by Calculated Risk on 3/14/2016 05:43:00 PM

From Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: Mortgage Rates Remain Near Recent Highs

Mortgage rates moved slightly lower today, for the second time in March. Unfortunately, the improvement did little to erase the recent weakness, which, as of Friday, had carried rates to their highest levels since late January. We're essentially still right there, but with slightly improved closing costs, depending on the lender. The most prevalent conventional 30yr fixed quotes remain in a range of 3.75% to 3.875% for top tier scenarios.
emphasis added

Tuesday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, Retail sales for February will be released.  The consensus is for retail sales to decrease 0.1% in February.

• Also at 8:30 AM, the Producer Price Index for February from the BLS. The consensus is for a 0.2% decrease in prices, and a 0.1% increase in core PPI.

• Also at 8:30 AM, the NY Fed Empire State Manufacturing Survey for March. The consensus is for a reading of -11.0, up from -16.7.

• At 10:00 AM, the March NAHB homebuilder survey. The consensus is for a reading of  59, up from 58 in February.  Any number above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

• Also at 10:00 AM, Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales (business inventories) report for January.  The consensus is for no change in inventories.