In March, Mortgage Rates Will Have Little Reason to Fall

March mortgage rates forecast

The economic calendar in March is not friendly to mortgage rates. There’s not much on it to motivate rates to fall. After rising sharply in February, mortgage rates are more likely to level off or go up a little more.

Three dates on the economic calendar will dominate the outlook for mortgage rates:

• March 10 will bring the jobs report for February. The mortgage market and the Federal Reserve will pay attention to hourly wages and the number of jobs created.

• March 14 is the release date for the Consumer Price Index for February. It’s unlikely to reflect a major slowdown in the inflation rate, so it’s unlikely to give mortgage rates room to drop.

• The Fed’s next monetary policy announcement is due March 22. The central bank is expected to raise short-term interest rates, and the big question is how aggressively it will act.