Mortgage Rates Hold Steady

Mortgage Rates Hold Steady

Mortgage rates held steady today, which is a victory in light of yesterday’s big jump higher.  Part of that jump was due to fear that today’s jobs report would strike a similar tone to some of this week’s other economic reports.  That would have been a problem for rates because stronger economic data pushes rates higher, all other things being equal.

But the jobs report was merely “OK,” at best, with the overall tally of newly created jobs coming in at 130k.  That was well short of the 158k forecast, but also well within the margin of error for the data.  In response, the bond market (which underlies mortgage rates) managed to make it back to unchanged levels on the day.  Before the jobs report, it was indicating another move toward higher rates.

In the bigger picture, yesterday’s big jump doesn’t look so big as it left us at rates that would have been the lowest in 3 years on any other day before August 28th.  Even now, most lenders are less than 0.125% higher from last week’s long-term lows.

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/920896.aspx

by: Matthew Graham