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New home sales for June jump an unexpected 11 percent, increasing largely due to a return of investors to the real estate market. CNBC's Diana Olick reports.

There are several important reports scheduled for release this week that are likely to affect mortgage pricing. The first is tomorrow's release of June's New Home Sales that gives us a measurement of housing sector strength and mortgage credit demand. It is expected to show an increase in sales of newly constructed homes, indicating that the housing sector gained some strength. That would be considered negative news for bonds, but since this data tracks only 25% of all home sales it usually has little impact on the bond market and mortgage rates unless it varies greatly from forecasts.

The Conference Board will post their Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for July late Tuesday morning. This index measures consumer sentiment, giving us an idea of consumer willingness to spend. This is important because consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy. If the CCI reading is weaker than expected, we may see bond prices rise and mortgage rates drop Tuesday. Current forecasts are calling for a reading of 48.7, which would be a lightly lower reading than June's reading.

Wednesday brings us two events that are relevant to mortgage rates. The first will come from the Commerce Department when they will post June's Durable Goods Orders at 8:30 AM ET. Current forecasts are currently calling for a decline in news orders of 0.5% from May to June. This data gives us an indication of manufacturing sector strength by tracking orders at U.S. factories for big-ticket items. These are products that are expected to last at least three years. A stronger than expected number may lead to higher mortgage rates Wednesday morning. If it reveals a much larger than expected decline, mortgage rates should drop. It should be noted that this data is known to be extremely volatile from month to month, so a minor difference between forecasts and the actual reading may not move mortgage rates much.

The Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book report Wednesday afternoon. This report is named simply after the color of its cover, but it is considered to be important to the Fed when determining monetary policy during their FOMC meetings. It details economic activity and conditions by region throughout the U.S. Since Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress last week gave us a recent update, I don't think we will see any significant surprises in this report. Therefore, we will likely see little movement in mortgage rates Wednesday afternoon as a result of this report.

There is no relevant monthly or quarterly data scheduled for release Thursday, but there are two releases scheduled to be posted Friday morning. The first is the preliminary reading of the 2nd Quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is considered to be the best indicator of economic activity. It is the sum of all goods and services produced in the U.S. and usually has a great deal of influence on the financial markets. This reading is arguably the single most important we get regularly. Current forecasts are estimating that the economy shrank at a 1.5% annual rate during the second quarter. A smaller decline will probably hurt bond prices, leading to higher mortgage rates Friday. But a larger than expected decline would likely fuel a bond market rally and lead to lower mortgage pricing.

The second report of the day Friday is the 2nd Quarter Employment Cost Index (ECI) that measures employers' costs for wages and benefits. It is considered to be an important measurement of wage inflation and can have a pretty big impact on the bond market and mortgage rates if it varies much from forecasts. If it shows a rapid increase, raising inflation concerns, the bond market may drop and mortgage rates rise. It is expected to reveal an increase of 0.3%.

Also worth mentioning are a couple of Treasury auctions that may affect bond trading and mortgage rates this week. The two most important are Wednesday's 5-year Note and Thursday's 7-year Note sales. The last auctions of these securities were met with very good demand from investors. That led to bond strength following the sales. Results of this week's auctions will be posted 1:00 PM ET each day. If investor interest is strong again, we can expect the broader bond market to rally and mortgage rates to move lower. However, lackluster demand could lead to bond selling and higher mortgage rates Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. 

Overall, it likely will be a fairly active week in the mortgage market. With several important economic reports on tap, we will likely see noticeable movement in mortgage rates more than one day. The most important report of the week is Friday's preliminary GDP reading, making it one of the most important days of the week. But it is difficult to say which day we can expect to see the most movement in rates as several of releases and scheduled events have the potential to influence mortgage rates.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock 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.

Another rise in existing home sales in June points to stabilization in the housing market. CNBC's Diana Olick reports.

Weekly Rate Lock Advisory

This week will be interesting for the bond market and mortgage rates. There are only three economic reports scheduled for the financial and mortgage markets to digest and none of them is considered to be of high importance to the markets. But in addition to the minimal economic data, we have two days of semi-annual congressional testimony by Fed Chairman Bernanke. The first day of testimony has the potential to influence changes to mortgage rates more than many of the monthly or quarterly pieces of economic data do.

