Happy Friday, and welcome to the Total Mortgage Current Mortgage Rates Blog. There’s some economic data out today, but first, your daily mortgage rate forecast/advice.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Where are mortgage rates going?
November jobs report keeps December rate hike in play
It’s the first Friday of the month, which means that the big news today is the November jobs report. Economists were predicting 180,000 jobs would be added in November, and as it happened the headline reading came in slightly below that mark at 178,000. The unemployment rate dropped down to its lowest reading since August 2007 at 4.6%, although that is mostly due to the fact that 446,000 Americans left the workforce in November. Average hourly earnings declined by 0.1%, which is the first decrease all year.
Those negatives in the report are causing a mild return to bonds for some investors, bring down the yield on the 10-year treasury note to 2.39% (from yesterday’s close of 2.45%). Overall, though, the consensus is that the report is strong enough to warrant a quarter point increase in the federal funds at the upcoming FOMC meeting (the fed funds futures are showing a 94.9% chance). In fact, many financial market pundits and participants are already looking past the December 14th decision and into 2017. I’ve already seen calls for four rate hikes next year.
Everyone always wants to be the one who can say they called it first, but any long term forecasts about Fed decisions should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, many people (including Fed officials) were saying that there would be four rate hikes in 2016, and here we are in December staring down the possibility of a single adjustment.
Freddie Mac PMMS
The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey got released on Thursday and it showed that mortgage rates rose again for the fifth straight week. The average rate on the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is now at 4.08% (0.5 points). That’s the highest that it’s been in 17 months. The average rate on a 15-year fixed rate and 5-year ARM also came in at a new 2016 high, at 3.34% (0.5 points) and 3.15% (0.4 points), respectively.
What does this mean for me?
Mortgage rates rose higher this week. That’s been the story for several weeks now, and it seems that we’re poised for at least several more. My advice to anyone who is looking into refinancing their current mortgage or purchasing a home is to act sooner rather than later.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Today’s economic data:
November Employment Situation
- 178,000 jobs added
- 4.6% unemployment rate
- 0.1% decline in participation rate
- workweek unchanged at 34.4 hours
Fedspeak
Fed Governors Lael Brainard and Daniel Tarullo both speak today.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Notable events this week:
Monday:
- Nothing
Tuesday:
- GDP
- Fedspeak
Wednesday:
- ADP Employment Report
- Personal Income and Outlays
- Fedspeak
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
Thursday:
- Jobless Claims
- Fedspeak
- ISM Mfg Index
Friday:
- Employment Situation
- Fedspeak
from Total Mortgage Underwritings Blog http://ift.tt/2gV4yEL
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