The Week in Review:
Mortgage interest rates edged higher last week by .125% to .25%. News from Europe combined with reports that showed inflation higher than expectations caused the increase.
What to Expect:
Tuesday night we will hear the President’s State of the Union address and then Wednesday the Fed will releases its policy statement. We don’t expect either event to have much impact on the markets.
Barring news from Europe, any market movement this week will take place at the end of the week when the economic reports are scheduled for release.
Did you know that your new mortgage is about to be taxed? Last month Congress agreed to finance a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits by raising the guarantee fee that Fannie and Freddie charge loan originators. In layman’s terms, a $200,000 mortgage will have approximately $800 additional closing costs in the form of points to get the same loan prior to the tax increase. We expect the increase to be in all loans in February and in many cases sooner.
Breg-ometer:
Next 15 Days: Lock; rates may continue the rise
Next 30+ Days: Rates are too good to pass up and new taxes make it hard to suggest floating
Courtesy of:
Bob Bregitzer
Southeast Mortgage
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