Tue, Dec 1 2020, 4:05 PM
Like many industries, housing finance has a superficial layer that's fairly easy to understand for the average consumer. A person wants a home. They d...
Mon, Nov 30 2020, 4:43 PM
Although many mortgage lenders were technically open for business last Friday, it's a well-known unofficial holiday. Mortgage rate movement requires b...
Tue, Nov 24 2020, 4:42 PM
If you follow the MBS Commentary channel on this site, you will have already seen most of the following, but it's relevant for consumers as well. As f...
Mon, Nov 23 2020, 5:01 PM
Everything is relative when it comes to following day-to-day movements in mortgage rates . Yes, they're technically higher than they were on Friday af...
Thu, Nov 19 2020, 4:40 PM
August 4th, 2020 was the best day ever for mortgage rates . That's when we hit the lowest all-time lows we've ever seen, and none of the most prevalen...
Wed, Nov 18 2020, 5:22 PM
Mortgage rates were little-changed yesterday--a fact that was ultimately at odds with underlying market movement by the end of the day. What does that...
Tue, Nov 17 2020, 4:20 PM
Mortgage rates were little-changed today, with the average lender only microscopically better than yesterday. That means few loan seekers will notice ...
Mon, Nov 16 2020, 3:56 PM
Last week, trial results from Pfizer's covid vaccine sent shockwaves through financial markets. Stock prices and bond yields both moved decisively hig...
Thu, Nov 12 2020, 4:24 PM
Earlier in the month, mortgage rates rose somewhat abruptly as lenders got in a defensive position ahead of the election. They'd learned in 2016 just ...
Tue, Nov 10 2020, 2:37 PM
Mortgage rate movement had been very calm relatively resilient compared to the broader bond market. In other words, mortgages have been doing better t...
Mon, Nov 9 2020, 3:28 PM
Last week ultimately ended up being great for mortgage rates , but only after a somewhat abrupt increase heading into the election. On Tuesday, the av...
Thu, Nov 5 2020, 4:53 PM
Any discussion of "all-time low" mortgage rates requires careful attention to specifics. Are we talking about weekly survey numbers or actual daily nu...
Wed, Nov 4 2020, 3:53 PM
Yesterday, we discussed the fact that many mortgage lenders got defensive ahead of election night uncertainty. In the mortgage world, when lenders get...
Mon, Nov 2 2020, 3:23 PM
Mortgage rates move higher and lower all the time, but truly massive moves tend to arrive with many months (if not years) in between. The trade war in...
Fri, Oct 30 2020, 7:20 PM
The 2016 election won't soon be forgotten in the mortgage or bond markets. Many of the predictions were dead wrong when it came to how interest rates ...
Thu, Oct 29 2020, 2:54 PM
It was a bit of a bittersweet day for mortgage rates . On the one hand, it was the Fed's first day buying a new category of mortgage-backed bonds--one...
Wed, Oct 28 2020, 5:10 PM
When interest rates plummeted in response to the early realities of the pandemic back in March/April, mortgage rates did a terrible job of keeping pac...
Tue, Oct 27 2020, 4:45 PM
Mortgage rates are mostly determined by the trading levels of mortgage-backed bonds on the open market. When those bonds improve, mortgage rates move ...
Mon, Oct 26 2020, 3:47 PM
Mortgage rates were lower today for the average lender, but just how low remains a matter of great debate. To be fair, there's no active debate raging...
Fri, Oct 23 2020, 6:26 PM
Another week, another glut of news articles claiming mortgage rates are at all-time lows. While no one is intentionally trying to deceive you, the new...
Thu, Oct 22 2020, 4:56 PM
Thursdays are special days for mortgage rate aficionados--or they can be anyway. That's when the weekly mortgage rate survey from Freddie Mac is relea...
Wed, Oct 21 2020, 4:32 PM
Rates are appreciably higher than they were last week or indeed any time in past 4 weeks. That's surprising news to those laboring under misapprehensi...
Tue, Oct 20 2020, 4:41 PM
It began last week. It was subtle--so subtle as to pass largely unnoticed. But the gentle drift toward slightly higher rates has taken bigger steps so...
Mon, Oct 19 2020, 3:43 PM
For some unknown reason, there were additional articles over the weekend touting " all-time low mortgage rates." Underpinning these alleged rates is p...
Fri, Oct 16 2020, 5:03 PM
Yesterday, we discussed why rates are not actually at all-time lows. But rates are whatever they are. They're relation to previous lows doesn't really...
