Mortgage Rates Mixed

Mortgage rates were mixed today as some banks were higher and others lower, but only in relationship to the fees that are charged for the specific rate.  The FOMC minutes came out this afternoon. Lots of chatter but in the big picture the Fed is still waffling as we knew with Yellen’s press conference and the policy statement at the December meeting when the Fed increased the FF rate for the first time last year.

Tomorrow ADP will report its December jobs, with a number expected at 172K jobs after increasing 216K in November. Also, tomorrow December ISM services sector index will come out.

Bond markets seem to be planting their heels in the mid 2's on the 10yr bond.  It is good news to see rates hold steady here, but we cannot assume this is a firm ceiling yet.  We must wait to see what the next couple of days of data brings to the table. 

In summary, there is still no definitive trend here, and I do not see the potential for meaningful pricing improvement until we get some bearish economic data.  The smart move (to me) remains to lock, but floating COULD yield some small gains, but likely not enough to justify the risk for all but the most risk tolerant clients.