Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.71%, down from 6.74% the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported an average rate of 6.67%, down from 6.69% the week before. (Mortgage News Daily reflects daily market conditions, while Freddie Mac reports a weekly average based on rates collected earlier in the week, so its numbers tend to lag the market and often differ.) Mixed bag If you only looked at last week’s economic data, you might...
18 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.74%, down from 6.83% the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported an average rate of 6.69%, up from 6.66% the week before. (Mortgage News Daily reflects daily market conditions, while Freddie Mac reports a weekly average based on rates collected earlier in the week, so its numbers tend to lag the market and often differ.) Highlights - why rates moved down a bit The bond market spent much of last...
25 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.83%, up slightly from 6.81% the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported an average rate of 6.66%, up from 6.58% the week before. Why rates moved higher The biggest story this week, and throughout July, was the renewed relationship between oil prices, inflation fears and Treasury yields. Treasury yields initially moved lower as the U.S. and Iran paused hostilities and oil prices fell. But that...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.81%, up from 6.71% the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported an average rate of 6.58%, up from 6.55% the week before. What's remarkable is that we are back up at the same level as exactly a year ago: 6.81%. Since February, we've been in this zigzag pattern of upward movement, largely driven by inflation caused by oil price increases from the instability in the Gulf region. Rinse, repeat. As we...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.63%, down slightly from 6.64% the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported 6.55%, up from 6.49% the week before. Relative calm, despite an uptick in geopolitical heat Despite renewed turmoil and conflict in the Middle East, this week illustrated just how many different factors the bond market is weighing at once. Early in the week, Treasury yields moved lower after both consumer and producer...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.64%, up from 6.60% the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported 6.49%, up from 6.43% the week before. Why are rates up? The bond market is reacting to geopolitical events and what those events could mean for inflation. Throughout last week and today, tensions increased in the Iran/U.S. conflict and renewed missile strikes pushed oil prices higher again. Investors immediately began asking a...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.60%, up from 6.53% the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported 6.43%, down from 6.49% the week before. As we can see with the chart above, we've been cycling around 6.5% as an average mortgage rate since the beginning of May. Why do rates continue to cycle around 6.5%? The short answer is that inflation readings have been elevated since the Iran/U.S. war started. Here are the last four months of...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.53%, down from 6.58% the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported 6.49%, up from 6.47% the week before. (Freddie Mac’s number is a weekly average and can lag what is happening in real time, while Mortgage News Daily tends to reflect the day-to-day market more quickly.) Why rates eased slightly The main reason for the slight dip is that Treasury yields moved down as inflation fears eased. The...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ended the week at 6.58%, unchanged from the prior week, according to Mortgage News Daily. Freddie Mac reported 6.47%, down from 6.52% the week before. Freddie Mac’s number is a weekly average and can lag what is happening in real time, while Mortgage News Daily tends to reflect the day-to-day market more quickly. Why rates remained in the same range This week was a good reminder that mortgage rates do not move based on one headline. Oil...
2 months ago • 3 min read
