By Matthew Graham | Mortgage News Daily
Mortgage rates didn’t move much today. Depending on the lender, effective rates were either slightly higher or lower vs yesterday, with the average lender being just microscopically lower in rate. Keep in mind that the improvement would only be detectable in the form of lower closing costs, if at all. In most any case, the actual contract rate would be the same as yesterday. As such the losing streak (of higher rates) over the previous 3 days is now essentially over. This doesn’t mean rates can’t rise any more from here, just that they’d need to find a new reason to do so, instead of merely cooling off after a big spike lower.
Days like today, where lenders move in opposite directions, are not that common. They tend to occur around periods of increased volatility, which we’ve certainly had this week. It creates situations where the underlying markets that dictate mortgage rates are moving faster than some lenders’ typically adjust rate sheets. For instance, if “Lender A” usually adjusts rate sheets after a certain market movement and “Lender B” usually wants to see a bigger market movement or wait longer before adjusting sheets, Lender B may well be waiting for the following morning’s rate sheets before adjusting for market conditions. Say rates were improving yesterday and the early lenders adjusted sheets in the afternoon. In that case their rate sheets this afternoon wouldn’t look much different (markets are in similar territory). Lender B, on the other hand, would be in better shape vs yesterday’s latest rate sheet because they never adjusted for the improvement in the first place.
