Reports this morning suggest that Chinese officials are open to a partial trade deal along with China offering to increase purchases of soybeans from the US. Trade talks kick off tomorrow on Capitol Hill with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and USTR Robert Lighthizer meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. Both economies are feeling the pain of the trade dispute and would benefit mightily from an interim deal.
Mortgage rates edged lower in the latest survey pushing the refinance index to a two-month high for the week ended October 4. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell nine basis points to 3.90% with 0.37 in points. The Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage loan application volume, rose 5.2%, the Refinance Index increased 10% while the Purchase Index decreased 1%. Joel Kan, Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting said, "Despite low rates, the cloudier economic outlook and ongoing market uncertainty may be keeping some potential homebuyers away from the market this fall."
The Mortgage Bankers Association also reported this week that mortgage credit availability increased in September by 0.9% to 183.4 in its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI). A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012. The MCAI is calculated using several factors related to borrower eligibility (credit score, loan type, loan-to-value ratio, etc.).
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