Sometimes it is a single, identifiable event that pushes mortgage rates one way or another. Last week, global traders had a plethora of reasons to push even more cash into US bonds and Treasuries. While there is no one cataclysmic event pushing money into the US market, jitters are growing. From evidence of slowing growth in China, to the continuing saga of the Eurozone’s situation, to the unknown impacts of the crash of the price of oil, tehre were plenty of reaons to look for a “safe” place to park cash. If the international situation wasn’t enough to make analysts nervous, then an unexpected rop in US Retail Sales and Industrial Production more than filled the bill. The net benefit was that mortgage rates once again dipped lower, causing a large upstick in applications.

Often, after a couple of weeks of relatively strong movements in one direction, mortgage rates will reverse course and move back the other way, at least a little. With a week of limited US economic data, this will likely be the case, unless something significant happens outside of the United States.