Rates Starting to Fall Following Central Bank Comments

Mortgage rates were largely flat for the week, but have started to fall after blockbuster announcements from central banks on each side of the Atlantic.

Rates have remained mostly stable in recent weeks, sticking near their lowest levels in nearly 21 months. Markets hotly anticipated this week’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), but it was the European Central Bank that first jolted rates from their generally sideways movement this week.

On Tuesday, ECB President Mario Draghi suggested that more stimulus was likely in the coming months, in comments that sent bond yields sharply downward. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell followed suit on Wednesday, holding the federal funds rate steady but suggesting that the Fed would be open to cutting rates in the coming months should the current economic outlook fail to improve. Bond yields fell sharply again, hitting their lowest levels since the 2016 election day.

Mortgage rates are likely to follow in tow for the short term, although it’s unclear how long these low rates will last. While returns to autumn highs are unlikely in the short term, some sectors of the economy remain very strong. Should more encouraging signals arise – particularly improvements in inflation or positive developments in the U.S.-China trade discussions – the case for a Fed rate cut would weaken and mortgage rates would likely be back on the rise.