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 […]
Mortgage Rates Oh So Close to 3 Year Lows Read More »
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
Mortgage Rates Slide to New Multiweek Lows Read More »
(Image credit: Getty Images) The January jobs report came in much higher than expected, alleviating fears of a sharp slowdown in the labor market. The data also strengthens the case for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future; certainly through the remainder of Jerome Powell’s term as Fed chair, which
Job Growth Sizzled to Start the Year. Here’s Why It’s Unlikely to Impact Interest Rates Read More »
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
Modest Increase in Rates is a Win. Here’s Why Read More »
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
Lowest Mortgage Rates in More Than 3 Weeks Read More »
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
Mortgage Rates Roughly Flat to Start The Week Read More »
BBYS, Servicer Risk, Verification Tools; Non-Agency News; Why Mortgage Rates Are Sticky Products, Services, and Software for Brokers and Lenders Truework is a comprehensive income and employment verification platform that fully replaces manual in-house waterfalls and provides mortgage lenders with a single automated solution to run their verification processes. With Truework, lenders see
BBYS, Servicer Risk, Verification Tools; Non-Agency News; Why Mortgage Rates Are Sticky Read More »
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 Match Lowest Levels in Over 2 Weeks Read More »
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.
Mortgage Rates Fall After Downbeat Employment Data Read More »
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
Mortgage Rates Hold Perfectly Steady at 2-Week Highs Read More »