Mortgage Rates Fall, Returning to Normal-ish Behavior -- For Now

Mortgage rates fell notably over the last seven days, an otherwise wild stretch marked by one-day swings that would usually unfold over weeks or months.

About a week ago, signs of weakness and underlying fractures in financial markets led mortgage rates to rise sharply to multi-month highs, as cash-strapped traders looked to offload any assets possible in order to get cash to meet short-term obligations. This prompted the Federal Reserve to intervene with a historic influx of capital aimed at settling markets. For now, it appears that the Fed’s actions had a positive effect on mortgage rates, even though some fissures likely remain. Mortgage rates sharply retreated from their recent (artificial) highs and have since settled down, moving with stock prices and Treasury yields in a more conventional manner.

Things may have settled down for now, but we’re likely to see more volatile movements in mortgage rates as the next few weeks unfold, and some segments of the mortgage industry continue to face severe liquidity risks.