Some good and Mixed Mortgage News

Mortgage Rates Remain Stable, Bigger Threats in Week Ahead Apr 18 2012, 2:49PM
Mortgages Rates were flat to slightly improved today. Most lenders improved pricing by very small amounts while a few were slightly worse than yesterday. On average, rate offerings are in line with those seen yesterday and on Thursday of last week.
Rates have been in great territory all week with the Best-Execution rate for 30yr Fixed Conventional remaining split between 3.875% and 4.0%. That means that lenders were widely able to offer 4.0% rates with no closing costs for well-qualified borrowers and some of the more aggressive lenders can offer 3.875% for ideal scenarios.
The view that market movements might be subdued this week in favor of the next continues to bear out. Each time bond markets approach one side of their recent range, they've found an excuse to head back to the other side.
The recent stability suggests markets remain very interested in the European debt situation, which will get a healthy dose of information tonight in the form of a Spanish 10yr government bond auction. If it's stronger than expected, the level of "risk-tolerance" in markets would improve, causing upwards pressure on domestic interest rates.
But even if the reaction to overnight events causes the biggest rate movements of the week, it likely wouldn't be enough to nudge rates out of their current Best-Execution ranges. We're still of the mind that markets may be hesitant to move too far in either direction ahead of next week's FOMC Announcement (The periodic official statement from the Fed).