Mortgage Rate Update October 15, 2012

Posted on by Evan in Rate Update

Mortgage rates are unchanged form last week.

Is the economy improving?  The drop in the unemployment rate to 7.8% released a little over a week ago kicked off a string of optimism.  Today the Commerce Department reported that retail sales increased for a 3rd straight month and that they increased at a clip which was more than was expected.

ARE THE DARK ECONOMIC CLOUDS PARTING? IF SO, RATES COULD BE MOVING HIGHER.

Furthermore, Chinese inflation was shown to have decreased last month.  How does this impact US mortgage rates?  It makes it more likely the Chinese government will engage in monetary stimulus aimed at boosting economic growth which would in turn help stimulate growth across the globe.

If the economy is indeed improving it is likely that mortgage rates will begin to reverse higher.  However, I remain skeptical of the strength of this recovery and Europe remains a big question mark.

I will remain in a neutral position for now but am reading commentary from interest rate analysts who believe mortgage rates have hit bottom.

Current Outlook: neutral