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Mortgage rates moved slightly higher this morning as stocks rallied and MBS prices ticked lower. About the time the 10-year note auction results were released stocks began to fall and interest rates improved, but not enough to warrant reprices for the better. However late in the day, right before the close, stocks sold off and MBS prices rallied to another new record high as investors moved money into risk averse U.S. Treasuries. This allowed lenders to reprice for the better which pushed mortgage loan pricing to the same levels seen yesterday. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage remains in the 4.50% to 4.75% range for well qualified consumers. ...

It was another volatile day for both stocks and interest rates. The ups and downs in the market forced lenders to reprice for the worse, and allowed lenders to reprice for the better. All in all mortgage rates are modestly improved again today. Reports from fellow mortgage professionals indicate lender rate sheets to be holding at the most aggressive levels of 2010. ...

We have seen several days in a row of improving lender pricing thanks to the sovereign debt concerns with Greece and other European countries. At some point this is going to come to a conclusion which will probably result in the unwinding of the “flight to safety” trade that has benefited mortgage rates recently. Once that happens, we will probably see a sizeable move lower in price with fixed income investments which increases mortgage rates. I continue to favor locking all loans closing within 30 days as I feel rates have very little room to continue to improve and the likelihood of a correction which increases rates is high. In addition, we have the Employment Situation report coming on Friday which can impact the markets in a big way… especially if better than expected. Again, much to risk with very little to gain and it is always better to lock when you should have floated than it is to float when you should have locked. ...

Mortgage rates did improve today, but the Treasury Department will announce the terms of next week's government debt auctions at 11am tomorrow. The Treasury will sell 2 year notes, 5 year notes, and 7 year notes. New supply of debt on the market can pressure interest rates higher. With rates holding near the lowest levels of the year, I continue to favor locking loans closing and funding in the next 30 days. Even if benchmark Treasury yields do rally in the next few days, mortgage rates will find it difficult to move much lower....

Mortgage rates are slowly rallying away from the highs of 2010 after a two successful Treasury auctions. I continue to favor floating my loans, but will be re-evaluating this sentiment on a daily basis1 ...

We are seeing very aggressive rate sheets from lenders today. My advice would be to lock any loan closing and funding in the next 30 days. Same exception as last week… if you are one day away from a shorter lock term, than I would float and lock tomorrow to take advantage of the better pricing a shorter lock period offers. If you are sitting on the fence hoping for lower rates, I would strongly encourage you to get moving now. Lenders continue to be reluctant to lower rates below 4.75%. Additionally, these low rates will not stay around forever. ...

Like yesterday, early morning weakness in the MBS market led to slightly worse rate sheets at the beginning of the day. However as the day progressed, MBS prices rallied enough to allow many lenders to reprice for the better. This brought us back to where we ended the day yesterday. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage remains in the 4.75% to 5.00% range for well qualified consumers. I still say you should be locking ahead of the employment report coming Friday. If the numbers are better than expected or even not as bad as expected, rates will likely move higher. FAST. If the report comes in as expected or worse, I do not feel lenders will be passing along much lower mortgage rates. Nothing to gain, much to lose in my opinion. Still locking. ...

After making marginal improvements yesterday, the interest rate market gave back all gains in the overnight session. This weakness was then supported by better than expected housing and industrial production data as well as a generally better outlook from the FOMC minutes. On top of that, stocks improved on the day. All of these factors combined to push mortgage rates higher at the open, and then even higher this afternoon as lenders repriced for the worse....