Mortgage Rate Report for Week Of 1/10/11
Demand for housing is fueled by consumer confidence levels. And nothing impacts those levels more than how consumers feel about the job market. We had three major releases last week that gave us a better understanding of the employment picture.
First up were the Challenger Job Cuts report. This measures the number of layoffs announced by corporations. They reported that layoffs decreased by 34% in December. Next up was the ADP Private Payroll report. They measure non-farm and non-government hiring. This report showed a gain of 297,000 jobs in December which was one of the strongest increases on record. Lastly, the Labor Department reported that the national Unemployment Rate declined from 9.8% to 9.4% which is the lowest reading in 1 1/2 years.
While we certainly still have a lot of ground to make up in the job market, the above news is good for housing and certainly mirrors last month’s gains in both Existing Home Sales and Pending Home Sales.
What Happened to Rates Last Week:
Mortgage backed securities (MBS) moved sideways last week but we certainly did see some big swings in mortgage rates during the middle of the week. The very strong ADP Private Payroll data pushed mortgage rates upward on Wednesday but rates moved backed down after Friday’s Unemployment report.
What to Watch Out For This Week:
The following are the major economic reports that will hit the market this week. They each have the ability to affect the pricing of Mortgage Backed Securities and therefore, interest rates for Government and Conventional mortgages. I will be watching these reports closely for you and let you know if there are any big surprises:
| Date | ET | Release | For |
| 11-Jan | 10:00 | Wholesale Inventories | Nov |
| 12-Jan | 7:00 | MBA Mortgage Purchase Index | 7-Jan |
| 12-Jan | 8:30 | Export Prices ex-ag. | Dec |
| 12-Jan | 8:30 | Import Prices ex-oil | Dec |
| 12-Jan | 10:30 | Crude Inventories | 8-Jan |
| 12-Jan | 14:00 | Treasury Budget | Dec |
| 12-Jan | 14:00 | Fed’s Beige Book | Jan |
| 13-Jan | 8:30 | Initial Claims | 8-Jan |
| 13-Jan | 8:30 | Continuing Claims | 1-Jan |
| 13-Jan | 8:30 | PPI | Dec |
| 13-Jan | 8:30 | Core PPI | Dec |
| 13-Jan | 8:30 | Trade Balance | Nov |
| 14-Jan | 8:30 | CPI | Dec |
| 14-Jan | 8:30 | Core CPI | Dec |
| 14-Jan | 8:30 | Retail Sales | Dec |
| 14-Jan | 8:30 | Retail Sales ex-auto | Dec |
| 14-Jan | 9:15 | Industrial Production | Dec |
| 14-Jan | 9:15 | Capacity Utilization | Dec |
| 14-Jan | 9:55 | Mich Sentiment | Jan |
| 14-Jan | 10:00 | Business Inventories | Nov |
