In the last two weeks mortgage interest rates have increased by almost a quarter point. We have been expecting rates to increase as the Federal Reserve finished buying mortgage backed securities last month.
Last week the employment report from March was better than expected, this week one of the treasury auctions was worse than expected. There was other economic news that was positive and all of that combined for an increase in interest rates. Wednesday the treasury auction was better than expected and that helped rates come back just a little.
The Federal Reserve met last month and released a statement, this week the minutes from that meeting were released. Mortgage investors look to the minutes for clues about what the Fed is doing and planning in the next meeting. This week's minutes showed that the Fed is not concerned about inflation at this point and that helps interest rates remain low. As soon as the Fed starts to be concerned about inflation, we will see rates rise and possibly very quickly.
If you are buying a home or thinking about refinancing and are concerned about interest rates, you may want to move sooner than later. If reports continue to come in showing improvement in the economy, we will more than likely see interest rates continue to increase.
