Daily Mortgage Rate Commentary Archive

Thu, 8:51 PM

Mortgage Rates Start Higher, But Recover in Afternoon - Thu, 8:51 PM

Mortgage rates are based on trading levels in the bond market and bond market activity has been extremely slow, as is normally the case during the Christmas holiday week. The side effect o...

Mon, 8:36 PM

Mortgage Rates Higher to Start Holiday-Shortened Week - Mon, 8:36 PM

Holidays have inconsistent impacts on mortgage rates because holiday's have inconsistent impacts on the bond market (and rates are dictated by the bond market). Bond traders (the people buying ...

Fri, December 20, 9:11 PM

Mortgage Rates Recover Some of The Lost Ground - Fri, December 20, 9:11 PM

The week's big story is still the big jump in rates that took place after Wednesday's Fed announcement. And while rates remain noticeably elevated on the week due to that jump, they're set ...

Thu, December 19, 8:50 PM

If You're Struggling to Understand This Week's Mortgage Rate Spike, This is For You - Thu, December 19, 8:50 PM

We received some anonymous feedback regarding recent rate commentary that serves as a good reminder that not everyone may be picking up what we're putting down, or worse yet, picking up things th...

Wed, December 18, 9:19 PM

Mortgage Rates Jump Abruptly Higher After The Fed's Rate Cut - Wed, December 18, 9:19 PM

If anyone needed any further convincing that a Fed rate cut is no guarantee of lower mortgage rates , today is a great piece of evidence. Perhaps "great" is the wrong word. There was...

Tue, December 17, 8:36 PM

Mortgage Rates Effectively Unchanged Ahead of Fed Announcement - Tue, December 17, 8:36 PM

Mortgage rates have been having a much calmer week compared to last week. Monday brought a modest decline versus last Friday and today's rates are effectively unchanged. While the ...

Mon, December 16, 8:56 PM

Mortgage Rates Start New Week With Some Hope - Mon, December 16, 8:56 PM

Last week wasn't great for mortgage rates . They moved higher on each of the 5 days. Moreover, there was a distinct lack of logical motivation from the economic data. In fact, ...

Fri, December 13, 8:13 PM

Mortgage Rates Rise For 5th Straight Day - Fri, December 13, 8:13 PM

There's no easy way to say it: it was a bad week for mortgage rates . Actually, it was a bad week for interest rates in general and mortgage rates typically follow the rest of the rate m...

Thu, December 12, 9:08 PM

Mortgage Rates Back to Highest Levels in a Week - Thu, December 12, 9:08 PM

It's been a bummer of a week for mortgage rates with modest to moderate increases every day so far. Adding insult to injury is the fact that there hasn't been any compelling reason for th...

Wed, December 11, 8:32 PM

Mortgage Rates Started Lower, But Ended Higher - Wed, December 11, 8:32 PM

Mortgage rates were having a pretty decent day at first. The bond market was only slightly weaker overnight (implies some upward pressure on rates), but quickly improved after the Consumer...

Tue, December 10, 8:34 PM

Mortgage Rates Moving Back Up - Tue, December 10, 8:34 PM

Between November 18th and December 6th, the average top tier 30yr fixed mortgage rate moved down from 7.08 to 6.68. A 0.40% drop is rather significant, especially over the course of only 3 ...

Mon, December 9, 9:26 PM

Mortgage Rates Slightly Higher to Start New Week - Mon, December 9, 9:26 PM

Mortgage rates ended last week with an impressive drop to the lowest levels in more than a month and a half. Today's rates ended up being the 2nd lowest over that time after the average le...

Fri, December 6, 9:29 PM

Mortgage Rates Fall More Than Expected After Jobs Report - Fri, December 6, 9:29 PM

As of last week, rates were showing some signs of resilience, but they had to wait for the true test from this week's jobs report. Spoiler alert: they passed the test. It wasn't that the h...

Thu, December 5, 8:58 PM

Mortgage Rates Little Changed Ahead of Big Jobs Report - Thu, December 5, 8:58 PM

It's been a remarkably calm week for mortgage rates , and a fairly decent one relative to several recent examples. The average top tier 30yr fixed rate hovered just over 7% for most of Nov...

Wed, December 4, 9:23 PM

Mortgage Rates Start Higher, But End Lower - Wed, December 4, 9:23 PM

Mortgage lenders generally try to avoid setting rates more than once per day, but they will make changes if the underlying bond market is moving enough. Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) are...

Tue, December 3, 8:30 PM

Mortgage Rates Lower on Average, But Timing Matters - Tue, December 3, 8:30 PM

The bond market is the primary driver of mortgage rate movement and normally, "weakness" equates to higher rates. Bonds are slightly weaker today compared to yesterday afternoon, but mortg...

Mon, December 2, 9:34 PM

Mortgage Rates Little-Changed After Last Week's Improvement - Mon, December 2, 9:34 PM

Mortgage rates remain elevated relative to the levels seen in September and early October, but they've definitely moved down a bit from their recent highs. Thanksgiving week saw the lowest...

