Rate Update March 3, 2010

Most mortgage rates are effectively unchanged from yesterday.

Greece unveiled their plan to cut its budget deficit today.  For the first time they included credible details which should help reduce fears about default on their bonds.  Greek officials will meet with EU leaders this weekend to gain support for the plan.  This news is likely to lead to an unwinding of the “flight-to-quality” trade which helped drive mortgage rates below 5.00%.

Domestically the markets are digesting a better than expected payroll report and a better than expected service sector report.  Good news for the economy is often bad news for mortgage rates but traders are hesitant to make any large moves until we get Friday’s jobs report.

From a technical perspective mortgage rates have been unable to break below current levels since the beginning of the year.  The chart below shows a similar trend for the 10-year Treasury yield which has not been able to break below 3.5%.

Current outlook: locking bias