Atlanta Mortgage Rate Update - 6/5/2006

Financial news was a mixed bag last week resulting in little change to mortgage rates. The Fed meeting minutes were released showing that there is some dissention in the ranks. Some members indicating they wanted a 50 basis point hike last meeting, some indicating they wanted no hike at all. Looks like they settled in the middle.

Statistics really gave them no new direction last week either. The jobs report showed slower than expected new job growth, but the unemployment rate is now the lowest it's been since 2001.

This week is a slow one. The only report of any note is Thursday morning's initial jobless claims report. However, we are still maintaining a lock early strategy for all of our customers at this point. Rates still appear to be headed steadily upward. We continue to recommend our 60 day lock with the one-time float down option as the appropriate strategy for this environment.