Wed, November 27, 7:53 PM

Lowest Mortgage Rates in a Month - Wed, November 27, 7:53 PM

The interest rate market continues the healing process after taking heavy damage in October. During the course of that month, the average top tier conventional 30yr fixed rate increased mor...

Tue, November 26, 7:12 PM

Mortgage Rates Steady to Slightly Higher - Tue, November 26, 7:12 PM

Although there was a busier calendar of economic data today, mortgage rates are little changed after dropping at the fastest pace in several weeks to start the new week. Economic data is one of...

Mon, November 25, 8:32 PM

Mortgage Rates Near Lowest Levels in a Month - Mon, November 25, 8:32 PM

Last Monday, mortgage rates were near the highest levels in more than 3 months. A week later, and the average lender is right in line with the lowest levels in more than a month. Th...

Fri, November 22, 8:01 PM

A Refreshingly Boring Week For Mortgage Rates - Fri, November 22, 8:01 PM

Starting in early October, mortgage rates experienced significant volatility, meaning the average day over day change was much bigger than normal. While the term "volatility" technically ...

Thu, November 21, 9:26 PM

Calmer Trend Continues For Mortgage Rates - Thu, November 21, 9:26 PM

They may not be low. In fact, they may still be a lot higher than you want, but at least they haven't been too volatility this week. For the 7th day in a row, the top tier, convention...

Wed, November 20, 9:22 PM

Mortgage Rates Have Been Much Calmer, But They're Still High - Wed, November 20, 9:22 PM

Remember October and the first part of November--not because of the election, but rather because of the relentless rise in mortgage rates ? Would you rather forget? You're not alone....

Tue, November 19, 9:27 PM

Mortgage Rates Only Modestly Lower Despite Seemingly Big News - Tue, November 19, 9:27 PM

Ask your favorite curmudgeonly old market watcher and they'll be happy to explain what "always" happens in financial markets when there's breaking news regarding large scale geopolitical risk.&nb...

Mon, November 18, 9:01 PM

Mortgage Rates Didn't Move Much Over The Weekend - Mon, November 18, 9:01 PM

The average top tier conventional 30yr fixed rate was just a hair over 7% on Friday afternoon and the same is true at the start of the new week. Rates are based on bonds, but while bonds mo...

Fri, November 15, 7:54 PM

Mortgage Rates End Higher, But Not As High as This Morning - Fri, November 15, 7:54 PM

This afternoon's mortgage rates are higher than yesterday's latest levels. That's a result of bond market weakness seen late yesterday and earlier this morning. Why would yesterday'...

Thu, November 14, 9:15 PM

Mortgage Rates Roughly Unchanged Yet Again Despite Bond Market Losses - Thu, November 14, 9:15 PM

Losses... weakness... selling pressure... When any of these things happen in the bond market, it puts upward pressure on interest rates . Mortgage rates are primarily determined by...

Wed, November 13, 8:28 PM

Mortgage Rates Roughly Unchanged Today - Wed, November 13, 8:28 PM

While there's been plenty of movement in the average mortgage rate on any given day recently, today was not one of them. 30yr fixed rates remained above 7%, but technically fell 0.01% (an a...

Tue, November 12, 8:35 PM

Mortgage Rates Jump Back Above 7% - Tue, November 12, 8:35 PM

Last Thursday and Friday offered some hope that the persistent move to higher rates was finally leveling off. It wasn't necessarily a rational hope, but if nothing else, it was "nice" to se...

Fri, November 8, 10:22 PM

Mortgage Rates Lower Again As Lenders Catch Up With Bonds - Fri, November 8, 10:22 PM

The bond market dictates day to day movement for all manner of interest rates , including mortgages. On election night, bond yields (another word for "rates") spiked as soon as traders fel...

Thu, November 7, 9:33 PM

Tricky Day... Mortgage Rates Fall Significantly, But Not Because of The Fed - Thu, November 7, 9:33 PM

There's a distinct risk that, even in the financial community, that people will look back on today's drop in interest rates and conclude it must have something to do with the Federal Reserve's ...

Wed, November 6, 8:03 PM

Please Forget Everything You Think You Know About Fed Rate Cuts - Wed, November 6, 8:03 PM

Mortgage rates spent the entire month of October moving higher at a fairly quick pace. Some of that had to do with stronger economic data, but at least as much had to do with the bond mark...

Tue, November 5, 9:00 PM

Mortgage Rates Start Higher, But Fall in Afternoon - Tue, November 5, 9:00 PM

More often than not, mortgage lenders only set rates once a day. Their decisions are based on trading levels in the underlying bond market. Even though bonds are constantly moving, it doesn...

