Mortgage Rate Update August 16, 2011

Posted on by Evan in Rate Update

Mortgage rates are slightly worse this morning compared to yesterday morning following a day when rates rose slightly.

Economic news out of Europe is hurting stocks and helping interest rates this morning.

Weak date out of Germany is helping rates this AM

The German government reported GDP figures that were worse than expected today.  Furthermore, a broader measure of the Euro-zone’s output also fell below expectations adding to concerns about the continents ability to lift itself out of its current debt crisis.

The disappointing news out of Europe is encouraging investors to shed “risky” stocks in favor of “safe” US-denominated fixed income securities; including mortgage-backed bonds despite better economic data here at home.

Industrial production & capacity utilization figures for the US were released this morning and were both better than expected.  The markets are largely ignoring these data points thus far.  In real estate news housing starts and building permits both declined from last month providing further evidence that the housing market remains weak in much of the country.

Current Outlook:  locking bias