Mortgage Rates Dip? Don't Get Your Hopes Up, Suckers.
Alright, so mortgage rates are "dipping," huh? Like the ocean after a tsunami recedes. Realtor.com, bless their hearts, is trying to spin this as some kind of freakin' opportunity. Newsflash: it ain't.
Phil Crescenzo Jr. from Nation One Mortgage Corp. is out here saying stable rates near 6% are gonna unlock "greater affordability." Give me a break. "Greater affordability" for who? For the banks to keep raking in profits? For the real estate agents to unload overpriced McMansions?
He's pointing to NAR data saying a 6% rate would make the median-priced home affordable to an additional 5.5 million households. Okay, and how many millions can't afford a damn thing? Let's talk about that number for a minute.
And Crescenzo says he's seen some activity with the rate reductions, but not a rapid pace. No freakin' kidding. Anyone with half a brain who locked in a 3% mortgage during the pandemic ain't exactly jumping to refinance at double the rate, savings or not. And he sees this in consumer behaviors often. So, what, he's surprised that people aren't lining up to get screwed?
Then there's this whole LLPA (Loan-Level Price Adjustment) business. The FHFA (more alphabet soup) is getting Barry Habib (who?) to review these things. Mat Ishbia from United Wholesale Mortgage is "really excited" about it. Well, good for Mat. I'm excited about the next season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
These LLPAs, apparently, can add thousands to a loan depending on your credit. Thousands! So basically, if you're poor, you get to pay more. Makes perfect sense in this upside-down world. UWM temporarily lowered these fees on government loans, but only temporarily. It's called corporate responsibility, folks, look it up.
Crescenzo again: "There has been little momentum (if any) on this topic." No kidding! It's almost like the system is rigged against the average Joe or something. Then again maybe I'm being too cynical. Nah.
Offcourse, all this reminds me of my landlord raising my rent again last month. Claimed "market rates" were up. Market rates for what, exactly? For misery? For indentured servitude?
Lisa Sturtevant from Bright MLS says the Fed rate cuts "have not done as much to jumpstart the housing market as some had hoped." Well, duh. She points to a flatlining pending home sales index. People aren't buying because they can't. It's not rocket science.
She's saying that listing activity slows down at the end of the year. Yeah, because everyone's too busy trying to survive the holidays to think about buying a house they can't afford.
Samir Dedhia from One Real Mortgage is trying to stay positive, saying rates in the low 6% range are "creating real opportunities." Refinance activity is up, purchase activity is rising. You can read more about this in "Are mortgage rates creating new opportunities for homebuyers?".
Crescenzo chimes in again with advice about down payment assistance programs, saying they "may solve a short-term problem (assets) but are causing overall payments to be higher." So... it's a trap? Shocking. He recommends reading all the details. You think?
It's the same old song and dance. They dangle a tiny carrot, try to get everyone excited, and then pull the rug out from under them. Mortgage rates might be "dipping," but the water's still full of sharks. And let's be real, the whole damn system is designed to keep you underwater.
