For the week of October 31, 2022
Recap of last week: Rates improved
Mortgage rates improved for the first time in weeks last week, mainly due to market speculation that the Fed would "pivot" - meaning the Fed would ease back on the next few rate hikes and hike in smaller increments, and ultimately stop with rates lower than was previously expected. Mortgage rates react early to expected Fed moves, so this helped mortgage rates to improve for the week.
Mortgage Rate Forecast: Rates could be volatile
The Fed meets this week and will make their policy statement on Wednesday at 2pm ET, with a press conference from Fed Chair Jerome Powell to follow at 2:30pm ET. It is expected the Fed will raise policy rates by .75% at this meeting, but all focus will be on any signals of the next moves at the December and February meetings. If expectations are that the Fed will slow down on rate hikes, that could be good for rates. If not, we could see rates suffer.
What's affecting rates this week:
- Economic data: We will get jobs data on Friday, which could cause more rate volatility depending on how the week plays out.
- Overseas Central Banks: The Bank of England will meet on Thursday, and we could see some early morning rate volatility depending on how markets react to their moves.
