Mortgage rates fell to the lowest levels in a month last Tuesday and barely budged through the rest of the week. Now, at the start of the new week, the average lender is perfectly unchanged from last Friday. This means there are only a small handful of days with meaningfully lower rates going all the way back to late 2022.

As the government shutdown continues, the bond market (which dictates rates) continues missing out on the bulk of relevant economic reports that normally help guide momentum throughout the month.  Depending on the day, however, there can be other sources of inspiration.

In today's case, the bond market took some solace from a well-received auction of US Treasuries. When it comes to auctions, when demand is stronger than expected, it can put some downward pressure on rates. This happened today, and it prompted a small handful of lenders to issue mid-day improvements, but it wasn't enough to change the average rate.