Unlike the stock market, it's hard for the average person to know when the mortgage bond market is getting turned upside-down.
Looking at the past few weeks, mortgage rates have been very volatile, going up, down, and then up again. Usually the mortgage bond market moves in the opposite direction of the stock market, but sometimes it has moved in the same direction. A lot of people have been surprised and some even have been burned with the sudden changes in mortgage rates especially if they have been looking to the stock market as an indicator of how mortgage rates are doing.
With stocks, virtually anybody can turn on CNBC, Bloomberg, or many other channels when the Dow Jones Industrial Average heads into a tailspin. That sort of "market event" usually is the lead story on the evening news when it happens, too.
With the mortgage bond market, though, that almost never happens. There is no clear "buy" or "sell" signal from the mainstream press.
Even though mortgages are so important to everyday people and mortgage rates are determined by the pricing of mortgage bonds, there is nobody there when things are souring to "make it real" for the everyday "Joe the Plumber" like there is for stockholders. Most people just sit in the dark.
Tuesday of last week offered pretty much the best rates of the last few weeks; however, as the markets turned quickly during the days since then, rate shoppers could have locked in lower rates if they only knew that the market was slipping away from them.
Until the media starts covering the bond market and mortgage rates, be sure to saddle up with a trusted consultant that can walk you through the land mines of the mortgage-backed securities markets.
The interest rate you save may be your own.
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