Thursday: Unemployment Claims, Pending Home Sales

On mortgage rates from Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: Mortgage Rates Back to Long Term Lows After Fed

Mortgage rates fell again today, and while the move wasn't big, it was enough to bring most lenders back in line with the best rates from two weeks ago. Those have the added distinction of being the best rates since May 2013. At these levels, 3.625% is widely available as a top tier conforming 30yr fixed quote and a few lenders are quoting 3.5%.

CR Note: The Ten Year yield declined to 1.72% from 1.83% yesterday. The low for the Ten Year yield was 1.4% back in July 2012.

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to decrease to 300 thousand from 307 thousand.

• At 10:00 AM, Pending Home Sales Index for December. The consensus is for a 0.5% increase in the index.

• Also at 10:00 AM, the Q4 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership report from the Census Bureau. This report is frequently mentioned by analysts and the media to report on the homeownership rate, and the homeowner and rental vacancy rates. However, this report doesn't track with other measures (like the decennial Census and the ACS).