual absent a new economic shock.

After the Monday holiday, the economic calendar picks up a bit, with sales of new homes, pending home sales and the Fed’s Beige Book adding a few more clues to the puzzle. Mortgage rates were slightly softer this week, but at a virtual standstill the last couple of days. It’s possible that we might see a slight dip in the average conforming 30-year FRM reported by Freddie Mac next Thursday. A decline of two basis points would be enough to give us a new record, and while that’s a nice headline, it does little if you can’t qualify to get a loan.”

The following are interest rates on mortgages by Allen Bond of Wells Fargo: