A couple of observations.
First, guys my size should not ride in vehicles that size.
Second, the amount of money car enthusiasts spend on their toys is truly amazing. Then again, I suppose they do not have daughters with horses or sons who have been playing travel baseball since they were five years old.
The star of the show, in my opinion, was a Ford GTD. The MSRP on that car is $474,460. Even if I had that kind of money, I am not sure I could pull the trigger.
Market Notes
Overall, it was a pretty good week for the market and mortgage rates.
Volatility remained elevated earlier in the week, but as reports emerged later in the week about a possible agreement in the Middle East, and this time both sides appeared to indicate progress was being made, oil prices and bond yields moved lower. Mortgage-backed securities benefited as well.
Most programs ended the week flat to approximately 0.125 percent lower than the prior week.
Looking ahead, we will hopefully know more in the coming days. If an agreement is reached, there is potential for the market to settle down a bit and for rates to improve further.
The wild card this week will be the Fed meeting, which concludes Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.
The market does not expect any change to short-term rates. However, investors will be listening closely to the commentary and Q&A that follows. While there has been ongoing discussion around the direction of monetary policy, the bigger challenge remains inflation. With oil prices elevated and inflation still proving sticky, it may be difficult for policymakers to support lower rates without additional evidence that inflation is moving in the right direction.
We will see how things unfold and will have more details next week.
Looking Ahead*
Enjoy a great weekend. There is still a fair amount of that 10-yard mulch pile sitting in front of my mailbox, so please feel free to interrupt with any mortgage related questions or needs.
-Steve-
*All loans are subject to credit approval and program guidelines.