Mortgage rates are unchanged from Thursday. Also unchanged? My antipathy for wintry weather. As far as I am concerned Punxsutawney Phil can shove it.
This week’s economic calendar is busy. Financial markets will be primarily focused on a trifecta of employment data which will conclude on Friday with the all-important jobs report. The markets are expecting +188,000 new jobs. If the jobs numbers comes in at or above that level then most analysts think a Fed rate hike next week is imminent.
As I have written time and time again mortgage rates ultimately react to inflation expectations. If a lender believes that the purchasing power of the dollars used to repay the loan in the future will be lower then they will ask to be compensated in a higher interest rate.
What causes inflation? As the ‘Wall Street Journal’ reported in THIS ARTICLE our paradigm might be all wrong. Might mortgage rates be correlated to oil prices? If so then we’ll be able to get mortgage rate forecasts every time we drive by a gas station.
The technical outlook looks favorable for mortgage rates. I will maintain a floating position.
Current Outlook: floating