In the last week of September, mortgage rates dropped early in the week. In fact, the overall mortgage rates are hovering at the lowest levels in four months. The stock market fell during this final week, encouraging investors to rely on safe-haven investments like government securities. As a result, mortgage- backed securities increased and many lenders put out better rate sheets that same day. Mortgage rates are currently the lowest they have been since May of 2015.
During the final week of September, the Treasury note dropped by 5 basis points and the 30-year treasury term also dropped down. During the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting during September, the decision was made to hold off on increases to short-term rates. This has caused some pendulum swings in financial markets since investors are not entirely clear about the future of U.S. monetary policy. Decreased confidence in global growth, combined with news headlines and market trends, indicate that there is general support for low mortgage rates. The news from September overall looks promising for the economy and the housing market, although analyzing future numbers will be important.
Some other important data appeared during this last week of the month, the ADP National Employment Report and the Chicago PMI. It looks as though private payrolls increased to the tune of 200,000 jobs across September, which would mean the country is currently at a three-month high. The project increase during this period was 190,000 jobs, so employment data could mean good news for economic stability. The Chicago PMI indicates that business activity across the Midwest decreased in September largely due to decreases in new orders and production. Zillow also released data that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is mostly unchanged at 3.73 percent. The shorter 15 year mortgage rate was an average of 2.92 percent.
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