Today’s post is written by Michael Green, Senior Commercial Loan Originator with Counsel Mortgage Group, LLC. Mike writes monthly on the commercial mortgage market. Check back each month for his commentary. The Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected quarter-point rate cut 2 weeks ago, lowering its fed funds benchmark range to 4.00% – 4 ¼% after Chair Jerome Powell signaled last month that the central bank would tilt toward responding to employment risks rather than lingering inflation concerns. The Prime Rate is now 7 ¼%. The move, however, uncovered divisions within the FOMC. Newly-appointed Fed Governor Stephen Miran dissented, pressing...
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SEPTEMBER ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP
Another informative Roundtable. Here is a Roundup of some of the topics we covered. If you’d like to see all of the topics covered, you can watch it on our YouTube channel by clicking: https://youtube.com/live/ZqoOMvMzOaQ 1. Market Update – Freddie Mac shows the 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.26%, which is the lowest it has been in about a year. The Fed reduced the Fed Funds rate by a ¼% last week. So, does this mean mortgage rates will be coming down, too? The 10-year Treasury Note is a leading indicator for mortgage rates. Since the Fed reduced the Fed Funds...
September 24, 2025September 24, 2025
THE FED’S POSITION – HEADS THEY WIN, TAILS THEY LOOSE
THE FED’S POSITION – HEADS THEY WIN, TAILS THEY LOOSE Today’s post is written by Michael Green, Senior Commercial Loan Originator with Counsel Mortgage Group, LLC. Mike writes monthly on the commercial mortgage market. Check back each month for his commentary. The commercial real estate sector is facing what Trepp* has described as a “critical inflection point” as a growing percent of loans reach maturity without being paid off or refinanced. While much of the lending data in the industry remains private, commercial mortgage-backed securities provide a public window into the extent of the challenge. The study found that 34%...
September 21, 2025September 21, 2025
ROUNDTABLE LIVE SEPT 22ND AT 1 PM
Join us on Monday, September 22nd, at 1 pm Arizona time for the Counsel Mortgage Group Roundtable Live where we have a company-wide discussion of the current mortgage and real estate topics, including the Fed’s recent reduction of the Fed Funds rate and its affect on mortgage rates. It will be streamed live on YouTube. To join, click here: https://youtube.com/live/2hVdipTCJ-o Let me know if there are any topics you would like us to discuss. Hope to see you there!
September 18, 2025September 21, 2025
AUGUST ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP
We had a very informative Roundtable yesterday. Thank you to those who attended. This was our first one on YouTube live and we are still working out the kinks. If you missed the broadcast and would like to see it, click here: https://youtube.com/live/2evBKXJiamQ Here are the highlights:
August 21, 2025August 21, 2025
COUNSEL MORTGAGE’S ROUNDTABLE LIVE AUG 20TH 1 PM AZ TIME
Join us on Wednesday, August 20th, at 1 pm Arizona time for a live look-in of our monthly Roundtable where we discuss current mortgage and real estate topics. For the last few years, we’ve had monthly video calls where members of our Group throughout the country click in and discuss the issues of the day. This month, we decided to go live, so you can watch and learn what is happening in the market. It will be streamed on YouTube. To join, click here on Wednesday: https://youtube.com/live/XaF1Y_06gPM?feature=share Let me know if there are any topics you would like us to...
August 17, 2025August 17, 2025
A GOOD TIME TO BUY
A GOOD TIME TO BUY Now is a good time to buy. There are a lot of homes for sale. Sellers are offering price reductions, concessions towards closing costs, and rate buydowns. The temporary rate buydown is popular. There are three different types of temporary buydowns, 3/2/1, 2/1, and 1/0. For instance, in a 3/2/1 buydown the interest rate is reduced in the first year of the mortgage by 3%, by 2% in the second year, and 1% in the third year. So, if today’s 30-year fixed rate is 6.75%, the rate in the first year would be...
August 13, 2025August 13, 2025
THE CHANGING TIDES – SURFS UP!
Today’s post is written by Michael Green, Senior Commercial Loan Originator with Counsel Mortgage Group, LLC. Mike writes monthly on the commercial mortgage market. Check back each month for his commentary. As the CRE market continues to retreat-pause-advance and repeat, driven by economic and political uncertainty, community banks and credit unions are recalibrating their lending strategies – often in subtle but significant ways. These smaller financial institutions are navigating the challenging CRE landscape in spite of rising refinancing risks and changing borrower behavior. An encouraging trend among these lenders is their ability to renew or reprice many loans without much...
August 11, 2025August 11, 2025
BUYDOWNS
Buydowns are very popular right now. As it is a buyer’s market in many parts of the country, sellers are willing to negotiate with buyers to buydown their rate. There are 3 different types of temporary buydowns: 3/2/1, 2/1, and 1/0. The numbers represent how much your rate is reduced each year. For example, if you have a 3/2/1 buydown and the rate is 6.5%, the rate in the first year is 3% less and would be 3.5%, in the second year it is 2% less and would be 4.5%, in the third year it is 1% less and would...
July 15, 2025July 15, 2025
LOOKING THROUGH THE FOG
Today’s post is written by Michael Green, Senior Commercial Loan Originator with Counsel Mortgage Group, LLC. Mike writes monthly on the commercial mortgage market. Check back each month for his commentary. Since the beginning of the year (Trump’s inauguration), visibility into investment and finance markets has been overridden by political chaos. What we used to be fed as daily news and updates has been buried by the barrage of domestic and global events. We have had to go to some efforts, even extremes, to track the pulse of CRE activity and financing. What has been going on behind the...
July 9, 2025July 9, 2025