How is the GDP/Gross Domestic Product outcome going to affect mortgage rates?

The news had the reports front and center about the recent GDP/Gross Domestic Product outcome, and many I'm sure are wondering, "how will this change the mortgage rate market in the short term?"
Here's the skinny on it.
Economists expected the growth to fall by 5.4 percent, but it only fell by 3.8 percent. Talking to my mentor and partner in business, he said it just right when trying to express this in layman's terms. He said,

"imagine that economists expected a 'category 5 hurricane, but we got a category 3'".

What it means is, the fall in growth still means we are not making our way back into the thriving economy yet, but the good news is that we are not as bad off as we thought. Unfortunately, since we fell less than the economist projected, it didn't maximize the amount of positive affect we could have had on lowering interest rates.
Define GDP/Gross Domestic Product- this measures consumption and spending inside the United States

Employment Reports Hoping to Drop Mortgage Rates

What are the hopes for the short term in interest rates for your hopes in a more successful refinance?
In a daily report yesterday, Moving.com said, "Current forecasts call for a 0.3% increase in the unemployment rate, pushing it to 7.0%. Analysts are expecting to see a drop in payrolls in the neighborhood of 500,000 with earnings rising 0.2%. If we see weaker than expected results, mortgage rates should improve tomorrow. However, stronger than expected readings will likely push mortgage rates higher." This would mean that if the reports showed a worse than expected figure, we would see rates possibly fall even lower for the hopes of that next best rate in your refinance or purchase.

How did the employment report turn out today?CNBC report that the U.S. private-sector employers shed 693,000 jobs in December, a private employment service said Wednesday in a report that was far worse than expected and pointed to more ugly news from the government's jobs data due later this week. The drop, much bigger than the revised 476,000 private sector jobs lost in November, is consistent with about a 670,000 fall in December non-farm payrolls, said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, which jointly develops the private sector employment report with ADP Employer Services. After the ADP report, U.S. Treasury bonds regained some lost ground, the dollar extended its losses against the euro and the yen and U.S. stock futures slid.

What were the results for mortgage rates today or what is to hope for?
Rates came out this morning pretty much unchanged, because typically the changes take half a day or better to have their affect. So we'll either see the affect as a mid day pricing change today, or hopefully Monday.

Refinance Boom Becoming More Real w/ Rates Below 5% Today

Short and sweet! Junk mail has been hitting my inbox for about a week now talking about an expected "refi boom". Well, that looks more and more likely.
Today, the 30 year fixed rate has officially dropped below 5% and made itself available at 4.75% at Service First Mortgage.Speculations are that expectations for the short term, 2-3 months, rates will be moving up above what we have seen in the recent 10 years. If you are looking to refinance your ARM, or even a 6.5% or higher fixed rate, don't get caught on your heels. The experts were right when they said we'd see rates below 5% in the coming months, as today's rates prove their hypothesis correctly.

How To Be Successful In Your Mortgage Career by Being Not Just Successful, but Also Valuable

Today's home buyer asks, "WHAT AM I GETTING FOR MY MONEY?"
It's my goal with every Home Loan applicant to see that I have a value from many fronts.
Clients can expect to walk away from a transaction with me and say the following about my company and my services:

I am more informed…I have greater choices…
I am more enlightened…
I am more sophisticated…
I want to know what I am paying for and what I am getting…
I can by-pass the traditional only-game-in-town lenders…
I am less swayed by marketing gimmickry…
I am more selective…
I have competitive options.

Banker 3% Down Payment for Conventional Loans

RMIC is a mortgage insurance company that makes it possible for families to put down as little as 3% on a conventional purchase or refinance. Without mortgage insurance, lenders won't risk one loan that equals to 97% of the total purchase or appraised value amount of a home. RMIC just announced that they are not going to issue their mortgage insurance with broker lenders or wholesalers anymore starting November the 1st. This is another positive for those bankers out there. The Release Notes from RMIC on the 15th read exactly as, "Loans with LTV/CLTVs of 95.01% to 97% may only be originated through a lender's retail channels (i.e., broker originated and wholesale loans are ineligible). In order to be considered a retail loan, the loan must be closed and the MI ordered in the name of the originating lender, by that lender's personnel. The minimum representative FICO required for insurance on loans over 95% LTV/CLTV will remain 720 as stated in the August 27, 2008 release notes."

Aurora and Lehman Brothers Negative Media Gets You the Best Rate On Your Mortgage

Just in case you are new to the search and learning mortgage, the basics are as follows. Mortgage rates are directly related to bonds. When bonds do good, your mortgage rates drop. Today the bond market opened very positive again like yesterday...that's good for your interest rate and helps you get the best interest rate possible. Oppositely as yesterday where the bond market did SUPER and the Stock Market plunged, as the bonds did well today, the Stock Market opened with modest gains as well. Yesterday we saw a large swing in rates, but today we may only see a little swing. If we see a couple more days like yesterday and today, rates will be as low as they have been in 3 years.
WHY ARE RATES SUDDENLY DROPPING?
Lehman Brothers, a large player in the lending world, filed bankruptcy. This makes the more risky stock investments even more risky, so the stock investors take their money out of stock and put it in bonds...supply and demand. So yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial blundered a 500 point drop. Aurora is a subsidiary to Lehman and more involved in the day to day mortgage lending and servicing, so expectations of Aurora's success are no good either...they are giant in this mortgage lending world.
Paul Jackson said it in a way that makes it very easy to understand, "In lending terms, Aurora is a shell of its former self: the company, once an Alt-A powerhouse for Lehman, laid off 1,300 employees starting in January of this year as it cut both wholesale and correspondent origination channels. As recently as the first half of 2007, however, Aurora was regularly seen producing more than $3 billion a month of Alt-A mortgages." He also mentioned that they are a giant when it comes to servicing companies - ranked 15Th largest service by Inside Mortgage Finance for 2007. We don't want Aurora to tank, but if it does and you see it hit large Mortgage Media, you might expect another drop in rates.