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Mortgage rates at the average lender moved up by 0.01% today–the smallest increment measured by the MND daily rate index. This means that most borrowers won’t see a meaningful different in today’s rates vs yesterday’s. That’s welcome news considering yesterday’s rates were tied for the second best day in more than 3 years. In the […]

It was an uneventful day for mortgage rates with the average lender holding right in line with last Friday’s levels. In this case, that’s a good thing. On the day before and/or after a 3-day weekend, rates tend to be more volatile than normal. That was certainly the case last Friday as the MND rate

When the administration announced that Fannie and Freddie would be buying mortgage-backed securities in early January, rates fell sharply to the lowest levels in more than 3 years. After a moderate rebound the following week, we’ve been holding mostly steady in a range that was 0.1-0.2 above those long-term lows. The past two days have

Just one day after an incredibly strong jobs report–something that would normally create problematic upward momentum for rates–the average lender is back to the lowest levels since January 16th. At the risk of overusing a played-out metaphor, this was not on many experts’ bingo cards. Even with the benefit of hindsight, it’s not entirely possible

Modest Increase in Rates is a Win. Here’s Why Mortgage rates moved 0.03% higher today. On almost any other day, this would be a bit of a bummer, but in today’s case, it’s a victory. There was a ton of potential volatility in the underlying bond market heading into the day due to the scheduled

Mortgage rates fell on Tuesday following a downbeat Retail Sales report. At 0.05%, it was the largest single-day drop since the uncommonly big 0.15% drop on January 9th. This also takes the average 30yr fixed rate to 6.11%, easily below its recently narrow range of 6.15-6.20. The bonds that drive mortgage rates are always tuned

The past 2 weeks have seen very little volatility for mortgage rates.  After being near 6% for a week in early January, rates rose abruptly to 6.21% (avg top tier 30yr fixed) on January 20th in response to geopolitical drama. They’ve generally descended since then, but in slow, measured steps.   Today’s result was actually a

In the bigger picture, the past two and a half weeks have been marked by a very narrow range in the bond market. Because bonds dictate mortgage rates, the latter have also been in a narrow range with average top tier 30yr fixed rates of 6.15-6.20%.  Yesterday’s employment-related data helped bonds improve. Many lenders made

Mortgage rates are driven by bonds and that bonds care about employment data. There are quite a few different economic reports that focus on various employment metrics. Next Wednesday’s jobs report is the biggest ticket by far, but other reports can move the needle at times–especially when they fall far from forecasts or previous readings.

The average top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate hit its highest levels in 2 weeks yesterday. The caveat was that the range has been very narrow during these 2 weeks. As such, by remaining unchanged versus yesterday, today’s rates are part of the same narrow range (6.15-6.20% for MND’s index). There were two relevant economic