Mortgage rates were unchanged on Monday: The average 30-year mortgage rate is 3.49%, which equates to a $448.49 monthly payment per $100,000 borrowed. A month ago, the equivalent payment would have been lower by $3.34.
If you were to opt for a shorter term, the average 15-year mortgage rate is 2.74%, which equates to a $678.15 monthly payment per $100,000 borrowed. A month ago, the equivalent payment would have been lower by $4.75.
|
Rate (National Average) |
Today |
1 Month |
|---|---|---|
|
30-Year Fixed Jumbo |
4.10% |
4.37% |
|
30-Year Fixed |
3.49% |
3.43% |
|
15-Year Fixed |
2.74% |
2.64% |
|
30-Year Fixed Refi |
3.51% |
3.47% |
|
15-Year Fixed Refi |
2.76% |
2.66% |
|
5/1-ARM |
2.99% |
2.94% |
|
5/1-ARM Refi |
3.13% |
3.05% |
Data source: Bloomberg.
Mortgages: The Trump phenomenon
Mortgage rates were broadly unchanged on Monday as the U.S. prepares to go to the ballot boxes. Similarly, the CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX) -- the VIX -- was down 18% at 2:37 p.m. EST; the VIX tracks the market's expectations of stock market volatility over the coming 30 days.
And speaking of volatility, mortgage-backed securities strategists at Morgan Stanley wrote in a client note today that the "most important implication" of a Trump victory for the mortgage basis would be a spike in volatility. The mortgage basis is the incremental yield on mortgage-backed securities above the yield on their risk-free benchmark. The mortgage basis is one of the key data points that banks look at in setting mortgage rates.
Morgan Stanley also suggested that a Trump victory would increase the likelihood of change at government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including more privatization of the mortgage market, which would be "basis negative" (i.e., it would lower the incremental yield on mortgage securities).
