Rate Update October 14, 2010

Mortgage rates are mostly unchanged today.

Today’s weekly jobless claims report showed that a greater number of people sought out jobless benefits last week than analysts had expected.  This is not encouraging news for the economy but is typically good news for mortgage rates.

Also released today was the Producer Price Index (PPI) which reports on price changes at the wholesale level of our economy.  It is an indicator of future inflation which we know is a primary driver of mortgage rates.  The report continued to show that inflationary pressures remain weak in our economy which is a good sign for mortgage rates.

Later today the US Treasury will auction $13 billion in 30-year bonds.  Although the previous two auctions haven’t been stellar I still expect demand to be decent.  Tomorrow brings us a list of significant economic reports.

Current outlook: locking in near term (<15 days) but floating for longer term closings (>15 days)