Rate Update April 26, 2010
For the most part mortgage rates are unchanged this morning.
It looks like it’s going to be a very busy week in the interest rate markets.
The US Treasury will deliver $115 billion in treasury notes to the market beginning today. Anytime the US Treasury brings supply to the market we track the level of demand for these notes. Strong demand bodes well for mortgage rates and vice versa. Expectations for this week’s auctions are strong so anything less than that will likely pressure rates higher.
The Fed begins its 2-day monetary policy meeting tomorrow. They are widely expected to leave short-term rates unchanged. However, the wording of their statement can drive mortgage rates up or down. In tomorrow or Wednesday’s ‘rate update’ I will touch on an increasingly hot topic amongst Fed watchers that has major implications on mortgage rates.
We couldn’t go more than a day without checking in on Greece. The fiscally ailing country remains in the news as analysts try to figure out if they’ll be able to make it through without defaulting on their debt . The fear over their bonds has driven traders into “safer” currencies such as the US dollar. When this saga finally gets figured out we expect the safety premium to unwind which will likely push yields higher.
Lastly, on the economic calendar for the week we’ll get the Case-Shiller home price index and Consumer Confidence tomorrow, the Fed on Wednesday, and GDP on Friday.
GO BLAZERS!
Current outlook: locking