First and foremost, we hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year’s! Here’s to a prosperous 2012!

Mortgage rates are starting 2012 near the all time record lows they reach multiple times in 2011. That’s great news for those looking to purchase a new home or looking to refinance their existing mortgage to a lower rate and or take out cash.

Mortgage Rates Moving Forward this Week

There are a few pieces of data being released this week that could move mortgage rates, but the Employment report on Friday is the big report of the week. Positive data for employment may mean that mortgage rates could move higher since mortgage rates tend to move down with bad economic news and up with good economic news.

This inverse relationship is due to investors moving their money away from stocks and into bonds (causing mortgage rates to decrease ) when bad news is reported and investors moving their money away from bonds and into stocks (causing mortgage rates to increase ) when good news is reported.

Economic Calendar for Week of January 3, 2011

• Monday – New Year’s Day Observed
• Tuesday – Construction Spending, FOMC Minutes
• Wednesday – Factory Orders
• Thursday – ADP Employment Report, ISM Non-mfg Index
• Friday – Employment Situation