Daily Mortgage Rate Commentary Archive

Today, 7:42 PM

The Wild Week That Wasn't - Today, 7:42 PM

Credit where credit is due: the rate market did an outstanding job of getting out in front of the Fed rate cut as well as the changes to the Fed's rate cut outlook as communicated in the summary ...

Thu, 7:47 PM

Mortgage Rates Are Actually HIGHER This Week - Thu, 7:47 PM

Today's release of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey took at bad problem and made it worse. Freddie's survey methodology means that today's reported rate is an average of the 5 d...

Wed, 8:59 PM

Yes! Mortgage Rates Really Did Move HIGHER After The Fed Rate Cut - Wed, 8:59 PM

We publish daily coverage of mortgage rate movement and have done so for nearly 20 years now. It's a great place to quickly check in on rate trends and to get a sense of what's true and wha...

Tue, 7:19 PM

What Might a Fed Rate Cut do For Mortgage Rates? - Tue, 7:19 PM

Mortgage rates have fallen nearly 2% from last year's peak. Much of that decrease can be viewed as the normal phenomenon of longer term rates getting in position for changes in short term ...

Mon, 7:18 PM

Mortgage Rates Inch Lower to Begin Potentially Wild Week - Mon, 7:18 PM

The new week began on a relatively quiet note in terms of mortgage rate movement and the underlying bond market. There was modest volatility earlier this morning with a Manufacturing ...

Fri, September 13, 7:55 PM

Low Volatility in Mortgage Rates, But Next Week Could be Very Different - Fri, September 13, 7:55 PM

We've talked a lot about why the Fed rate cut will have no additional positive impact on mortgage rates next week. Everything the market can already reasonably foresee about what the Fed ...

Thu, September 12, 8:19 PM

Mortgage Rates Move Slightly Higher For First Time This Month - Thu, September 12, 8:19 PM

While it's true that there have only been 8 business days so far this month, it's also true that today is the only one of the 8 where mortgage rates haven't been lower than the previous day for...

Wed, September 11, 7:31 PM

Mortgage Rates Lowest Since February 2023 - Wed, September 11, 7:31 PM

Mortgage rates moved lower again today despite a key inflation report coming in higher than expected. This is counterintuitive for anyone who's been following rate movement closely over th...

Tue, September 10, 8:12 PM

Another Long-Term Low For Rates Ahead of an Inflation Report That Was Once a Really Big Deal - Tue, September 10, 8:12 PM

Mortgage rates are based on trading in the bond market and bonds consistently take cues from economic data. Among the data, some reports are vastly more important than others--as we've see...

Mon, September 9, 7:55 PM

Mortgage Rates Holding Near Long-Term Lows to Start New Week - Mon, September 9, 7:55 PM

The average lender's top tier 30yr fixed rate fell to the lowest level since April 2023 last week. That's down more than 1.25% over the past 5 months. During that time, economic data and th...

Fri, September 6, 9:15 PM

Mortgage Rates Drop to Lowest Levels Since April 2023 - Fri, September 6, 9:15 PM

Mortgage rates have a long and storied history of making big moves on the day that the big monthly jobs report comes out. In that regard, today was fairly normal. Indeed, the jobs re...

Thu, September 5, 8:17 PM

Lowest Rates in a Year and a Half. Friday Could Take Them Even Lower (Or Cause a Big Bounce) - Thu, September 5, 8:17 PM

Wouldn't it be nice if you could know what was going to happen with mortgage rates before it actually happened? Since the dawn of time in financial markets, there's someone who's willing ...

Wed, September 4, 7:54 PM

Mortgage Rates Near Recent Lows as Markets Wait For Jobs Report - Wed, September 4, 7:54 PM

Mortgage rates moved lower for the 2nd straight day on Wednesday with the average lender right in line with their lowest levels since August 5th. In fact, most borrowers would see little--...

Tue, September 3, 7:24 PM

Mortgage Rates Slightly Lower With Important Data Looming - Tue, September 3, 7:24 PM

You never know what you're going to get on the days surrounding a 3 day weekend for financial markets, and that's doubly true when it corresponds with the final/first trading day of the month.&nb...

Fri, August 30, 7:42 PM

Mortgage Rates End The Week Roughly Unchanged - Fri, August 30, 7:42 PM

Day to day movement has been subdued in mortgage rates recently, and now the week over week movement is just as uneventful. Friday's average top tier 30yr fixed rate almost perfectly matc...

Thu, August 29, 8:15 PM

Mortgage Rates Are Not Actually The Lowest Since April 2023 - Thu, August 29, 8:15 PM

It continues to be the case that mortgage rates are moving in a very narrow range with minimal changes from day to day. For instance, in the past week, the average mortgage payment would not ha...

Wed, August 28, 7:56 PM

Mortgage Rates Lower Despite Bond Market Weakness - Wed, August 28, 7:56 PM

On Wednesday, the average mortgage lender was quoting top tier, conventional 30yr fixed rates at the 2nd lowest level in more than a year. That's counterintuitive considering the modest los...

