Mortgage Interest Rates Unchanged for the week

Interest rates for buying a home on the Palos Verdes Peninsula were unchanged for the week.The following are excerpts from the newsletter on interest rates published by HSH Associates :

"Mortgage rates wobbled about this week, mostly directionless with average rates for some products easing slightly and some ticking higher. The financial markets did have an unexpected event to manage as China's central bank devalued the yuan in an attempt to stimulate an economy that's growing more slowly than they would prefer. Such a move -- as in currency devaluations that have already taken place in other economies -- tend to strengthen the dollar and crimp manufacturing and export efforts here even as it tends suppress prices of imported goods.

Markets did initially react to this, and some Treasury yields dipped a little, but mortgage rates ignored this for the most part. It appears that the markets ultimately judged that if China is looking to boost its economy, this would tend to help global growth which in turn would generally be a good thing.

For their part, mortgage rates and markets are keyed on the Fed, as any change to policy which may come will also bring the end of the Fed's money-recycling program, which is still providing important support in keeping mortgage rates and Treasury bond yields lower than they would otherwise be absent the program.

Mortgage rates really have no place to go at the moment, so we're most likely to continue to wander around next week. We'll get some fresh look at whether an improving economy and highly favorable mortgage rates continued to help the housing market, with information coming in the form of the NAHB's monthly release, housing starts and existing home sales. We'll see a measure of consumer prices (likely a small measure, at that) and a couple of regional takes on manufacturing.

For our part, we'll be keen to read the minutes of the last Fed meeting, due out Wednesday, in hopes of finding any harder evidence about the Fed's intentions.

Between now and next Friday, there's about an equal chance for mortgage rates to add or shed a couple (perhaps a few) basis points as the summer doldrums are likely to persist for a least a bit yet.

The following are interest rates quotes from American California Financial: