Morning! This is MF Lending - the fool-proof way to serve up mortgage and real estate market knowledge without any of the guesswork. So you’ll look like the smartest agent in the room (and you are!)

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

1. The Week Ahead - 🪩

2. “No hurry for the Fed to lower rates” 📽️

By the way, this article on - February Rate Overview - is the most clicked link in this newsletter, you should check it out if you are interested.

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[Est Read Time: 2-3 min]

Rates Today 📉

The Week Ahead - 🪩

Following a quiet week from economic news, we are primed for several big pieces of data this week that may begin to move the market.

Here is what we have on the docket for the week:

• Tuesday - FHFA & CaseShiller Home Prices Index

• Wednesday - GDP Q4

• Thursday - PCE

• Friday - Manufacturing PMI

All four of these reports have the potential to impact rates. After last week’s surprising volatility, there is really no telling where this market is going to go (ex. Friday, the market improved 30 bps and there was not a single piece of news 🤷🏻)

What does this mean for buyers? 

Throughout December and January, I wrote about a window of opportunity buyers had to purchase a home in Nashville with large seller credits. Weather that was to do a 2-1 buydown, cover closing costs, or both. As rates fall, this window will get smaller and smaller.

We got a small taste of that in February. As soon as rates came down to 6.5%, I started to see multiple offers, at list price, and buyers losing out of homes for the first time in months.

That period was brief, maybe 1-2 weeks, and rates rocketed back up as I broke down last week.

Now that rates are back up to 7% - that window has reopened.

If you have prospective buyers that were hoping for limited cash to close, or a 2-1 buydown to subsidize their payment, now is the time to move on something and get the “deal” they are looking for.

“No hurry for the Fed to lower rates” 📽️

Thanks for reading - that is all we have for today 😎

Please forward this to your friends and colleagues if you found it valuable.

— Michael F DiLucchio