Welcome to the Total Mortgage Current Mortgage Rates Blog. There’s some economic data out today, but first, your daily mortgage rate forecast/advice.
Where are mortgage rates going?
Yellen Keeps March in Play
Investors had been holding steady this morning until Fed Chair Janet Yellen came out and appeared to keep the three rate hike vision on the table for 2017. In her words, it would be “unwise” to wait too long to raise the federal funds rate, as that might put them in a position where they would have to act more frequently than they would like.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates (Feb. 14, 2017).She went on to say “At our upcoming meetings, the Committee will evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with these expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate.”
No one really expected Yellen to explicitly mention the March meeting, but her remarks were enough to signal to the markets that they shouldn’t write it off quite yet. In a sense, Yellen was backed into a corner here, where she had to keep options open or risk turmoil in the markets as they dealt with the repercussions of adjusting to a two rate hike scenario. At any rate, that didn’t happen, and the markets are responding as expected.
Treasury yields immediately spiked after the news broke. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note is up seven basis points from yesterday’s close of 2.43%. That doesn’t bode well for mortgage rates, which have a strong habit of falling the 10-year yield wherever it goes. If nothing changes over the course of Yellen’s testimony, mortgage rates should finish the day higher than where they started.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates (Feb. 14, 2017).Despite the more optimistic sentiment toward the March meeting, the Fed Fund futures are still only giving it a 17.7% chance of a rate hike. There is a long way to go before that meeting begins to be taken seriously as a contender for a federal funds rate adjustment.
What does this mean for me?
Mortgage rates are back on the rise this morning.
Today’s economic data:
PPI-FD
The Producer Prices Index Final Demand rose 0.6% in January. That’s above the 0.3% that was expected. Year over year, PPI-FD is at 1.6%. PPI less food and energy rose 0.4% in January, putting it at 1.2% year over year. PPI-FD less food, energy and trade services ticked up 0.2%, making it a 1.6% rise year over year.
Fedspeak
Fed Chair Janet Yellen is giving her semiannual testimony before the Senate Banking Committee this morning.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates (Feb. 14, 2017).Notable events this week:
Monday:
- Nothing
Tuesday:
- PPI-FD
- Fedspeak
Wednesday:
- CPI
- Retail Sales
- Industrial Production
- Fedspeak
- EIA Petroleum Status
Thursday:
- Housing Starts
- Jobless Claims
- Philly Fed Outlook
Friday:
- Nothing
from Total Mortgage Underwritings Blog http://ift.tt/2lM9FJK
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