Thu, Oct 15 2020, 4:21 PM
Many of today's mortgage-related headlines are touting "new all-time lows," but there are significant caveats. The biggest caveat would likely be the ...
Wed, Oct 14 2020, 4:44 PM
If you're shopping for a purchase mortgage and if you'd previously received quotes from one of the slower moving lenders back in late July or early Au...
Tue, Oct 13 2020, 4:56 PM
Mortgage Rates have been exceptionally calm recently. The only major exception has been the implementation, delay, and re-implementation of a new fee ...
Fri, Oct 9 2020, 4:59 PM
The bond market, which drives interest rates, is in the habit of reacting to big developments that impact the economy and inflation. At present, bonds...
Thu, Oct 8 2020, 3:53 PM
After rising at a medium-quick pace to begin the week, the past 3 days have been much calmer by comparison for mortgage rates . Today was the best exa...
Wed, Oct 7 2020, 4:42 PM
This morning's weekly survey data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed a nice increase in refinance applications offset by a smaller decrease ...
Tue, Oct 6 2020, 4:20 PM
After falling moderately to start the week, mortgage rates put in a calmer performance on Tuesday. As we discussed yesterday, volatility in the bond m...
Mon, Oct 5 2020, 4:14 PM
Mortgage rates have been spoiled, relatively, by an extraordinarily calm/narrow trading pattern in the bond market. That's important because the bond ...
Thu, Oct 1 2020, 5:28 PM
Mortgage rates were mixed today, depending on the lender. The underlying bond market (which dictates day to day changes in rates) has been more volati...
Wed, Sep 30 2020, 4:38 PM
Mortgage rates don't just magically appear . Lenders don't choose them arbitrarily. To sustain the pace and scope of the mortgage market in the US (an...
Tue, Sep 29 2020, 3:59 PM
The average mortgage lender continues to offer top tier conventional 30yr fixed rates in the "high 2% to low 3%" neighborhood. Exactly where any given...
Fri, Sep 25 2020, 3:50 PM
Mortgage Rate Update Considering this week's generally positive drift in rates, we shouldn't expect lenders to get less busy any time soon. In recent ...
Wed, Sep 23 2020, 4:16 PM
Mortgage rates didn't do much today. The average lender was effectively unchanged from yesterday. The same could be said yesterday, and the day before...
Tue, Sep 22 2020, 4:55 PM
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the two government sponsored agencies that guarantee timely payment of principal and interest to the investors who fron...
Fri, Sep 18 2020, 5:38 PM
Mortgage rates are most influenced by the bond market and the bond market is most influenced by the Federal Reserve (aka "The Fed"). So when the Fed s...
Thu, Sep 17 2020, 4:56 PM
Yesterday's policy announcement from the Federal Reserve had a chance to cause significant volatility for the bond market and the bond market is the c...
Tue, Sep 15 2020, 4:21 PM
What will the Fed do to mortgage rates ? This is actually a bit of a trick question . The Fed doesn't set mortgage rates. The Fed's policy rate applie...
Fri, Sep 11 2020, 5:10 PM
If you're in the mortgage process currently or if you will be soon, there is a tremendously important development to be aware of. The net effect is th...
Thu, Sep 10 2020, 6:03 PM
It's Thursday and thus time, once again, for the weekly mortgage rate survey from Freddie Mac. News organizations and even some bond market strategist...
Wed, Sep 9 2020, 3:44 PM
Mortgage rates haven't moved much so far this week and they were surprisingly steady at the end of last week despite volatility in the underlying bond...
Fri, Sep 4 2020, 4:25 PM
Almost everywhere you look, low mortgage rates are in the news. Experts are claiming they'll remain low or move lower for years to come. They might be...
Thu, Sep 3 2020, 3:41 PM
Mortgage rates have improved nicely over the past week. While a lot of this improvement is due to the delay of the new refinance fee announced earlier...
Wed, Sep 2 2020, 3:57 PM
Mortgage rates have improved noticeably in the past few business days, largely due to the delay of a new fee announced earlier this month. Ironically,...
Tue, Sep 1 2020, 4:22 PM
For most lenders, mortgage rates improved again today, adding to the 3-week lows achieved yesterday. We normally view mortgage rate movement primarily...
Mon, Aug 31 2020, 3:47 PM
Mortgage rates improved nicely today with the average lender more convincingly back under the 3.0% threshold for conventional 30yr fixed scenarios. In...
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