Recap From Last Week
June brought some welcome relief on the inflation front. Consumer prices fell 0.4% for the month, and annual inflation slowed to 3.5%. That matters because the Fed watches inflation closely, alongside labor market conditions and developments in the Middle East, as it weighs its next move on interest rates.
Housing data was more of a mixed bag. Pending home sales dropped 5.4% from May to June, breaking a four-month streak of gains — a reminder that buyers remain sensitive to rates and affordability. Housing starts, on the other hand, bounced back in a big way, up 19% in June, even as building permits dipped slightly and builders continue to stay cautious.
Retail sales rose 0.2% in June, or a stronger 0.7% excluding gas stations, so consumers are still spending. Meanwhile, oil prices moved higher as tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated — a trend worth watching in the weeks ahead.
Optimal Blue Mortgage Rate Index
According to the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices, the average 30-year fixed rate as of last Friday, July 17th, was 6.537% — a touch higher than what I shared with you last week.
A quick reminder on how to read this: the Optimal Blue index reflects about 35% of mortgage transactions nationwide, so it is not a rate quote, and you cannot lock in last week’s rate today. Your credit score, loan-to-value, and other factors will all affect the rate you actually qualify for. Think of this as a trend line, not a personal mortgage rate quote.
Economic Calendar
It’s a light week on the economic calendar, so rates are likely to take their cue from developments in Iran rather than data releases. Right now, CME’s FedWatch tool has the odds at just under 17% for a rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting in two weeks.
- Monday: No economic reports
- Tuesday: ADP Weekly
- Wednesday: 20-Year Bond Auction
- Thursday: Jobless Claims
- Friday: New Home Sales
The next FOMC meeting is July 28th and 29th. But again, this week’s data will likely take a back seat to the war in Iran and oil prices.
MBS Highway Update
Checking in on mortgage-backed securities: as of just before noon Pacific time, MBS are down 19 basis points today. I actually received a lock alert this morning, so if you’re floating on a rate, that’s worth a conversation.
In the Spotlight: Asset-Based Qualifying Mortgages
This week I want to highlight a program that’s a great fit for a lot of the clients I work with — Asset-Based Qualifying mortgages, sometimes called Asset Qualifier, Asset Depletion, or Asset Utilization loans.
Not everyone’s income shows up neatly on a W-2 or tax return. I regularly work with retirees living off their investment portfolios, high-net-worth clients whose wealth sits in brokerage accounts, and self-employed borrowers whose tax returns are optimized for deductions rather than qualifying income. With this program, instead of documenting income the traditional way, we document what you have — your liquid assets — and convert that into a qualifying income figure. No tax returns required.
A detail that surprises people: you don’t have to actually be withdrawing from those accounts. The math is based on your asset balance, not your cash flow, so your accounts can stay fully invested and untouched.
This isn’t just for retirees, either — I work with fully employed W-2 borrowers who simply prefer to qualify on their asset strength rather than their pay stubs. And compared to the asset-as-income option on a conventional loan, which divides your assets over 360 months, these Non-QM programs typically use a much shorter divisor — often 84 months — which means significantly more qualifying power from the same pool of assets.
If you have complicated income, or you’re asset-rich but your tax returns don’t tell the full story, this could be your easy button. Read more about Asset-Based Mortgage Loans on my site.
Let’s Talk
If you have questions about your specific scenario — whether you’re buying, refinancing, considering a retirement mortgage, or just trying to figure out your options — I’d love to hear from you.
About Rhonda Porter
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