Rate Update January 4, 2010

In the last couple weeks of 2009 mortgage rates increased by .25%-.50% across the board.  Although rates are rising they are not far off from historical lows.  As we enter into 2010 it is widely expected that long-term rates will rise as inflation expectations grow and the government unwinds it’s open market operations.

There is not much in the way of economic data scheduled for release during the first half of this week so we will track the stock market and technical trading patterns for clues about the direction of mortgage rates.  From a technical perspective trading desks are fully staffed once again which may help mortgage rates in the next couple days.

On Thursday of this week the US Treasury will release it’s auction schedule for next week.  On Friday we get the all-important jobs report.

For now we advise a short-term floating bias but maintain a long-term locking bias.

Current outlook: short-term float, long-term lock