Mortgage rates surged significantly lower today, as a part of a broad-based market movement following a political scandal that began taking shape yesterday afternoon.  You can choose your preferred media outlet to digest all of the details, but the issue surrounds communications between Trump, former FBI Director Comey, and the potential for the details of those communications to be demanded by House Oversight Chair Chaffetz.  

The most scandalous and sensational endgame to all of this would be potential impeachment--a fact you couldn't help but hear or see if you heard or saw any news anywhere today.  But financial markets are probably reacting more to the fiscal policy implications.  Simply put, today's news headlines cast further doubt on the new administration's ability to rapidly enact the legislation that prompted investors to make big bets on higher stocks and interest rates.  It's only logical, then, that investors would push stocks and interest rates in the other direction today.  It's that simple for now.

We're often talking about just how small the day-to-day movements are that we're tracking in these daily write-ups.  Today was an exception, with most lenders moving a full eighth of a percentage point lower in rate.  That's the king of improvement we only see a few times a year.  This time, it brought conventional 30yr fixed rates to the best levels of 2017.  Many of the best-qualified borrowers will be seeing quotes in the 3.875%-4.0% range now as opposed to 4.0-4.125% before today.