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It was a very volatile day in financial markets. Stocks moved lower then higher then lower again. This led benchmark Treasuries on a roller coaster ride. Fortunately stocks finished the day close to the same spot they began it and no lenders repriced for the worse. Reports from fellow mortgage professionals indicate lenders have passed the gains they withheld on Friday, rate sheets have improved. ...

Reports from fellow mortgage professionals indicate lender rate sheets to be similar to Friday’s repriced sheets. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage remains in the 4.875% to 5.125% range for well qualified consumers. We do have a couple lenders offering 4.75%. I continue to favor locking. Lenders and market participants have proven many times this year their reluctance to drive rates lower. ...

Reports from fellow mortgage professionals indicate lender rate sheets to be considerably worse than yesterday. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage has risen to the 5.00% to 5.25% range for well qualified consumers. Hopefully you have followed my advice on locking… if so, well done. If you didn’t, the damage has been done and lender rate sheets reflect it. I feel at this point it might be worthwhile to float through the Employment Situation Report tomorrow morning. This is a risky strategy as a better than expected non-farm payroll report will cause rates to rise and, as you know, mortgage rates rise faster than the fall. If you want to remove all risk, nothing wrong with locking a 30 year fixed rate mortgage in the low 5’s. ...

The week ahead is busy with the highest impacting report scheduled to be released on Friday morning. Reports from fellow mortgage professionals indicate rate sheets to be slightly worse than the repriced rate sheets of Friday afternoon. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage continues to hold in the 4.75% to 5.00% range for well qualified consumers. To secure a par interest rate you must have a FICO credit score of 740 or higher, a loan to value at 80% or less and pay all closing costs including an estimated one point loan origination/discount/broker fee. You may elect to pay less in closing costs, but you will have to accept a higher interest rate. ...

Mortgage rates made modest improvements yesterday thanks to a rally in benchmark Treasuries and mortgage backed securities. The extension of the Monday afternoon rates rally yesterday allowed most lenders to reprice for the better which pushed mortgage borrowing costs lower. Early on today it appeared that mortgage rates would continue to benefit from more rallying in the rates market, but that didn't last long. Since starting the session with gains, MBS prices have fallen rapidly which led to a few lenders repricing for the worse. Two steps forward, two steps back!...

Tomorrow we get the most important economic report, the Employment Situation. If this data indicates fewer job losses than expected, mortgage rates could rise very quickly. If worse than expected we could see an improvement to rates; however, I am going to continue to advise locking because lenders have proven themselves reluctant to pass along lower mortgage rates once 4.50% is reached, which we saw earlier this week. If you can lock today at 4.625%, why risk floating if lenders won’t offer rates below 4.50%? Not much to gain but there is a potential for a quick and large move higher with rates, so much to lose. ...

Mortgage rates ticked higher yesterday as prices of mortgage backed securities were pressured lower by a selloff in the long end of the Treasury yield curve. To remind readers, as prices of MBS and Treasuries fall, their yields or rate increase…price and yield have an inverse relationship. No major report or headline caused the moved lower, AQ and MG point out that it was a function of Friday's bond market rally being unwound before today's Treasury auction announcement and the FOMC meeting which was ignited by a "Build America Bond" issuance pricing in California. Their brains are complicated but we make a good team! Whatever the reason was, price losses held into the close and the majority of lenders repriced for the worse. Reports from fellow mortgage professionals indicate that mortgage rates have moved higher this morning. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage is now in the 4.875% to 5.125% range for well qualified consumers. To secure a par rate you must have a FICO credit score of 740 or higher, a loan to value at 80% or less and pay all closing costs including one point loan origination/discount/broker fee. You can elect to pay less upfront fees but your interest rate will be higher....