Mortgage Rates Increased This Week Ahead of Jackson Hole Conference

Mortgage rates pressed higher this week as investors ingested a slew of strong economic data and prepared for a key speech on the path forward for monetary policy. Stronger-than-expected economic data in recent months, uncertainty over the path forward of real interest rates, and rising risks of higher inflation have continued to cause longer term yields and mortgage rates to move higher. 

Looking ahead, this week, investors will be keeping a close eye on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium this Friday. Signals that Chair Powell believes that more monetary policy tightening is needed in order to further stem inflation will likely push Treasury yields – and the mortgage rates that follow them – up even further.