Last Week's Mortgage Rate Recap: Rates improved 👍
Mortgage rates remained unchanged for much of last week, moving lower Thursday and Friday on economic and labor market data. Although more jobs were created last month than expected, prior months were revised to have less jobs created than originally reported, with higher unemployment and lower wages in February.
This Week's Mortgage Rate Forecast: Rates will be volatile and could move higher ⚠️
This week has a few rate moving reports, with Tuesday's inflation data being the biggest. If you are in process with a mortgage application, you may want to talk with your mortgage pro about locking Monday ahead of this data. There is less risk for loans closing April or later.
What's affecting rates this week:
- Inflation data: Tuesday AM brings the CPI inflation data, and traders anticipating it could come in showing inflation continued to heat up in February. Last month's report showed hotter inflation, and mortgage rates moved higher and didn't fall again for three weeks. Thursday brings wholesale inflation, which has much less effect on rates.
- Other economic data: Thursday and Friday bring other economic reports like consumer sentiment and retail sales that could influence mortgage rates to end the week.