Last Week's Mortgage Rate Recap: Rates ended unchanged
After rising in recent weeks, rates hit a ceiling midweek and then began to improve, finishing the week roughly unchanged. Inflation came in slightly better than expected but still increased, with signs that tariffs are starting to impact prices.
This Week's Mortgage Rate Forecast: Rates could improve
With little economic data on the calendar, rates will likely stay relatively flat this week, aside from typical day-to-day fluctuations. Rates are much more likely to see movement next week with the Fed meeting and labor market data.
What’s affecting rates this week:
- Tariff headlines: Markets will keep reacting to tariff headlines, including potential retaliation from other countries. August 1 is the current deadline, though past deadlines have often been delayed or ignored.
-Talk of firing Powell: There has been lots of talk of President Trump attempting to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, despite laws protecting Powell's job. Markets speculate that if Trump were to replace Powell with someone willing to cut the Fed policy rate, it would likely lead to more inflation, which would be bad for mortgage rates. However, it is still considered unlikely that Trump would take this step.