Mortgage Rates Tentatively Lower

Mortgage rates took Friday’s improvements one step further today, moving slightly lower. The most prevalently quoted rates remain between 4.5 and 4.625 percent for ideal, conforming 30yr Fixed scenarios (best-execution) with the improvements being seen in the form of lower costs. For the sake of reference and comparison, today’s rates fall somewhere between last Wednesday’s and Tuesday’s for almost all lenders.

There were no significant events on today’s calendar offering motivation for the bond markets that underlie mortgage rates. Volatility was absent for both US Treasuries, which provide a good sense of longer term trends, as well as Mortgage-Backed-Securities (MBS), which most directly affect lenders’ rate sheets. Despite the modest improvements, both Treasuries and MBS looked to be leveling-off more than they were continuing into stronger territory.