08 Apr 2013
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – April 8, 2013

Mortgage Rates
Last week's economic news includes several factors that drove U.S. mortgage rates lower. The Bank of Japan announced that it would increase its purchase of bonds by $1.4 trillion over the next two years.  This news caused yields on Japanese bonds to fall, which made U.S. bonds more appealing to international investors, that in turn increased MBS prices and caused mortgage rates to fall. Bumpy Employment Numbers Support Lower Interest Rates Other significant economic news involves an unexpected drop in the number of new jobs created last month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Nonfarm Payrolls Report issued Friday indicated…
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01 Apr 2013
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week: April 1st, 2013

Mortgage Rates
European Market Jitters Continue To Affect The US Economy Mortgage rates fell last week as investor concerns over the European economy grew. Fears of growing differences between wealthier European nations and European nations needing economic aid brought higher bond prices and lower mortgage rates. Positive news for Cyprus came when an agreement for an EU bailout was reached, but strict terms indicate that Germany and other nations are growing less enthusiastic about bailing out the banks of EU nations with shaky economies. Meanwhile, the Italian government has not been able to agree on a coalition government, which reduces the chances…
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26 Mar 2013
By Mark Feder

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – March 25th, 2013

Mortgage Rates
Last week's economic news was dominated by events in Cyprus and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday. Mortgage rates fell last Monday as investors became concerned over news that a Cyprus bank bailout was in the works. Federal Reserve Holding Course With Mortgage Backed Security Purchases The FOMC met on Wednesday and in a press release after the meeting, noted that no immediate changes to the present economic easing program would be made. The Fed officers will continue to monitor the nation's economy, and are eventually expected to implement a gradual reduction of their monthly bond and…
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18 Mar 2013
By Mark Feder
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week: March 18th, 2013

Mortgage Rates
Last week's positive employment reports were good news for the economy, which typically causes mortgage rates to rise, but mortgage rates ended the week lower. As of Thursday, Freddie Mac reports that the average mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 3.63 percent with borrowers paying their closing costs and 0.8 percent in discount points. The average mortgage rate for a 15 year loan was 2.79 percent with borrowers paying their own closing costs and 0.8 percent in discount points. Strong Retail Sales Show Consumer Confidence Improving In other economic news, retail sales for February surpassed Wall Street…
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