Tue, August 27, 8:59 PM

Mortgage Rates Sideways to Slightly Lower - Tue, August 27, 8:59 PM

It was another generally uneventful day for the bond markets and, consequently, for the mortgage rates that take cues from bond market movement. While there were a few more economic repor...

Mon, August 26, 8:07 PM

Mortgage Rates Basically Unchanged Over The Weekend - Mon, August 26, 8:07 PM

Mortgage rate movement is tied to activity in the bond market and like many things in the world of finance, the bond market depends on participation from human beings. As such, late summertime Mo...

Fri, August 23, 7:47 PM

Mortgage Rates Fall to 2 Week Lows After Fed's Friendly Message - Fri, August 23, 7:47 PM

Every year, the Federal Reserve (aka "the Fed") gathers in Jackson Hole, WY with a bevy of other central bankers and academics to discuss and comment on monetary policy in a setting that's slight...

Thu, August 22, 8:29 PM

Modest Bounce For Mortgage Rates - Thu, August 22, 8:29 PM

After moving lower for 4 straight days to hit the 3rd lowest levels in more than a year, mortgage rates bounced just a bit higher today. This was the first day of the week with meaningful...

Wed, August 21, 8:04 PM

3rd Best Day For Rates in Over a Year - Wed, August 21, 8:04 PM

Although the day to day changes in mortgage rates have been modest recently, the slow and steady improvement has brought the average top tier 30yr fixed rate back near the lowest levels in more...

Tue, August 20, 8:11 PM

Mortgage Rates Edge Lower Yet Again - Tue, August 20, 8:11 PM

File today under "nice." While it wasn't amazing, significant, or even the byproduct of any interesting events, mortgage rates managed to drift modestly lower, ultimately matching their l...

Mon, August 19, 7:42 PM

Mortgage Rates Move a Hair Lower to Start The New Week - Mon, August 19, 7:42 PM

After the intense volatility seen earlier in August, the average change for mortgage rates on any given day has been shrinking. Last week was a mere shadow of the former week which, in turn, wa...

Fri, August 16, 9:17 PM

Rates Are Settling Down After 2 Wild Weeks - Fri, August 16, 9:17 PM

Mortgage rates had a much calmer week this week compared to the previous 2. The average top tier 30yr fixed rate held a fairly narrow range between 6.49 and 6.58, with Friday's latest move...

Thu, August 15, 7:53 PM

Rates Jump Higher After Upbeat Economic Data - Thu, August 15, 7:53 PM

Mortgage rates had moved a bit lower since their most recent high last Thursday. By yesterday afternoon, the average lender had moved down to 6.49 from just under 6.63 for a top tier conve...

Wed, August 14, 8:35 PM

Mortgage Rates Dip Back Below 6.5% - Wed, August 14, 8:35 PM

Today brought the release of important economic data with the power to cause a sharp increase or decrease in mortgage rates . There are a wide variety of economic reports that guide invest...

Tue, August 13, 8:27 PM

Mortgage Rates Continue to Recover, But We Could See Big Moves Tomorrow, Depending on Data - Tue, August 13, 8:27 PM

If you're just here to keep an eye on daily changes in mortgage rates , today was solid. There was a modest improvement versus yesterday and the average lender is almost perfectly in line ...

Mon, August 12, 8:35 PM

Mortgage Rates Effectively Unchanged to Begin New Week - Mon, August 12, 8:35 PM

Today was completely different than the previous Monday in that it was a normal, boring day with essentially no change in mortgage rates over the weekend. Contrast that to last Monday whi...

Fri, August 9, 8:44 PM

Mortgage Rates Finally End This Week's Losing Streak - Fri, August 9, 8:44 PM

After starting out at the lowest levels in more than a year on Monday morning, mortgage rates had done nothing but increase through Thursday afternoon. The bounce was abrupt by typical st...

Thu, August 8, 6:50 PM

Mortgage Rates Are NOT Lower This Week - Thu, August 8, 6:50 PM

It's Thursday and thus time once again for a side-by-side glimpse at our actual daily average 30yr fixed mortgage rate and the weekly survey-based rate from Freddie Mac. The latter is widel...

Wed, August 7, 9:18 PM

Mortgage Rates Move Higher Again, But at a Much Gentler Pace - Wed, August 7, 9:18 PM

Yesterday saw one of the largest single day mortgage rate increases in years, although there were more than a few caveats. We discussed those in greater detail in yesterday's update. ...

Tue, August 6, 7:40 PM

Big-Time Bounce For Mortgage Rates After Hitting Long-Term Lows - Tue, August 6, 7:40 PM

In and of itself, today was quite awful for mortgage rates with conventional 30yr fixed rates moving up faster than on almost any other day in the past few years. As unpleasant as that so...

