The Week in Review:

Market movements last week were primarily a result of the reactions to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and unrest in the Middle East. Interest rates improved by the middle of the week but were unable to stay at those levels. On the week, home loan rates decreased by about .125%.

What to Expect:

News from Japan continues to improve. As we discussed last week, once the situation is in hand, we expect interest rates to rise again.

Also, the US Treasury announced it will begin selling its mortgage-backed security holdings. They bought MBS in 2008 and 2009 to bring interest rates down. The planned selling will most likely pressure interest rates higher.

With these facts, we believe rates are likely to increase over the course of the week.

Breg-ometer:

Next 7 Days: Rates up
Next 30 Days: Rates up
Next 90 Days: Rates up

Courtesy of:

Bob Bregitzer
Southeast Mortgage

[where: 30339]