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?
Treasury yields are down this morning after Australian authorities claimed to have foiled a terrorist plot in the city of Melbourne. The attack was allegedly going to occur at several different locations on Christmas Day. Five men were arrested overnight, in a raid executed by nearly 400 police officers. Financial market participants tend to lean more toward safer assets like government bonds after events such as this. We’re not talking about any huge swings, though. The yield on the U.S. 10-year treasury note closed yesterday at 2.55%, and right now it’s at 2.53%. If we weren’t at the tail end of a very slow week, it might not even have registered on the markets and we wouldn’t be talking about it.
Mortgage rates rose for the eighth consecutive week in the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) this week. The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage jumped up 14 basis points to 4.30% (0.5 points); the average rate on at 15-year fixed rate rose 15 basis points to 3.52% (0.5 points); the average rate on a 5-year ARM rose 13 basis points to 3.32% (0.4 points). Data for the report is always collected early in the week, making it a lagging indicator of where mortgage rates really are right now. The spikes that we’re seeing are more a reflection from the Fed’s rate hike decision last week, as this was the first report since that meeting ended.
What does this mean for me?
Mortgage rates have gone up for two straight months now. At this moment, it certainly seems like they will continue to move higher well into the new year. That means that anyone looking to lock in the lowest rate possible on a purchase or refinance is better off acting sooner rather than later.
Today’s economic data:
New Home Sales
New home sales rose 5.2% in November up to 592,000. That’s 12,000 higher than the consensus.
Consumer Sentiment
Consumer sentiment for December is currently at 98.2. That’s two tenths up from the previous reading.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Notable events this week:
Monday:
- Fed Chair Speech
Tuesday:
- Nothing
Wednesday:
- Existing Home Sales
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
Thursday:
- Durable Goods Orders
- GDP
- Jobless Claims
- Personal Income and Outlays
Friday:
- New Home Sales
- Consumer Sentiment
from Total Mortgage Underwritings Blog http://ift.tt/2inIRy1
No comments:
Post a Comment