Weekly Mortgage Rate Update- 05-15-2024

Without any major economic reports last week, the rate markets have been quietly digesting the recent slowing in the job market and last week’s uptick in unemployment claims.  No alarm bells ringing just yet, but if you squint really hard you can see it coming over the horizon. We need more data to confirm it’s not a one off.  Markets are grasping for any clues they can right now.

Tomorrow could have a big clue on inflation when CPI for April is released.  Every month this year, this report has surprised to the upside.  Will that streak break tomorrow?  Markets are betting on a softer inflation reading so it is going to be painful if that doesn’t materialize. If It does come in lighter for April, rates are set to improve.

 

Speaking of clues, today brought April’s PPI report , this is the Producer Price Index that shows the inflation reading on costs going into production, so it is seen as a good forecast for future inflation in consumer prices.   It came in higher than expected at 0.5% for the month when 0.2% expected, that’s double expectations. But the market reaction was muted because the March PPI reading was actually revised to a negative reading of -0.1%, making it flat overall when looking at both month’s report.  PPI doesn’t always forecast the CPI reading, so markets are still on hold for that to hit tomorrow morning. 

And if you want more clues on how the consumer is doing, retail sales will also be released tomorrow. I think we will have a lot more to talk about next week so we will keep it short and sweet today. 

 

Loan Type	Conventional 30 year	Conventional 15 year	FHA 30 year	VA 30 Year
Interest rate	6.875%	6.25%	6.25%	6.25%
APR	7.069%*	6.384%*	6.984%**	6.311%***

 

 

 

 

* Specific loan program availability and requirements may vary. Please get in touch with your mortgage advisor for more information.