Mortgage rates surged lower at the quickest pace of the year today as stocks and oil prices continued suffering heavy losses.  At present, investors are fleeing from these riskier assets and seeking safer havens in the bond market, including the bonds that back mortgages.  As demand rises for bonds, rates fall.  Some of the more aggressive lenders are now back down to quoting conventional 30yr fixed rates of 3.75%--the lowest since late April, 2015.  

There's no telling how long the current trend will last.  Just yesterday, the momentum was showing signs of wavering, and here we are today with the strongest day of the year.  The lesson is that rates remain much more dependent than normal on the fluctuations in stocks and other markets.  As long as investors are abandoning other assets and seeking the relative safety of bond markets, the rate rally can continue.  Conversely, as soon as stocks finally bounce in a meaningful way, the party is over for mortgage rates.  The big question is whether such a bounce happens soon or if this is merely the start of a much bigger sell-off in stocks, such as those that followed the peaks in 2000 and 2007.