At the time I am writing this, mortgage interest rates are less than 1/8th of a percent lower than they were last Friday.

More positive economic news this week, putting upward pressure on interest rates. On Wednesday the February retail sales report was released and it came in better than expected. The fact that consumers are spending money shows that the economy is getting back on track. On Thursday the unemployment claims figure was released and it also came in better than expected. The 4 month average of claims hit a 5 year low. We also saw some positive numbers out of Europe. The European economy is still shrinking but it looks like they will be on the road to recovery as early as next year.

Once again as the economy is showing signs of recovering it gives the Federal Reserve (Fed) less reason to keep rates low. Fed President Ben Bernanke has stated that they will continue to deflate interest rates through their quantitative easing program as long as unemployment is high. The reports coming out the last two week is showing that unemployment numbers are improving. I don't think the Fed will end their QE program any time soon, but it might be sooner than what was previously expected.

Today we did see some negative economic reports which temporarily reversed the upward trend on rates. Dips like today's should be used to lock in rates. Look for interest rates to slowly increase as the economy continues to improve. There will be dips along the way since the market never moves in straight line, but the long term outlook for rates is not good.