Tustin Home Loan Rates React to Fed Announcement

Last week, local home loan observers were hardly surprised by the news that the Fed’s key

borrowing rate—the one that’s most important where Tustin home loan interest rates are concerned

—was left as-is. At least for the moment.

What that indicated to most educated guessers was that the previous three months’ worth of

relatively weak economic news was probably behind the decision not to raise rates. The economic

news may not have been all that weak, but it was shaky enough to provide more good news when

it comes to Tustin home loans—still remarkably (and happily) hugging the bottom of the 4%

range.

The reason it’s fair to call the expert observers of Fed decisions “educated guessers” is

because of the noncommittal language that usually comes out of Federal Open Market Committee

announcements. For Tustin homeowners or soon-to-be homeowners, the direction that local home

loan interest rates are likely to be headed is an important element in planning if and when to buy or

sell a home. A half-percent rise or fall in the Fed funds rate can trigger similar movements in

mortgage rates. Over the course of retiring a typical $250,000 home loan, that amounts to a

$25,000+ difference—for some, reason enough to make a real estate move sooner rather than

later. If only you could anticipate where rates are headed...

In that respect, this time, the Fed’s announcement was actually a tad more expressive than

usual. It described the economy’s first quarter’s slowdown as “likely to be transitory.” In other

words, they don’t believe it was meaningful—so, in other words, fuhgeddaboutit! Job gains were

“solid;” business financing had “firmed.” Likely prospect (per the expert guessers) was for two

more quarter-percent raises in 2017—with the first most likely to happen next month.

Whether the Tustin home loan outlook will trace that precise trajectory is anything but

certain, of course. There’s a reason the Fed announcements are deliberately evasive. But one thing

is for sure: Tustin home loans are still being locked in at historically desirable rates. And that alone

is an excellent reason to give me a call!