Mortgage Rates

Ever wonder how to "watch" the mortgage rates trends and do forecasts?

I found this site (http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/) that explains how they are tied closely with Bonds.

In short: If bonds go UP, rates go down.
The economy in general does this sort of thing... If it is Strong, stocks go up and bonds go down (which means rates go up)... if it is weak (like now), stocks drop and bonds go UP and rates go down.

Don't be tempted though to therefore equate rates to stock trends. They are far more closely tied to bonds than stocks.

Anyway, I've been learning - though there's still much that's over my head - but the site I just gave you also gives you up to the minute info on the bond/rate activity. It's pretty cool watching the graphs and having a general understand of how all the pieces go together.

Anyway, things are looking positive for rates, and Wendy and I are praying a LOT. Keep us in your prayers.

Thanks.

(Stay tuned, we'll have great info soon!)

Excerpt from the plethora of info on the site I gave:

"For new readers and as a reminder for long standing rate watchers, the foundation for how mortgage rates are generated is built upon trading in the secondary mortgage market, specifically mortgage backed securities(MBS). If investor demand for MBS is high, prices are generally moving higher which helps mortgage rates tick lower. If investor demand is weak for MBS, that drives prices lower, which increases mortgage rates. Investor demand is determined by their perception of the overall economy and the gyrations for the yield curve. If investors believe the economy is strong and growing, they tend to move their funds into higher yielding stocks as a growing economy tends to lead to higher corporate profits and higher returns for their investment dollar. When our economy is struggling, investors tend to move their money into safer lower yielding investments such as MBS and treasuries to avoid losing money by holding stocks. During a struggling economy, corporate profits tend to decrease or disapppear thus the flight into safer assets. Investors make their investment decisions based on many factors including economic reports which are released almost on a daily basis."