The 30 year fixed rate mortgage moved a bit last week but not by much and still well below the 4.00% mark. According to Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey, the 30 year note rose from 3.83% the previous week to 3.87%. The 15 year fixed rate product increased five basis points to finish out at 3.15%.

Click here to check today’s rates and lock in your loan.

This week is full of rate-influencing reports like the Unemployment Report and Nonfarm Payroll count.

These two reports will be released this Friday, one week later than normal due to the holidays. The November job count showed 321,000 new jobs created and the stock market took the news well while mortgage bonds began to deteriorate somewhat.

Locking Strategy This Week

If the nonfarm payroll report shows another robust 300,000+ number of new employees in the workforce, we could see continued weakness in mortgage bonds, kicking rates up above 4.00%.

Those who want to safeguard their purchase or refinance transaction against rising rates would be wise to lock by Wednesday.

Click here to get a rate quote and lock in your loan rate.

2015 Housing Market

The housing market in the U.S. could be strong in 2015. If GDP continues to show strong gains and we’re witnessing respectable job creation, both sales of existing as well as new homes should gather steam.

Interest rates should also stay within their relative range as long as the European and Asian economies continue to falter. While investors worldwide are watching the Fed for any reaction to the positive economic news in the States, countries overseas are trying every trick in the bag to get their economies back on track.

Continued weakness abroad would keep global funds pouring into U.S. stocks as well as bonds. That will keep mortgage rates low giving current and future homeowners a chance to lock in low payments for the foreseeable future.

Click here to take advantage of today’s historically low rates.