What's Mortgage Rates Doing This Week? 12/8/2008

Moving.com reported some good news to start the week off if you are looking to refinance your home or buy a home for the short term. The report went like this, "Monday's bond market has opened in positive despite early stock gains. The stock markets are starting the week off strong with the Dow up 276 points and the Nasdaq up 45 points. The bond market is currently up 7/32, but we will still see an increase in this morning's mortgage rates of approximately .500 of a discount due to weakness late Friday."This means that we can expect this weeks rates to start off on a positive, but for the remainder of the week and month there are other "targets" to watch to see where they will go from here.
The closing commentary at Moving.com followed up to give us the best expectations if you were unsure what might come of interest rates for the remainder of they week. They said, "This week is moderately busy in terms of the number of economic releases scheduled for release. There are four on the agenda but two of them are considered to be very important that can heavily influence the markets and mortgage pricing. In addition, there is a 10-year Treasury Note auction Thursday that may hurt or help boost bond prices, depending on how strong of a demand there is in the sale. Since all of the data is scheduled for release Thursday and Friday, the most movement in rates will likely be the latter part of the week.

There is no relevant economic news scheduled for release today, tomorrow or Wednesday. The first data is October's Goods and Services Trade Balance report early Thursday morning. This report gives the size of the U.S. trade deficit, but it is the week's least important release. It is expected to show a $54.0 billion trade deficit. Unless it varies greatly from forecasts, I don't expect it to affect mortgage pricing.

Overall, expect to see a pretty volatile week in the financial markets and mortgage pricing with the most movement Thursday and Friday. Friday's Retail Sales and PPI reports can cause a great deal of movement in rates. Due to the expected volatility, I am holding the current lock recommendations. However, please maintain constant contact with your mortgage professional if you have not locked an interest rate yet."