Mortgage rates are inching lower today as investors wait to look at the Fed minutes from the September meeting three weeks ago. We could see a market reaction and subsequent rate adjustment later on in the day depending on what type of language comes out of the Fed. Read on for more details.
Market Outlook 10.9.17 from Total Mortgage on Vimeo.
Where are mortgage rates going?
FOMC Minutes Could Affect Rates Today
Mortgage rates haven’t remained mostly flat this week, trending a hair lower the past couple of days. With little significant economic data out so for this week, financial market participants have gotten caught up in the geopolitical tensions between Catalonia and Spain.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates (Oct. 11, 2017).
It’s been an up and down event with tensions escalating and unwinding rapidly. The most recent deescalation came when Catalan President Carles Puigdemont postponed the secession from Spain in order to try and find some common ground with political leaders in Madrid.
That news reversed ceased the flow of investors into the perceived safety of government bonds, pushing Treasury yields back toward where they were at the start of the week.
This morning, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note (which is the best market indicator of where mortgage rates are going) is headed lower again as investors move back into wait-and-see mode ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) September minutes.
Financial market participants will be carefully reading those notes in order to try and find any more indications that a quarter point increase to the federal funds rate will happen in December.
Right now, the CME Group’s Fed Funds futures are putting the chance of it happening at about 88%. That’s about as high a percentage as you’ll ever see in the Fed Funds futures, so it’s basically a lock in the market’s eyes right now.
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However, there are still two months until that meeting and if we find out in the minutes that their is more internal debate among Fed officials than previously thought, that would definitely cast some doubt on what is right now seen as a sure thing.
Typically, the more likely it is that the Fed will raise rates, the more upward pressure there is on mortgage rates. So if a December rate hike gets a boost from the minutes, then mortgage rates could rise, and vice versa if December gets some push back.
The minutes will get released at 2:00pm and the market reaction will take place shortly after.
What does this mean for me?
Great time to lock a rate
Mortgage rates are continuing to run on the lower end of the spectrum for 2017, making right now a great time to lock a rate on a purchase or refinance. It does seem as though the long-term trend for rates is to head higher, so borrowers that act sooner rather than later could wind up with the better deal.
Click here to head to our Mortgage Builder and figure out how much you could save.
Today’s economic data:
Fedspeak
- Chicago Fed President Charles Evans at 7:15am
- San Francisco Fed President John Williams at 2:40pm
JOLTS
The Labor Department reported that there were 6.082 million job openings in August. That’s close to the consensus of 6.160 million.
FOMC Minutes
- The FOMC minutes will get released at 2:00pm today.
Notable events this week:
Monday:
- Nothing – Bond Market Closed for Columbus Day
Tuesday:
- Fedspeak
Wednesday:
- Fedspeak
- JOLTS
- FOMC Minutes
Thursday:
- Jobless Claims
- PPI-FD
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
- Fedspeak
Friday:
- Consumer Price Index
- Retail Sales
- Fedspeak
- Business Inventories
- Consumer Sentiment
from Total Mortgage Blog http://ift.tt/2kGTcen
via Naza Finance Blog
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