Mortgage Rate Winning Streak Finally Ends, But Just Barely

When is a defeat not really a defeat?  Mortgage rates have an idea.  They're fresh off an incredibly rare 8 day winning streak that took the average 30yr fixed rate to the lowest levels in 5 months AND well under the 7% mark for top tier scenarios. Contrast all that gloriousness to today's performance which saw the average inch higher by a mere 0.03%.  On any recent day before last Friday, we'd still be at 5 month lows.  It would be just as fair to say rates are "holding their ground near 5 month lows" in the bigger picture. This wasn't necessarily destined to be the case this morning.  The important Retail Sales report had some underlying components that caused the bond market to move quickly toward higher yields (thus implying a bigger uptick in mortgage rates).  But the losses were temporary and traders were quick to push bonds back into stronger territory. Some mortgage lenders ended up offering mid day improvements to the morning's rate offerings.  Those who didn't would likely be able to improve rates tomorrow morning IF the bond market were to hold in line with current levels overnight (never a guarantee, but always the 'all other things being equal' baseline).