Your Daily Mortgage Commentary & Rate Lock Advice for Massachusetts Mortgage Rates
Courtesy of the Massachusetts Mortgage Broker
March’s Goods and Services Trade Balance report will be released early Wednesday morning. This report gives us the size of the U.S. trade deficit but likely will not have much of an impact on the bond market or Massachusetts mortgage rates. It is expected to show a $40.0 billion trade deficit, but it is the least important of this week’s data and likely will have little impact on Wednesday’s mortgage rates.
The Treasury will hold a 10-year Note sale Wednesday and a 30-year Bond sale Thursday. Results of the auctions will be posted at 1:30 PM ET each day. If they are met with a strong demand from investors, we could see bond prices rise enough during afternoon trading to cause downward revisions to Massachusetts mortgage rates. However, lackluster bidding in the sale could lead to higher mortgage pricing those afternoons.
The remaining three economic reports will be released Friday morning. The first is the most important piece of data of the week. April’s Retail Sales will be released at 8:30 AM ET. It is an extremely important report for the financial markets since it measures consumer spending. Consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, so this data can have a pretty significant impact on the markets. Current forecasts are calling for a 0.2% increase in sales from March to April. A weaker than expected level of sales should push bond prices higher and Massachusetts mortgage rates lower Friday morning. However, a larger increase could fuel fears of economic growth that would lead to bond selling and higher mortgage rates.
The second report of the day is April’s Industrial Production. It measures manufacturing sector strength by tracking output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities. It is expected to show a 0.6% increase in production, indicating that manufacturing activity is growing. A smaller than expected increase in output would be good news for the bond market and Massachusetts mortgage rates because it would indicate that the manufacturing sector is not as strong as thought.
The last report of the week is May’s preliminary reading to the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment. This index measures consumer willingness to spend, which relates to the importance of consumer spending. This report usually has a moderate impact on the financial markets though. It is expected to show a reading of 73.5, which would be a little higher than last month’s final reading. If it shows a decline in consumer confidence, bond prices could rise and Massachusetts mortgage rates would move slightly lower, assuming the Retail Sales data does not give us a significant surprise.
Overall, it likely will be another active week for Massachusetts mortgage rates, but probably not as much as last week was. Besides the week’s important economic news, look for the stock markets to be a major influence on trading. The most important day of the week is Friday with three reports on the agenda, including the sales data. But I would not be surprised to see a particularly active day tomorrow, especially if the stock markets post sizable gains or losses. Accordingly, please be attentive to the markets if still floating an interest rate.
If I were considering purchasing or refinancing a home and predicting likely Massachusetts mortgage rates, I would…
Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days…
Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days…
Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days…
Lock if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now.
This is only a general opinion of what I would do if I were considering whether to lock or float a Massachusetts mortgage based on the current mortgage market. Your individual situation may be different. Contact me if you would like advice for your particular circumstances.
Copyright : Mortgage Commentary
Geof McLaughlin, better known as The Massachusetts Mortgage Broker, is a nationally acclaimed mortgage professional committed to educating and empowering consumers about all things mortgage through his popular Massachusetts Mortgage Broker blog.
Geof is a top loan originator for one of the country’s leading mortgage companies, Mortgage Master Inc, with a proven reputation of offering its clients the best Massachusetts mortgage rates and lowest closing costs. He can be reached directly at 508.656.0055 or at geof@MAMortgageBroker.com.
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