The first report of the week comes Monday morning with the release of June's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) at 10:00 AM. This Conference Board index attempts to measure economic activity over the next three to six months. While it is not a factual report, it still is considered to be of relative importance to the bond market. It is expected to show a 0.5% increase, meaning that we may see noticeable increase in economic activity over the next few months. A decline in the index would be good news for the bond and mortgage markets.

Fed Chairman Bernanke will speak before the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday morning and the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday morning at 10:00am ET. His testimony will be broadcasted and will be watched very closely. Analysts and traders will be looking for the status of the economy and his expectations of future growth, particularly inflation concerns. This should create a great deal of volatility in the markets during the testimony and the question and answer session that follows. If he indicates that inflation is a point of concern, we will likely see the bond market tank and mortgage rates rise. We usually see the most movement in rates during the first day of testimony as the Chairman's prepared words for both appearances are quite similar to each other, meaning that the second day of testimony rarely gives us anything we did not hear during the first day.

The National Association of Realtors will post June's Existing Home Sales figures during late morning hours Thursday. This report gives us a measurement of housing sector strength and mortgage credit demand, but it is not considered highly important and often has a minimal impact on mortgage rates. Current forecasts are calling for a slight increase from May's sales totals. A smaller than expected increase or a decline in sales would be considered good news for bonds and mortgage rates because a weak housing sector would make it difficult for the economy to recover anytime soon. However, unless this data varies greatly from forecasts it probably will not lead to much of a change in rates.

Friday's only relevant economic data is the final revision to July's University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment that will help us measure consumer optimism about their own financial situations. This is important because rising consumer confidence means that consumers may be apt to make large purchases in the near future. This adds fuel to the economic recovery and is looked at as bad news for bonds. It is an update to the preliminary reading we saw two weeks ago, so unless we see a drastic revision to the preliminary estimate, I think the markets will probably shrug this news off.

Overall, this is a moderately significant week for the bond market and mortgage rates. If we get weaker than expected economic results and Chairman Bernanke's words do not surprise the markets, we may see mortgage rates move lower for the week. However, if Mr. Bernanke's testimony raises inflation concerns- rates may again move higher on the week.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock 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.

Despite the government's effort to slow the foreclosure rate, a record 1.5 million homes entered the foreclosure process in the first six months 0f 2009. Congress is asking for answers, but the combination of plunging house prices and rising unemployment is overwhelming federal, state and local efforts to keep borrowers in their houses. CNBC's Scott Cohn reports.

Weekly Rate Lock Advisory

This week brings us the release of five important economic reports for the bond market to digest. Several of these reports are considered to be of high importance, meaning we will likely see volatility in the financial markets and mortgage pricing over the next several days. There are also plenty of corporate earnings releases scheduled for the stock markets this week along with the minutes from the last FOMC meeting.

The first piece of data comes Tuesday morning with the release of June's Producer Price Index (PPI). The PPI is very important because it measures inflationary pressures at the producer level of the economy. It is expected to show a 0.8% increase in the overall reading and a 0.1% rise in the core data reading. The core reading is the more important of the two because it excludes more volatile food and energy prices. The bond market should react quite favorably if we get weaker than expected readings, but a larger than expected jump in the core reading could send mortgage rates higher Tuesday.

June's Retail Sales report will also be posted Tuesday. The Commerce Department is expected to say that sales at retail establishments rose 0.5% last month. This data is considered to be of high importance because it measures consumer spending. Consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, so any related data is watched closely. A smaller than expected increase in sales could help fuel a bond rally and lead to lower mortgage rates, depending on the results of the PPI report.

Next on tap is Wednesday's release of June's Consumer Price Index (CPI). It is a mirror of Tuesday's PPI with the exception that the CPI measures inflation at the more important consumer level of the economy. Analysts have forecasted a 0.6% increase in the overall index and a 0.1% rise in the core data. The core data is also considered to be the key reading because it gives us a more stable measure of inflation. Higher than expected readings could raise inflation fears and push mortgage rates higher both days.

June's Industrial Production data will also be posted Wednesday morning. This data measures output and U.S. factories, mines and utilities, giving us an indication of manufacturing sector strength. It is expected to show a 0.6% decline in production, indicating that the manufacturing sector showed weakening conditions during the month. That is basically good news for bonds, however, with seasonal shutdowns and auto-related weakness likely included, a sizable decline should not surprise many.

Also worth noting about Wednesday is the release of the minutes from the last FOMC meeting. There is a possibility of the markets reacting to them following their 2:00 PM ET release, especially if they show some divisiveness by its members during discussion and voting at the last meeting or give any indication of the Fed's possible next move with monetary policy.

