My Real Estate Blog

For those worried the end of government mortgage-backed securities purchasing could spell a dramatic increase in home loan rates, there's no need to hit the panic button just yet. A slight rise (+0.125) in long term interest rates Friday was more the product of a Labor Department report showing that the US added 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest monthly gain in three years, than it was a direct effect of the March 31st Fed MBS exit.

Mortgage-backed securities prices, which drive mortgage rates in the opposite direction, have dropped twice in the past 10 days each time pushing conforming 30-yr fixed rates up 1/8, once before and once after March 31st. 

Reports depicting the up-tic in rates as the end of an era of low fixed mortgage rates are unfounded. While in a doomsday scenario it's speculated the Fed exit from MBS buying could leave a void in MBS markets big enough that demand and prices plummet causing long term fixed rates to skyrocket, fed officials suggest private buyers are ready to step in and take their place.