U.S Mortgage Rates Fall to a 12th Low for the Year

  • Mortgage rates fell to yet another all-time low in the week ending 5th November. Following a 1 basis point rise in the week prior, the 30-year fixed rate declined by 3 basis point to 2.78%. It was the 12th record low of the year.To get more news about WikiFX, you can visit wikifx.com official website.
      Compared to this time last year, 30-year fixed rates were down by 91 basis points.
      [fx-dianomivideo-ad]
      30-year fixed rates were also down by 216 basis points since November 2018s most recent peak of 4.94%.
      Economic Data from the Week
      Economic data was on the heavier side in the 1st half of the week.
      Key stats included the markets preferred ISM private sector PMIs and ADP Nonfarm Employment figures for October.
      It was another mixed bag on the data front.
      Manufacturing sector activity saw a further pickup in October, with the ISM Manufacturing PMI rising from 53.3 to 53.4.
      The all-important ISM Services PMI fell from 57.8 to 56.6, however, which was somewhat disappointing.
      ADP nonfarm employment change figures also disappointed. A 365k increase in October fell well short of Septembers 749k rise and a forecasted 650k increase.
      While there were plenty of stats to consider, the U.S Presidential Election was the main event of the week.
      A projected Joe Biden victory and a Republican hold of the Senate drove expectations of further monetary policy easing.
      Policy gridlock on Capitol Hills is expected to place the onus on the FED to deliver support for the economic recovery.
      There were also concerns over how Biden will influence, particularly with Biden unlikely to deliver planned infrastructure spending to support the economy.
    Weekly figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that the Market Composite Index, which is a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased by 3.8% in the week ending 30th October. In the week prior, the index had risen by 1.7%.
      The Refinance Index increased by 6% and was 88% higher than the same week a year ago. In the previous week, the index had risen by 3%.
      The refinance share of mortgage activity rose from 66.7% to 68.7%. In the week prior, the share had increased from 66.1% to 66.7%.Key stats include JOLTs job openings for September, which will garner some interest as the markets monitor the labor market recovery.
      Nonfarm payroll and unemployment numbers for October were relatively upbeat last Friday. The weekly jobless claims figures continued to disappoint, however.
      Away from the economic calendar, the markets will also continue to monitor chatter from Capitol Hill and COVID-19 news.