Mortgage Rates Jump Back Above 6%; More Volatility Ahead

As recently as late July, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility to see certain lenders quoting conventional 30yr fixed mortgage rates in the high 4% range in some cases.  Granted, those quotes typically included some additional upfront cost to get the rate lower, but the same is true of the most widely cited weekly mortgage rate survey from Freddie Mac. Freddie’s survey came out this morning showing a modest 0.11% increase from last week to 5.66% with 0.8 points upfront.  That would equate to roughly 5.9% without any points based on the average lender’s buydown costs.  Unfortunately, this is still way too low to capture today’s reality, which was 6.23% this morning. To be clear, the 6.23% is the reality.  It is derived from actual daily rate sheets as opposed to Freddie’s survey responses, most of which were received on Monday.  A lot has changed since Monday!  Most of the change happened in the past 24 hours.  During that time, bonds (which dictate rates) have sold off aggressively, partly due to compulsory trading associated with month-end and partly due to economic data that refuses to show any tightening impact from Fed policy changes. Specifically, all of this morning’s labor market data came in as strong or stronger than expected.  The Federal Reserve has repeatedly said it would like to see its policies having a negative impact on the jobs market before considering progress in the fight against inflation.  Bonds sold off quickly after the data.  Excess selling in the bond market results in rates moving higher, all other things being equal. 
Source: mortgagenewsdaily.comNew feed