Retail Sales Are Up!

 An Article from Mortgage Success Source says there was positive news last week as retail sales increased 1.1% in February, up from 0.2% in January. This marked the largest gain in the retail sales number in five months. In addition, although the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) confidence index is still historically low, they reported that its small business confidence had inched higher in February.

Inflation was another key story to note from last week. The Producer Price Index met expectations, showing that inflation at the wholesale level remains moderate. However, the Consumer Price Index rose by 0.7% in February, coming in above the 0.5% expected. This was also a spike from the recent negative and flat numbers. Inflation continues to remain within the Fed's target range.

What does all of this mean for home loan rates? Good economic reports, like the Retail Sales Report, means investors are continuing to move money out of bonds and into riskier assets like stocks to try to take advantage of gains. However, the Fed continues purchasing $85 billion in bonds every month as part of their bond purchase program known as Quantitative Easing. And the uncertainty in Europe continues, meaning some investors will likely continue their safe haven trade into our bond market. Overall, this should help keep mortgage bonds, and therefore home loan rates, which are tied to mortgage bonds, near record best levels.

Home loan rates remain near historic lows, meaning now is a great time to consider a home purchase or refinance.