Last Week's Mortgage Rate Recap: Rates moved lower 👍
Mortgage rates improved as inflation data last week came in even better than expected, showing dropping inflation and supporting the belief that the Fed will cut policy rates up to three times this year starting at September's Fed meeting.
This Week's Mortgage Rate Forecast: Rates could improve slightly 👍
Rates are now at some of the lowest levels of the year, but aren't likely to move much lower this week. Mortgage rates are heavily influenced by inflation, the labor market, and forecasts of when and how much the Fed will cut policy rates. With this month's big labor and inflation reports behind us, we won't likely see mortgage rates make any big moves this week.
What's affecting rates this week:
- The Fed: Fed officials are out in force this week speaking, the last week they can do so before the blackout period enforced ahead of every Fed meeting. Despite this month's data, Fed officials are likely to signal support for keeping policy rates unchanged further into the year. Because markets don't expect the Fed will be able to avoid cutting rates as soon as September, the Fed speeches are unlikely to hurt or help mortgage rates.
- Economic data: Not a lot of data this week that will affect rates.