Mon, November 4, 8:16 PM

Mortgage Rates Start Week Slightly Lower as Election Volatility Works Both Ways - Mon, November 4, 8:16 PM

Love it or hate it, election-related volatility has been having a big impact on the bond market and, thus, mortgage rates . Most of the volatility has resulted in higher rates, but there w...

Fri, November 1, 8:50 PM

Rates Refuse to Drop Ahead of Election. How About After? - Fri, November 1, 8:50 PM

It is our longstanding policy to strictly avoid politics except in cases where the political realm legitimately intersects with relevant events for rates. Now is clearly one of those times. The d...

Thu, October 31, 7:35 PM

Mortgage Rates at 4 Month Highs. More Volatility Ahead - Thu, October 31, 7:35 PM

Mortgage rates rates moved moderately higher today, and while that leaves the average 30yr fixed rate only slightly higher than it was on Tuesday morning (7.09 vs 7.08), it's also the highest ra...

Wed, October 30, 7:57 PM

Economic Data Keeping Pressure on Mortgage Rates - Wed, October 30, 7:57 PM

The jobs report that came out at the beginning of October was a big wake up call for interest rates . Up until then, the prevailing belief was that the labor market was progressively softe...

Tue, October 29, 7:56 PM

Mortgage Rates Hit Another Multi-Month High Despite Afternoon Recovery - Tue, October 29, 7:56 PM

Mortgage rates tend to be updated only once per day. Lenders set rates based on trading levels in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) which are essentially bonds that are tied to cash flows f...

Mon, October 28, 7:58 PM

Mortgage Rates Back to 7% - Mon, October 28, 7:58 PM

It's no mystery that mortgage rates have had a terrible October. As of last Friday, the average lender's top tier 30yr fixed rates were up to 6.90--an increase of more than 0.625% this mo...

Fri, October 25, 4:35 PM

Mortgage Rates Effectively Unchanged Yet Again - Fri, October 25, 4:35 PM

Mortgage rates reached their highest level of the week on Wednesday and haven't really moved since then. Technically each subsequent day saw a microscopic reduction in the average top tier...

Thu, October 24, 8:02 PM

Mortgage Rates Finally Win One, Albeit a Small One - Thu, October 24, 8:02 PM

Mortgage rates have risen every day since October 15th and some of the jumps have been fairly big. That followed an even bigger increase earlier in the month with the whole ordeal accounti...

Wed, October 23, 8:09 PM

Mortgage Rates Tick Up to Another Multi-Month High - Wed, October 23, 8:09 PM

Mortgage rates have been moving two directions recently and both of them are "up." Only the pace changes. Today's pace was modest to moderate, but because we were already at the high...

Tue, October 22, 7:47 PM

Mortgage Rates Much Steadier Today, But Still a Bit Higher - Tue, October 22, 7:47 PM

Mortgage rates jumped to their highest levels since late July yesterday. Underlying market movement wasn't readily attributable to any singular headline or economic report. Leading t...

Mon, October 21, 7:42 PM

Rates Jump Quickly to Highest Levels Since July - Mon, October 21, 7:42 PM

By the smallest of margins, mortgage rates are back up to levels last seen in July. That means we've gone from being fairly close to 6% in mid-September to being nearly as close to 7% tod...

Fri, October 18, 7:52 PM

Mortgage Rates Mostly Steady This Week After Uneventful Friday - Fri, October 18, 7:52 PM

There hasn't been much day to day movement in mortgage rates after the big jump caused by the jobs report earlier in the month. That jump ended on Monday the 7th and the average 30yr fixe...

Thu, October 17, 7:45 PM

Mortgage Rates Move Higher After Stronger Economic Data - Thu, October 17, 7:45 PM

Mortgage rates are driven by the bond market and bonds consistently take cues from economic data. Traders have been waiting on this Thursday's economic data ever since last Thursday, large...

Wed, October 16, 7:44 PM

Mortgage Rates Hold Steady Ahead of Retail Sales Data - Wed, October 16, 7:44 PM

Mortgage rates have been holding in a fairly narrow range since the middle of last week and today was one of the least interesting additions to the trend. The average lender is essentially...

Tue, October 15, 8:03 PM

Mortgage Rates Sideways to Slightly Lower - Tue, October 15, 8:03 PM

The average mortgage lender is quoting rates that are just a fraction of a hair lower today compared to last Friday. Lenders were either closed or otherwise not able to update rates yesterd...

Fri, October 11, 7:28 PM

Mortgage Rates Side-Step Into Holiday Weekend - Fri, October 11, 7:28 PM

While this week's rates were substantially higher than most of last week's, if we remove a few flashes of volatility, the average lender stayed very close to Monday morning's levels. ...

Thu, October 10, 7:59 PM

Here's What's Really Going on With Mortgage Rates This Week - Thu, October 10, 7:59 PM

We can appreciate that the daunting task of determining what "the" actual mortgage rate may be at any given moment. The word "the" is singled out in the previous sentence because there isn'...