Mortgage rates may have managed to remain mostly flat last week, but they did so near their highest levels in several weeks.  After moving up at a moderate pace today, they're now at the highest levels in just over a month. After being as low as 3.375-3.5% for a top tier conventional 30yr fixed quote in early September, the average lender is now roughly 0.5% higher in rate.  That equates to a $84 change in monthly payment on a $300k loan (or $28/mo for every 100k financed).

Today's rate spike came courtesy of news relating to Brexit over the weekend.  Investors were on guard against the possibility that the negotiation process would NOT be extended.  If that had been the case, rates might have moved lower today instead.  But now that an extension looks like a strong possibility, rates were free to move in the other direction.  This is an important time to be paying attention to interest rate momentum because if rates rise too much more from here, some would see that a sign that rates are transitioning into a more sustained upward trend.  We'll definitely discuss that in greater detail if there's more evidence for it in the coming weeks.