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?
The yield on the 10-year treasury note dipped down to its lowest level this morning since November 30th at 2.305%. It has since ticked up a couple basis points to 2.32%. Yesterday’s threat to rising mortgage rates proved to be all talk, as president-elect Donald Trump’s news conference never touched on the details of his fiscal stimulus plan.
Most of the talk was dedicated (as was expected) to his business dealings and the measures he is taking to ease concern over any conflicts of interest there might be. Unfortunately, the stories that broke from CNN and Buzzfeed that broke on Tuesday, and Trump’s subsequent twitter responses, took up most of the remaining time.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Financial market participants (who are growing more and more skeptical about Trump’s economic plan) were eagerly awaiting any details that might keep their pessimism at bay. In the end, no such details ever came and the markets had little reason to rally.
Later on in the day, a decently strong 10-year note auction pushed the price up and the yield down. Mortgage rates typically follow wherever the yield on the 10-year note goes.
Rates drop again in the Freddie Mac PMMS
The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) got released this morning and it showed that mortgage rates fell for the second week in a row.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dropped eight basis points to 4.12% (0.5 points); the average rate on a 15-year fixed rate mortgage fell seven basis points to 3.37% (0.5 points); the average rate on a 5-year ARM sunk ten basis points to 3.23% (0.5 points).
Here is what Chief Economist at Freddie Mac Sean Becketti had to say about mortgage rates this week:
“After absorbing a mixed December jobs report; the 10-year Treasury yield fell 8 basis points. The 30-year mortgage rate moved in tandem with Treasury yields falling 8 basis points to 4.12 percent, the second decline since the presidential election. The December jobs report showed 156,000 jobs added, barely meeting many experts’ expectations, while wage growth was at the high end of expectations at 0.4 percent. If strong wage gains persist, they may push inflation and interest rates higher.”
What does this mean for me?
Mortgage rates are down. The 30-year fixed rate is now 20 basis points from 3 weeks ago. It’s still looking like the long-term trend is for rates to rise, so this is a great opportunity for borrowers to lock in a low rate on a purchase or refinance.
Today’s economic data:
Jobless Claims
Applications for unemployment benefits ticked up 10,000 from the previous week to 247,000, but still remain at a very low level historically. The four-week moving average is now at 256,500.
Import and Export Prices
Import prices rose 0.4% in December, putting them at 1.8% year over year. Export prices rose 0.3% in December, bringing them up to 1.1% year over year.
Fedspeak
Today is a big day for Fed officials, as five of them have speaking engagements.
- Chicago Fed President Charles Evans at 8:30am.
- Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker at 8:30am.
- Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart at 12:30pm.
- St. Louis Fed President James Bullard at 1:15pm.
- Fed Chair Janet Yellen at 7:00pm.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Notable events this week:
Monday:
- Fedspeak
Tuesday:
- JOLTS
Wednesday:
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
- 10-year Note Auction
- Fedspeak
Thursday:
- Jobless Claims
- Fedspeak
- Import and Export Prices
Friday:
- PPI-FD
- PPI
- Retail Sales
- Fedspeak
from Total Mortgage Underwritings Blog http://ift.tt/2ih1nwi
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