Forecast for the week of March 18, 2024
Please enjoy this complimentary mortgage rate forecast provided to keep you informed of where interest rates may be headed, and to help you gain the advantage in securing low rates and payments.
Last Week’s Mortgage Rate Recap:
Rates moved higher
Mortgage rates moved quite a bit higher last week, giving up all of the gains seen earlier in March. Rates moved higher due to hotter inflation and strong economic data that make it much less likely the Fed will need to cut rates anytime soon.
This Week’s Mortgage Rate Forecast:
Rates will be volatile and could move higher
This week has the potential to open the door for rates to move even higher, or to settle back down a bit, depending on how Wednesday’s Fed meeting and press conference play out.
What’s affecting rates this week:
- Fed meeting: Wednesday at 2pm ET, the Fed is expected to leave policy rates unchanged, but will signal what may come at future meetings in its policy statement.
- Fed rate forecasts: At this meeting, Fed members will make their anonymous forecasts for where policy rates will end this year and the next few years. The last projection was for three Fed rate cuts in 2024, and if that falls to two cuts it could pressure mortgage rates higher.
- Powell press conference: Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30pm ET Wednesday is likely to cause volatility in mortgage rates, causing lender repricing and setting the direction for rates over the next few weeks.
If you have questions, would like to discuss interest rates further, or find out the benefits of locking your rate today, we’d love to help! Please contact us HERE.