Florida Mortgage Trends

Friday’s bond market has opened down slightly as stocks close the week with a rally. The stock markets are reacting favorably to a couple of factors, primarily strong earnings news this week. The Dow is currently up 157 points while the Nasdaq has gained 34 points. The bond market is currently down 5/32, but we should still see an improvement in this morning’s mortgage rates of approximately .125 of a discount point.

There is nothing of importance scheduled for release today. This leaves the bond market and mortgage rates exposed solely to stock market movement. Despite the strong open in stocks, bond market losses are relatively minimal and the mortgage market is still positive. This indicates that bond traders aren’t too concerned with this morning’s stock rally. The good news is that if the major stock indexes do move a little higher, we probably will not see bonds react and mortgage rates revise higher. On the other hand, if the major indexes give back some of this morning’s gains, it is unlikely that we will see mortgage rates revise lower this afternoon. In other words, it appears that we are going to have a calm afternoon in mortgage rates unless something very much unexpected happens.

Next week is fairly active in terms of relevant economic reports. There are a handful of reports scheduled in addition to two potentially influential Treasury auctions the middle part of the week. We have data being posted each day of the week except Monday, meaning mortgage rate movement will be left to news from over the weekend and that day’s morning stock movement.

One of the reports we do get next week is the highly important initial reading to the 3rd quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) next Thursday. It is the total sum of all goods and services produced in the U.S. and is considered to be the most important and most reliable measure of economic growth. It will be the focal point next week and could help direct mortgage rates for the next couple weeks. Look for more details on the week’s events and economic reports in Sunday’s weekly preview.