There was little market moving news for mortgage rates this week. Little apparent progress was seen regarding the US fiscal cliff or the debt troubles in Europe. Since it’s extremely difficult to estimate the impact of Hurricane Sandy, investors did not give much weight to the US economic data released this week. As a result, […]

Two major factors were positive for mortgage rates this week. President Obama won the election, and concerns about Europe increased. As a result, mortgage rates ended the week lower. The conventional wisdom was that an Obama victory would be positive for bonds and negative for stocks, and this was in fact the reaction in financial […]

Mortgage markets handled the issues caused by Hurricane Sandy without any major disruptions. Stronger than expected economic data also had little impact, and mortgage rates ended the week with little change. Friday’s Employment report showed that the economy added roughly twice as many jobs as expected (including revisions). Against a consensus forecast of 125K, the […]

It was another good week for mortgage rates. Concerns about the level of global economic growth and about the progress of reforms in Europe were favorable for mortgage rates, which ended the week lower. Nearly all of the major economic data released this week reflected slower economic growth. In the US, GDP, Durable Orders, and […]

Global central banks continued to add monetary stimulus this week, which was favorable for US bonds. The economic data was roughly neutral. As a result, mortgage rates ended the week a little lower. On Wednesday, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced that it will increase its level of monetary stimulus, following similar recent moves by […]

With few surprises from Europe or the economic data, by far the biggest story of the week was Thursday’s Fed announcement. The Fed’s decision was extremely favorable for mortgage rates, which improved after the news and ended the week lower. The Fed announced that it will implement a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) to […]

Weaker than expected Employment data and increased concerns about Europe helped mortgage rates this week, and they ended lower than where they were before the March Employment report. While slower employment growth is painful for the country in nearly every way, this generally bad news is actually favorable for mortgage rates. Against a consensus forecast […]

There was a lot of daily volatility for mortgage rates this week. On Tuesday, the Fed Minutes revealed a lack of enthusiasm for further easing, and this caused mortgage rates to jump. Increased concerns about Europe then helped mortgage rates improve on Wednesday and Thursday. The net result was a small increase in rates for […]

Additional comments indicating that the Fed is in no rush to tighten policy and renewed concerns about Europe helped mortgage rates improve this week. Mixed economic data and Treasury auction results had little overall impact. After the March 13 Fed statement, mortgage rates swiftly moved higher, but they have since improved and are close to […]

Overall, the economic data came in pretty close to expectations this week, and Greece successfully reached a debt deal with private bondholders. With a lack of surprises in the economic news, mortgage rates ended the week nearly unchanged. While it was a little stronger than expected, the important monthly Employment report had little impact on […]