Quiet week, very little change in mortgage rates.

Happy Friday from Local Mortgage!

A fairly quiet and somewhat calm mortgage market this week caused very little change in rates. We are still at 6.5% for most 30-year fixed conventional scenarios.

It was a slow week for economic data so most of the focus was on Wednesday’s FED meeting. The FED committee believes that despite last week’s negative GDP, economic conditions remain relatively solid despite stubborn elevated inflation. Chairman Powell continues to emphasize that the FED will take a wait and see approach to future monetary policy, especially with the uncertainty around the impact of tariffs. The Chairman went on to state that he doesn’t believe much progress will be made towards the FED’s goals this year if tariffs remain in place.

The economic data released this week had very little impact. The Institute of Supply Management’s Servicers PMI, which is a measure of prices, inventories and employment, came in higher than expected. Future and continued increases in this index could lead to higher prices and increased inflationary pressure.

Also of note, the US Trade Deficit surged to a record high of $140 billion in March as companies and consumers rushed to purchase goods at pre tariff prices. Global tariffs are set to rise significantly in the coming months, but many countries are reportedly negotiating agreements ahead of the deadline. US Trade numbers will certainly get more attention in the coming months.

Next week we will get inflation data on Tuesday with the Consumer Price Index, Retail Sales on Thursday and Housing Starts on Friday.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for reading.