This week is packed with scheduled economic indicators that may influence mortgage rates. Let's face it, mortgage rates have been extremely low and have been for quite a while. Its very easy to assume they will stay this way for months or a few years – do keep in mind that this is an election year and, even if not an election year, things change. Even when rates stay low, banks may add on risk based pricing or price a program to where it's not very attractive to control their inventory. All I'm trying to say is please don't take the current low interest rate environment for granted. With that said, here are some of the economic indicators scheduled to be released this week that may impact mortgage rates:
Monday, July 16: Retail Sales and Empire State Index. NOTE: Retail sales came in weaker than expected today.
Tuesday, July 17: Consumer Price Index, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization. NOTE: Fed Chairman Bernanke is on Capitol Hill tomorrow and Wednesday for his semi-annual testimony on the economy.
Wednesday, July 18: Housing Starts, Building Permits and the Beige Book
Thursday, July 19: Initial Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales and the Philadelphia Fed Index
I'm writing this post late Monday evening taking in the last of the Seattle sunset. I am astonished at how low mortgage rates have been for this amount of time. Despite the low mortgage rates, mortgages are getting a little trickier to obtain depending on your circumstance. Many banks are turning their noses up at borrowers who do not have their existing mortgage with them – pretty pathetic when you consider how much our of tax dollars went to bailing them out, in my humble opinion.
If you would like me to provide a mortgage rate quote for your home purchase or refinance on a home located anywhere in the beautiful State of Washington, please click here. We are a correspondent lender who has been serving Washington since 1976.
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