By Jeff Harding
I got this from Calculated Risk.
30 year mortgage rates are creeping up according to the Mortgage Bankers Association:
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.31 percent from 5.05 percent, with points increasing to 1.18 from 1.12 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
Also loan applications are up 2.8% over the prior week.
These things fluctuate with 10 year Treasuries, the yield on which which dropped about 15 basis points on Monday and have gone up about 10 basis points since Tuesday.
Yesterday Ben Bernanke, in commenting on the Fed’s exit strategy (i.e., reduce money supply to thwart inflation), said:
Overall, the Federal Reserve has many effective tools to tighten monetary policy when the economic outlook requires us to do so. As my colleagues and I have stated, however, economic conditions are not likely to warrant tighter monetary policy for an extended period. We will calibrate the timing and pace of any future tightening, together with the mix of tools to best foster our dual objectives of maximum employment and price stability.
Ben, you’re jumping the gun here! I thought you could control interest rates.
