Last Week's Mortgage Rate Recap: Rates improved
Mortgage rates dipped early in the week, but stalled after the Fed meeting and Chair Powell’s press conference led markets to scale back expectations for a September Fed rate cut. However, Friday's jobs data, including huge downward revisions to the prior two months, raised concerns about the labor market and renewed optimism that the Fed would be forced to cut rates, helping push mortgage rates lower for the week.
This Week's Mortgage Rate Forecast: Rates could move lower
This week does not have a lot of economic data to help move mortgage rates lower, but we could see them drift lower anyway.
What’s affecting rates this week:
- Economic data: This week has some Treasury bond auctions and a few smaller economic reports, but nothing that is expected to make a splash in mortgage rates. Instead, traders will be waiting to see what next week's inflation data brings.
- The Fed: Markets are now overwhelmingly expecting the Fed to start cutting rates in September, and are even pricing in possible cuts at each of this year's three remaining meetings. If that sentiment shifts and markets start to doubt those cuts, mortgage rates could creep higher. But for now, that risk seems low for this week.