News You'll Use

Another volatile week for mortgage rates, with rates finishing lower for the week. This week the Fed raised the Fed Funds rate by another 25 bps, while a bit more cautious on the future economic outlook. Fed Chairman Powell said in his press conference that the recent banking crisis will tighten credit conditions further, it is just not known how much of an impact it will have yet.

 

The Fed is still concerned about inflation, but the Fed must be concerned with the health of the banking system, which Powell has said is "sound and resilient". As we look to next week, if there are any further issues in the banking sector, that will most likely cause rates to move lower. As the banking sector stabilizes, rates will most likely rise. We're already seeing some movement late this week.

 

• Mortgage Applications rose .3% this week

• US 10-year Treasury closed at 3.42% on Thursday afternoon

• Existing Home Sales came in higher than analyst's expectations (+14.5% m/m vs expectations of 5.0% m/m)

• New Home Sales came in below analyst's expectations (1.1% m/m vs expectations of -3.1% m/m)

• Initial Jobless Claims came in below analyst's expectations (191k claims vs 197k claims)