Mortgage Rates Steady Ahead of Jobs Report

Mortgage rates are steady ahead of the Jobs Report at the end of this week that could show some volatility between now and then.  The most prevalently quoted conforming 30yr fixed rates for top tier borrowers was still at 4.125%, but 4.0% was again still there with fees.

Not much movement again today in the MBS and Treasury Markets - stock indexes also marking time ahead of employment on Friday.  Sept factory orders this morning were down as was widely expected – as we have seen a very volatile series over the last three months. Market bulls discount any negative headline these days with explanations that seem to hold water but it is a leaking bucket. Factory orders in the US will continue to slow as long as the US dollar continues to rise against the yen and euro currency. That said, currently markets’ thoughts are directed to the data that is better than estimates such as the Oct ISM manufacturing released on Monday. Tomorrow the Oct ISM services sector index is expected at 58.0 from 58.6 in Sept. The estimate is the same as the forecasts for the manufacturing index that was expected to be slightly lower but was better than thought. Also tomorrow at 7:15 ADP will report its private jobs data, expected at an increase of 230K jobs.

All of our technical models and chart formations are now completely neutral – not bullish, but also not bearish.  That condition is not likely to last through the week; Friday’s employment and Thursday’s ECB meeting will take the rate markets into a directional move, one way or the other. In the meantime, we don’t want to play in the sand box.

In summary, another day spent waiting for rates to decide where they are going, and no answer yet. We will know far more throughout this week as we get jobs numbers and economic data. Tight deals who cannot qualify with higher rates/costs need to lock, others will depend on borrowers' risk tolerance! 

Remember, if you want to know the benefits of locking your rate today versus floating, simply give me a call at 314-744-7806 or visit me on my website at www.CallTheMoneyMan.com. I have access to real time Wall St. data and instant market alerts with breaking news that I monitor throughout the day to assist us on making the informed decision.