Mon, August 5, 9:18 PM

Lowest Mortgage Rates in More Than a Year - Mon, August 5, 9:18 PM

As of Friday, the average top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate was merely at the lowest levels of 2024. A modest additional drop this morning brought that number to the lowest level since Apri...

Fri, August 2, 9:45 PM

Rates Plummet as The Market Buys Into The Big Shift - Fri, August 2, 9:45 PM

The events of this past week serve as an exclamation point in one of the many sentences that tells the story of the big shift away from the generationally high rates seen at the end of 2023. ...

Thu, August 1, 8:45 PM

Mortgage Rates Down to Lowest Levels of The Year - Thu, August 1, 8:45 PM

It's official! At this point, you'd need to go all the way back to the end of December 2023 to see a lower average rate for a top tier, conventional 30yr fixed mortgage. Today's rates...

Wed, July 31, 9:11 PM

Rates Drop to Another Long-Term Low After Fed Announcement - Wed, July 31, 9:11 PM

The Fed didn't cut rates today and rates then moved quickly lower. Naturally, there's more to the story than that, but the paradox is a good reminder that the market reacts in real time to ...

Tue, July 30, 7:42 PM

Mortgage Rates Trickle to New 6 Month Low Before Fed Announcement - Tue, July 30, 7:42 PM

Mortgage rates began the day with the average lender quoting just slightly higher rates compared to yesterday's latest levels. By the end of the day, however, that average had fallen to it...

Mon, July 29, 8:00 PM

Mortgage Rates Start Week at 6 Month Lows - Mon, July 29, 8:00 PM

Although the range has been very narrow for the past few weeks, average mortgage rates nonetheless fell to the lowest levels in more than 6 months. Top tier conventional 30yr fixed scenar...

Fri, July 26, 9:37 PM

Inflation Data Continues Paving The Way For (Eventual) Rate Cuts - Fri, July 26, 9:37 PM

This week's most important economic data was the PCE price index which is the gold standard of big picture inflation measurement. For those hoping to see rates drop, it was important for PCE to c...

Thu, July 25, 6:52 PM

Mortgage Rates Inch to Another Short Term High - Thu, July 25, 6:52 PM

Mortgage rates continue moving in very small steps from day to day--something that's been the case since the Consumer Price Index (CPI) more than 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, more of those ...

Wed, July 24, 8:35 PM

Mortgage Rates Move Up To 2 Week Highs After Starting Out Flat - Wed, July 24, 8:35 PM

Mortgage rates technically moved up to the highest levels in 2 weeks today, but that sounds a bit more dramatic than it actually is. Rates have largely held inside a narrow range close to ...

Tue, July 23, 7:50 PM

Mortgage Rates Stay Boring, But For How Long? - Tue, July 23, 7:50 PM

Spats of volatility in the mortgage rate world seem to last only a matter of hours recently and to occur only a few times on any given month. The rest of the time is spent drifting mostly s...

Mon, July 22, 8:51 PM

Mortgage Rates Remain Unchanged to Start The Week - Mon, July 22, 8:51 PM

Mortgage rates rose at a moderately quick pace on Friday, partially in response bond market weakness on Thursday afternoon that happened too late in the day for many lenders to update their offe...

Fri, July 19, 9:03 PM

Mortgage Rates Jump to Highest Levels of The Week - Fri, July 19, 9:03 PM

While there was never much of a chance of mortgage rates moving above the levels seen at the beginning of last week, they were easily able to nab the dubious distinction of hitting this week's ...

Thu, July 18, 8:02 PM

Mortgage Rates Didn't Actually Move Sharply Lower Today - Thu, July 18, 8:02 PM

Thursday's mark the release of Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate survey. It's the longest running and most widely cited measure of mortgage rates , but it's not always the most accurate w...

Wed, July 17, 8:26 PM

Mortgage Rates Holding Near 5 Month Lows - Wed, July 17, 8:26 PM

Despite an active calendar of events that had the potential to cause volatility, average mortgage rates managed to remain unchanged in the morning and to move slightly lower in the afternoon.&n...

Tue, July 16, 8:00 PM

Mortgage Rate Winning Streak Finally Ends, But Just Barely - Tue, July 16, 8:00 PM

When is a defeat not really a defeat? Mortgage rates have an idea. They're fresh off an incredibly rare 8 day winning streak that took the average 30yr fixed rate to the lowest leve...

Mon, July 15, 8:36 PM

Mortgage Rates' Impressive Winning Streak Faces Increasing Resistance - Mon, July 15, 8:36 PM

We occasionally reference 5 day winning streaks for mortgage rates as the sort of uncommon occurrence that greatly increases the odds of at least a temporary pullback. Longer streaks do h...

Fri, July 12, 8:23 PM

Mortgage Rates Shrug Off Seemingly Threatening Inflation Data to hit 5 Month Lows - Fri, July 12, 8:23 PM

Yesterday was all about the CONSUMER Price Index (CPI), which helped mortgage rates drop at the 2nd fastest pace of the year. Today brough the PRODUCER Price Index (PPI), and the message ...