• This week brings us the release of only three monthly economic reports and none of them are considered to be a major release. In addition to the data there are also a couple of Treasury auctions and a summit with U.S. and China taking place.

 • There is no relevant economic data scheduled for release tomorrow, Tuesday or Wednesday.

 • Now that the FOMC meeting is behind us, so is the mandatory quiet period where Fed members do not publicly speak about the economy or monetary policy issues. The new post-FOMC week has plenty of these Fed speeches scheduled, but most have irrelevant topics and are not likely to affect mortgage rates.

 • The first scheduled activity is the 5-year Treasury Note auction results at 1:00 PM ET Wednesday. If the results announcement indicates investor demand was strong, particularly from international buyers, the broader bond market could move a bit higher, pushing mortgage rates slightly lower Wednesday afternoon. This scenario will be repeated Thursday when 7-year Notes are sold.

 • Thursday morning's release of August's New Home Sales report will start this week's economic data. It is expected to show sales of newly constructed homes rose modestly last month. We don't expect the report to have a noticeable impact on mortgage rates unless it differs greatly from forecasts, partly because it covers only a small portion of all home sales in the U.S. Good news for rates would be a large decline.

 • Also Thursday is the start of the U.S. – China Summit in Washington D.C. where President Trump will host President Xi. Topics are expected to range from trade and tariffs to rare-earth mineral agreements and geopolitical situations such as Taiwan and the Middle East conflict. We will be watching for headlines that may be relevant to mortgage rates.

 • Next up is August's Durable Goods Orders at 8:30 AM ET Friday that indicates manufacturing sector strength by tracking orders for big-ticket items at U.S. factories for products such as airplanes, appliances and electronics. Analysts are expecting to see a 0.4% decline in new orders. A larger decline should help boost bond prices and cause mortgage rates to move lower Friday because signs of economic weakness make longer-term securities more appealing to investors.

 • Closing out this week's calendar will be the University of Michigan's revised Index of Consumer Sentiment for September at 10:00 AM ET Friday. The preliminary reading that was released earlier this month showed a 51.7 reading. Analysts are expecting to see a decline. Waning confidence is good news for bonds because consumers that are worried about their own financial and employment situations are less likely to make a large purchase in the near future, limiting economic growth. Accordingly, a lower than expected reading would be favorable news for rates.

 • Overall, no day stands out as the most important for mortgage rates with no key data scheduled for release. It is unclear what the summit may yield, particularly that the bond market may be interested in, so it is a wild card.

 • Middle East headlines and oil price movement may also come into play, especially the early days when nothing else is scheduled.

 • While this doesn’t appear that this week is going to be overly active in terms of market and mortgage rates changes, it still is possible for them to get volatile without notice. Therefore, it would be wise to keep an eye on the markets if still floating an interest rate and closing soon.

 • Visit our Daily Commentary page on our site for detailed explanations on current news that is relevant to mortgage rates.

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If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.