Mortgage Rates Lower so Far This Week, But Well Above Thursday's Lows

Mortgage rates had a bad day last Friday, rising at a very fast pace and ultimately making it almost all the way back to the previous week's highs.  The new week started on a stronger note with rates recovering some of the lost ground yesterday and generally holding onto that improvement today.

The ground-holding is impressive given the fact that the underlying bond market suggested higher rates today.  Timing is a factor as bonds improved steadily throughout the day yesterday.  Many lenders offered improved pricing in the afternoon (in some cases, late in the afternoon).  Compared to those late afternoon rates, today's are slightly higher, but still safely below last Friday's levels.

All bets are off when it comes to tomorrow.  At 8:30am ET, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the next monthly installment of the Consumer Price Index (CPI)--the most influential inflation metric as far as the bond market is concerned.  Depending on how the data comes out, tomorrow's mortgage rates could be starting the day quite a bit higher or lower versus this afternoon.