Mortgage rates were slightly lower again today, but there are some caveats. First of all, the average lender wasn't in substantially better shape compared to yesterday afternoon. On top of that, bond markets (the underpinnings of mortgage rates) weakened throughout the day. If lenders were beginning their day looking at current bond market pricing, we'd likely have seen rates edge slightly HIGHER. As such, unless bonds manage to receive solid support from Asia and Europe on Monday morning, US lenders will likely be forced to bring rates a bit higher. Despite those gray clouds on the horizon, t... (read more)

After hitting the lowest levels in exactly 2 weeks on Friday, mortgage rates bounced back up toward their recent highs today. This risk was already taking shape by Friday afternoon as the bond markets that underlie mortgage rates had deteriorated throughout the day. When bonds weaken enough during any given day, mortgage lenders are at risk of 'repricing' (revising the day's original rate sheet, effectively raising rates). Even if bonds had merely held steady overnight, lenders still would have been forced to raise rates a bit today. But bonds managed to lose even more ground overnight, thus m... (read more)