Don't stress out. If we ignore the past 5 days, today's mortgage rates are still the lowest since early 2023.  That said, they're up a bit from last week and they moved moderately higher day-over-day. Last week's news regarding Fannie and Freddie's plans to buy $200 bln of MBS (the mortgage-backed securities that directly dictate mortgage rates) made for a rapid drop in the average mortgage rate, but that had largely run its course by Monday. Since then, the market has been finding its range. Mortgages have also been contending with countervailing forces in the broader bond market. Specifically, Treasury yields and Fed rate expectations have been rising. Just today, the 10yr yield finally broke up and out of a range that has held firm for more than 4 months. Mortgage rates have been insulated from that negative momentum in Treasuries (something that would normally imply an equal amount of negativity in the mortgage world) thanks to Fannie/Freddie MBS purchases. 

Mortgage rates moved modestly lower for the average lender today, but higher for others. The distinction is whether the lender in question made a late-day adjustment yesterday afternoon.  At the time, the underlying market for mortgage bonds was improving somewhat sharply. This prompted several lenders to drop rates before the end of business. Those lenders had to bump rates back up this morning as the bond market was in weaker territory this morning.  Other lenders--those who didn't make any changes yesterday afternoon--were able to nudge rates modestly lower today as this morning's bond market levels were a bit better than yesterday morning's.  In the bigger picture, the average lender is still very close to 3-year lows. [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

Trading levels in the bond market directly impact the rates that mortgage lenders can offer. This is why rates moved so much lower after last week's news regarding planned purchases of $200bln in mortgage backed bonds.  But bonds aren't the only input for rates, and those other inputs can make for days like today where bonds are noticeably better while mortgage rates refuse to follow. Those other inputs aren't as easy to observe and quantify as the objective trading levels in the bond market, but in the current case, we can assume that at least some of the explanation has to do with mortgage lenders quickly becoming too busy to handle more volume. "Busy" isn't necessarily the right word, but in this case, it's a catch-all term for the side effects of rapidly originating a much higher volume of new loans. One aspect has to do with the flow of funding. Lenders don't have unlimited cash to accept new lock commitments.  As they approach those limits, they will raise rates (or not lower them as much as their peers) to deter new business. A slightly more esoteric aspect has to do with deterring borrowers who recently acquired new mortgages from refinancing. Early payoffs (which mostly occur via refinancing when rates unexpectedly fall) cost lenders money because, on average, lenders pay more than the principal amount to originate a loan.  They then rely on earning interest to offset that expense. An early payoff means they won't be able to collect that interest. As such, they have an incentive to avoid setting rates at low enough levels to entice recently minted mortgages from refi'ing. 

According to our chart of MND's mortgage rate index, 30yr fixed rates bottomed at 6.01% yesterday, but that's because the chart logs the day's latest entry.  On Friday, until late in the day, the chart showed a rate of 5.99%. It was only after several lenders raised rates in the afternoon that the index moved up to 6.06%. Today's rates ended up just a hair higher than that at 6.07%. Most of the underlying market weakness that accounts for today's jump occurred yesterday afternoon. Lenders who raised rates yesterday afternoon offered roughly comparable rates this morning.  Things might have ended up worse today had it not been for a reasonably well-received CPI report (Consumer Price Index). This important data showed inflation remaining in check in December, with the most closely-watched metrics coming in just below the median forecast.  Lower inflation is good for rates, all else equal, but inflation isn't falling fast enough to have a big impact in the short term. In today's case, it did more to help the bond market avoid losing ground than it did to spark a new rally. [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

Mortgage rates are either higher or lower today, depending on the lender in question. Some lenders raised rates on Friday afternoon in response to weakness in the bond market (lenders set rates based on the trading levels of MBS, the bonds that underlie the mortgage market). Those lenders are actually slightly lower today. Lenders who didn't raise rates on Friday afternoon are slightly higher today. In all cases, apart from Friday morning, today's rates remain well below anything seen for nearly 3 years. This is notable considering 10yr are near 4 month highs and more than 0.20% higher than the lower end of the range during that time. One reason for mortgage rates outperforming the 10yr Treasury is the fact that the 10yr isn't always the best indicator for mortgages. In recent years, a 5yr Treasury has behaved more like mortgage rates in terms of day to day movement.  An even bigger reason for mortgage outperformance is last week's announcement regarding Fannie/Freddie purchases of MBS.  This is the news that sent rates surging lower on Friday.  The market is continuing to hone in on a new trading range for MBS today, but the bulk of the initial volatility seems to have passed.