Orlando Mortgage Update: Mortgage Rate Outlook for the Week of October 5, 2009

Orlando mortgage rates looked great for most of last week, but took a bit of a hit on Friday  – sending rates lower overall for the second week in a row.

There were two main reasons Wall-Street reacted negatively at week’s end.   The first was data-driven, while the second represents more of a “feeling things out” vibe among analysts.

Data wise – the few months leading up to September brought us better than expected payroll data.  However, once September hit, things turned south.  As such, we saw the September Non-Farm Payrolls report fall well short of expectations.

According to the data, 250,000 jobs were lost last month, raising the 12-month total to 5.75 million.  Not surprisingly, this increase in job losses sparked lower consumer confidence figures.  This brings us to the “feeling things out” part of our story line.

Analysts look at the job numbers are are openly wondering how the economy will ever begin to expand.  This is not good. – especially with the Holiday Shopping season just beginning to take off.

All of this “wondering” was enough to cast a shadow over the good Pending Home Sales numbers we saw last week.  On the whole, both Pending Home Sales and the Case-Shiller Index showed promise.

For the week ahead, the economic data coming out will be on the slim side.  As such, Orlando home loan rate shoppers can expect the “feeling things out” vibe to play an important role in the direction of mortgage rates.

The last two times that mortgage rates fell to these levels, they quickly rose again.   All the pieces are in place for that to happen again.