Mortgage rates fell this week, holding firm even as key economic data reports show signs of continued improvement. Rates have paused their consistent ascent several times in the past few months, but for the first time since the beginning of the year, there are some indications that this reprieve from rates’ upward trend could be a lasting one.

Strong readings of key economic data reports – notably March’s job figures and the ISM Services Index, which reached an all-time high – were recently released, and yet mortgage rates barely budged, even retreating at times. While the market had likely already priced in some of these strong reports, the modest move was still an encouraging signal for rates which have been trying, and failing, to find a ceiling for the past several weeks. That said, other factors are likely at play. For the past several months, pandemic-related developments have had a greater impact on rates, which is still the case. With coronavirus cases beginning to rise again in most U.S. states and many countries around the world, investors have a renewed reason for caution, which tends to push bond yields, and mortgage rates, downward.

Longer-term, the outlook for mortgage rates continues to be upward, but developments in recent days suggest that the rates’ steep ascent of early 2021 may finally be starting to flatten.