Last week the average rate on the 30-year mortgage with conforming loan balance increased to 3.31%. The rise in rates caused applications to drop 15% for the week. Mortgage applications to purchase a home jumped 5% for the week, 8% lower from last year. Buyers have been returning to the market, a surprising turn as this is usually the start of the slower season. Rates began to drop because of the Omicron variant and then declined further after a congressional testimony Tuesday by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 210,000 in November, following a gain of 546,000 the previous month. The number was well below Wall Street expectations of 573,000. Despite the big hiring miss, the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, a 0.4% decline that came even with rising labor force participation. This is a strong enough number for the Fed to speed up tapering later this month.

The Omicron variant cases so far show light symptoms, with only a handful of cases in the US.

Floating files are recommended, but for those closing real soon or can’t afford to lose any pricing, consider locking in during this volatile environment.

上周，合规贷款（Conforming loan）的 30 年期抵押贷款的平均利率从 3.24% 上升至 3.31%。利率上升导致房屋贷款再融资申请在一周内下降了 15%。但另一方面，本周购房抵押贷款申请增加了 5%，比一年前下降了 8%。买家出人意料地重返市场，因为現在通常是房地产淡季的开始。由于Omicron病种变体，利率开始下降，然后在美联储主席杰罗姆鲍威尔周二在国会作证后进一步下跌。

继上月增加 546,000 人后，11 月非农就业人数增加 210,000 人。这个数字远低于华尔街预期的 573,000。尽管招聘失误很大，失业率仍降至 4.2%，即使劳动力参与率上升，也下降了 0.4%。这足以让美联储在本月晚些时候加快缩减规模。

Omicron 变异病例似乎只是少数美国病例的轻微症状，

建议浮动一般的申請，但对于那些即将完成或无法承受任何价格损失的案件，请保持高度警惕或考虑锁定在这种不稳定的环境中。