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Another Reminder Not to Trust Mortgage Rate Headlines

Mortgage rates moved lower again today, bringing them to the best levels in at least 2 weeks.  This assertion is very much at odds with the prevailing mortgage rate headlines today.  News stories abound with talk of sharp increases to fresh 7-year highs (google news search if you don't believe me), yet nothing could be more of a disservice to the demographic that typically looks for mortgage rate news (people who are in the market)!

If you are indeed in the market or otherwise have a vested interest in day-to-day mortgage rate fluctuations, you need to understand that all those news stories are based on Freddie Mac's weekly rate survey, and that Freddie Mac is wrong.  To be fair, it's not so much "wrong" as it is "late."  Unfortunately, Freddie's survey typically captures lenders' claimed rate quotes for Monday and Tuesday. 

Given that last week saw rates move much higher on Wed/Thu and that this week didn't see much improvement until Wed/Thu, it makes sense that Freddie's reported rate would be higher. But rest assured, TODAY's ACTUAL mortgage rates are lower than anything seen since May 14th at the earliest.  

Now, if someone wants to argue that May 14th's rates were effectively in line with 7-year highs, I'd be the last person to argue.  The bigger picture is indeed ugly.  But the point is that it's much less ugly than it was a few days ago--a fact that could be very important to the decision-making process surrounding homebuying and the mortgage rate lock process.

This Daily Mortgage Rate Update is provided in partnership with Mortgage News Daily.