Mortgage Rate Update March 21, 2011

Mortgage rates are unchanged this morning.

Mortgage rates look poised to move higher as stocks are rallying this morning here in the US.  The flight-to-safety which helped mortgage rates move lower over the previous 2 weeks is unwinding….for now.

Investors are feeling more optimistic on news out of Japan that 2 of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant are under control.  In Libya, allied forces began attacks on military targets over the weekend.  Continued political disruption in Libya will keep speculators attention on the oil markets so we’ll need to keep an eye on prices.

The US Treasury Department announced today that they would sell $142 billion in mortgage-backed bonds over the next year that they acquired from AIG.  The additional supply could help rates move higher.

Lastly, the economic calendar is full of housing related releases this week.  The National Association of Realtors announced today that existing home sales in February were weaker than expected.

I will shift my outlook to locking.

Current outlook: locking