Mortgage Rate Update December 13, 2011

Mortgage rates are unchanged this morning.

There are plenty of new headlines we can discuss this morning but the bottom line is that interest rates continue to move sideways in a very tight range.

The European Financial Stability Fund issued its first offering of short-dated bills to better than expected demand.  This shows that the bailout fund should be able to raise capital from investors which can be used to help stabilize the debt crisis.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that retails sales in November grew by less than anticipated.  On the surface this is bad news but the report also revised higher previously released figures for September & October.

There are two more notable events taking place later today.  First, the US Treasury is scheduled to auction $21 billion in 10-year notes.  Strong demand is expected which bodes well for interest rates.  Second, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee is scheduled to have a one day monetary policy meeting.  They will release their policy statement this afternoon.  Analysts expect they’ll comment on slightly better economic conditions.

Current Outlook: neutral