Here we go with another week. There’s not a lot happening in the market right now, so mortgage rates are remaining relatively flat. We do have several chances for rates to move around this week as a string of inflation data is set to get released.
Our recommendation continues to be for borrowers to take action sooner rather than later. Read on for more details.
Where are mortgage rates going?
Inflation data could impact rates this week
On Friday, we got an unusually strong monthly jobs report for February. Financial market participants welcomed the positive data, and moved more into stocks and out of government bonds.
This caused the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which is the best market indicator of where mortgage rates are going, up to 2.90%. It’s inched down a little to 2.89%, but that’s a very minor decline.
Today should be a relatively calm day in the markets, as there’s not much happening on the economic front other than a few Treasury Auctions. There’s definitely the potential for some market turbulence later on in the week, though, as we have several important economic reports out.
First up is the February Consumer Price Index reading tomorrow morning. The one drawback in the monthly jobs report on Friday was the weaker than expected average hourly earnings reading.
This puts some pressure on the CPI reading as investors look for signs of rising inflation. Analysts are calling for a rise of 0.2% from the previous month, so that’s the baseline investors will be looking for.
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A reading above or below that mark will cause the greatest market reaction. If it comes in higher, we could see stocks and, subsequently, mortgage rates, go up. Vice versa if it comes in low.
After that, we’ve got more inflation data on Wednesday with the Producer Prices reading and the Retail Sales report. There are a few reports out on Thursday as well but nothing too major.
That brings us to Friday, where we’ll wrap up the week with the Industrial Production report. If you’ve been following current mortgage rates at all, you know that they’ve been on the rise.
Last week rates rose in the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the ninth consecutive week. We’ve seen the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the PMMS creep up over fifty basis points (one basis point = 0.01) since the start of the year.
That’s no small increase. It’s also not the end of the climb. According to many analysts, we will see the average rate on a 30-year fixed move another fifty basis points by the time 2019 comes around.
The ascent hasn’t been as rapid in recent weeks, but rates have continued to move higher nonetheless.
Lock now to try and get the best rateRate/Float Recommendation
With mortgage rates expected to continue rising throughout the year, the smart decision for many borrowers is to lock in a rate on a purchase or refinance sooner rather than later. The longer you wait, the greater the risk you’ll be paying more with a higher mortgage rate.
Learn what you can do to get the best interest rate possible.
Today’s economic data:
10-Yr Note Auction
- 1:00pm
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Notable events this week:
Monday:
- 10-Yr Note Auction
Tuesday:
- NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
- Consumer Price Index
Wednesday:
- PPI-FD
- Retail Sales
- Business Inventories
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
Thursday:
- Jobless Claims
- Philadelphia Fed
- Empire State Mfg Survey
- Import and Export Prices
- Housing Market Index
Friday:
- Housing Starts
- Industrial Production
- Consumer Sentiment
- JOLTS
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from Total Mortgage Blog http://ift.tt/2tCfIJV
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