Rate Update October 15, 2010
Mortgage rates are mostly unchanged today.
It’s been a busy morning in terms of economic headlines. Here is a brief summary of what we’ve following so far this AM:
*The Fed/ QE2: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in prepared remarks gave a fairly gloomy outlook on the economy this morning and reiterated that the Fed was likely to engage in further monetary stimulus. The Fed’s next steps (knows as “quantitative easing 2”) are the subject of wild speculation. In anticipation mortgage of QE2 mortgage rates have dipped by about .25%.
*Retail Sales/ Manufacturing data: Reports on retail sales and the New York manufacturing index were better than analysts had been expecting provided optimism to the markets and hurting rates.
*Inflation: The Consumer Price Index for September showed that price pressure in our economy remains tepid. Inflation is the primary driver of mortgage rates so this is good news.
We’re now at the mid-point between the Fed’s last meeting on Sept 21st and their next meeting on Nov. 2-3rd. The manner in which the Fed engages in the next round of quantitative easing is the primary focus for the interest rate markets. In the meantime I continue to recommend a near-term locking position and longer-term float.
Current outlook: locking in near-term & floating long-term