Welcome to the TMS current mortgage rates blog. There’s some economic news out today, but first, your mortgage rate forecast/advice.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Where are mortgage rates going?
There hasn’t been much economic data out since the April nonfarm payrolls report (a.k.a the April jobs report) came out on Friday, and there really isn’t (barring any surprise events) much that’s going to move the markets enough to sway mortgage rates too far from current levels.
Of course, that won’t stop Fed officials from making hawkish statements in a bid to get financial market participants to believe that a rate hike is coming sooner than they think. New York Fed President William Dudley sat down with Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times on Friday morning for an hour-long interview and he didn’t hesitate to use the opportunity to downplay the weak data in the April jobs report.
He made the point that while the headline reading did come in 40,000 under expectations, that’s still”well within what you’d expect in terms of normal volatility” and that it doesn’t “affect my economic outlook.” It’s not that he’s wrong, it’s just that to the markets, the report was bad. They needed the 200,000 to continue believing that a June rate hike might be possible. Fed Officials can huff and puff all they want but without some strong data to back them up, no one is going to take their comments too seriously.
Right now, the Fed Fund futures has the chances of a June hike at 8%. December is still the only meeting with a greater than 50% chance.
If it was up to Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, everyone wouldn’t be so focused on the Fed, anyway. He spoke yesterday and said that the media and financial market participants should focus their energy on other aspects of the economy, such as policies made by the executive branch and Congress.
Checking in on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note, we’ll find that it’s not too far off from where it was yesterday. With little data out, that’s to be expected. The yield is currently trading at 1.76%, up two basis points from the previous close of 1.74%.
Don’t wait for rates to rise. Start your mortgage process now.
What does this mean for me?
I’ve been a broken record for quite some time in this section, but that’s because it’s been a while since rates have moved out of their current position. They’re still near 2016 lows and they’ll probably be there all week. Sure, long-term it seems like they’re going to be moving upward, but it’s extremely difficult to pinpoint an exact date for when that will happen. All I can say is that if you’re thinking about purchasing a home or refinancing your current mortgage, you’re probably better off acting sooner rather than later.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Today’s economic data:
Job openings are still high
The Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) was released this morning and it’s showing 5.757 million openings in March. That’s up from the prior reading of 5.445 million. The current reading brings job openings to an eight-month high.
Treasury auctions
There will be a 4-week bill auction at 11:30 AM and a 3-year note auction at 1:00 PM today.
Don’t wait for rates to rise. Start your mortgage process now.
Notable events this week:
Monday:
- Fedspeak
- Treasury auctions
Tuesday:
- Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
- Treasury auctions
Wednesday:
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
- Treasury auctions
Thursday:
- Weekly Jobless Claims
- Treasury auctions
- Fedspeak
Frida
from Total Mortgage Underwritings Blog http://ift.tt/1WY9Ikd
No comments:
Post a Comment