There is no relevant monthly or quarterly data scheduled for release Thursday. Friday's only relevant data is June's Housing Starts report. This data gives us an indication of housing sector strength, but is not considered to be of high importance. Analysts are currently expecting to see a small decline in new starts of housing projects. However, I don't see this data having much of an impact on mortgage rates Friday unless it varies greatly from forecasts.

Overall, I think we will probably see the most movement in mortgage pricing Tuesday or Wednesday due to the importance of the economic releases those days. The week's corporate earnings also have the potential to heavily influence bond trading and mortgage rates via stock market swings. If the major earnings reports show better than expected results, we can expect to see the major stock indexes rally. This would lead to a shift of funds from bonds to stocks and in the process bonds will fall. The results would be higher mortgage rates. The other possibility is weaker than expected results from the key companies that would lead to stock selling and a bond market rally. One thing is safe bet though - it will likely be an active week for the markets and mortgage rates. Accordingly, please proceed cautiously if still floating an interest rate.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock 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.

Weekly Rate Lock Advisory

This week brings us the release of only two monthly economic reports for the bond market to digest and they both will be posted Friday. It also is the beginning of corporate earnings season. Those quarterly earnings reports can lead to significant volatility in the stock markets, which could influence bond trading and mortgage rates.

The first piece of economic news that may affect mortgage rates is Thursday's weekly unemployment figures from the Labor Department. This release usually has little influence on bond trading or mortgage rates, but with a lack of important data scheduled for release this week it may draw more attention than usual. Analysts are expecting to see that approximately 610,000 new claims for benefits were filed last week.

Both of the week's monthly economic reports are scheduled to be posted Friday morning. The first is May's Goods and Services Trade Balance report during early trading, which measures the size of the U.S. trade deficit. This data is not considered to be of high importance to the bond market and will not likely have an impact on mortgage rates. However, if it does vary greatly from analysts' forecasts of a $30.0 billion deficit, we may see some movement in bond prices and possibly a slight change in mortgage pricing.

The second monthly report is the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment that is released in a preliminary form each month and then followed up two weeks later with a final reading. The preliminary reading for July will be posted late Friday morning and is expected to rise slightly from June's final reading of 70.8. This would indicate that consumers were a little more comfortable with their own financial situations this month than last month. It is believed that if consumers are confident in their own finances, they are more apt to make large purchases in the near future. And with consumer spending making up two-thirds of our economy, investors pay close attention to reports such as these.

Also worth mentioning are a couple of Treasury auctions that are scheduled to take place this week. The Treasury will sell 10-year TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) Monday, 10-year Notes Wednesday and 30-year Bonds Thursday. These sales can influence market trading in bonds and possibly affect mortgage rates. If the sales are met with a strong demand from investors, particularly Wednesday's sale, we should see afternoon improvements in bonds that could lead to downward revisions to mortgage rates. However, if concerns over the amount of debt being sold keeps buyers on the sidelines, we may see bonds fall after results are posted at 1:00 PM ET and mortgage rates move higher those days.

Lastly, Wednesday kicks off the earning reporting season when Alcoa posts their quarterly results. Market participants are anxiously waiting for these earnings reports to see just how hard the weak economy is affecting earnings. Just as important as this past quarter's results are their forward-looking estimates. If revenue, earnings and projections from the big-named companies exceed expectations, stocks will likely rally, making bonds less appealing to investors. But if results are weaker than expected, indicating that the economy is still stifling earnings, bonds will be more attractive to investors as stocks slide. This could help boost bond prices and lead to lower mortgage rates.

Overall, I am expecting to see a fairly active week in mortgage rates. It is difficult to say which day will be the most important of the week. Friday is the easy candidate with two monthly reports scheduled to be posted, but neither is considered to be a major release. Wednesday is also a possibility due to the 10-year Note auction and the opening act of earnings season. I suspect that we may see some pressure in bonds the first part of the week unless the m ajor stock indexes continue Thursday's selling. If the corporate earnings reports that are scheduled for this week are a disappointment, stocks will probably move lower and investors may seek safe-haven in bonds. This would likely help push bond prices higher and mortgage rates lower for the week. But if the Treasury sales are met with a lackluster demand and earnings exceed expectations, rates will most likely finish the week higher than last week's closing levels.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock 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.