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Mortgage rates moved lower for the second straight day as markets responded to potential de-escalation in the Iran war.  Rates are based on bonds and bonds improved overnight as The President said the war could end even if the Strait of Hormuz was not yet reopened. Additional improvement followed during domestic hours based on headlines […]

The bad news is that the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate remains over 6.5% after being under 6% just a month ago. The good news is that rates recovered nicely over the weekend.  By Friday afternoon, the average rate was 6.64%–the highest since August 2025–adding to a trend of rapid upward movement over the course

There were mixed blessings in the mortgage rate world today. The bad news is that today’s rates are just a bit higher than yesterday’s, resulting in another 8 month high. The good news is that things were looking quite a bit worse earlier in the morning. Mortgage lenders prefer to set rates once per day

After a somewhat hopeful day on Wednesday, mortgage rates are back to their same old tricks on Thursday. The tricks in question involve following the broader market reaction to the Iran war which has caused significant and almost exclusive upward movement in interest rates for the entire month of March. Average 30yr fixed rates have

The past 24 hours have seen multiple news stories with seemingly contradictory updates regarding the state of the Iran war. There’s a ceasefire. There’s no ceasefire. There’s negotiation. There’s no negotiation, etc. As far as the rate market is concerned, the most important development has been the general appearance of a shift toward diplomacy and

March 2026 continues to be an unpleasant month for mortgage rates–a fact almost exclusively due to the Iran war. Even if the war were to end today, there’s been sufficient disruption to infrastructure and a big enough initial spike in energy prices to create what economists refer to as “second round effects.” In simpler terms,

Mortgage rates are dictated by bonds and bonds had a volatile day. During overnight trading hours, bonds suggested we should brace for the impact of even higher rates. Things changed just after 7am ET following headlines that suggested progress on the Iran war.  Although volatility continued in the ensuing hours, bonds ultimately settled in stronger

Mortgage rates hit 7-month highs last Friday, but recovered fairly nicely on the first two days of the present week. The past 2 days have been a bit rough, unfortunately. Over that time, the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate rose 0.14% to 6.43%–just a bit higher than last Friday’s 6.41%. Whereas mortgage rate volatility on

After hitting 5.99% as recently as February 27th, top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rates are back over 6.5% for the average lender today–the highest they’ve been since September 3rd, 2025.  The entire month of March has been painful for many corners of the financial market and mortgage rates are not immune. The Iran war is

Mortgage rates got hit 3 times on Wednesday, with the net effect being a move back up to the highest levels in several months. The average lender isn’t quite as high as they were last Friday, but after late-day “reprices” many are fairly close.  The least of the bond market’s concerns (bonds dictate rates) was