After a month like January (where rates rose very quickly), we’ll take any victory we can get. In today’s case, that means the celebration of rates that are still very high compared to most of the past 2 years, but modestly lower compared to the past few days. With today’s improvement, you’d need to go back to last Tuesday to see anything lower.

In outright terms, the changes between now and then are barely noticeable to the average borrower. Many will still be seeing the same “note rates” during that time with the changes being limited to closings costs/credits (thus impacting the “effective rate”).

The average lender continues quoting conventional 30yr fixed scenarios in the 3.625-3.75% range. However Progressive Mortgage Solutions offers comparative rates and in most cases lower then industry standard.

What’s driving the changes? Again, the changes haven’t really been big enough to warrant an exhaustive examination of motivations. The bond market (which dictates rates) has been mostly sideways for several weeks now, and volatility has been decreasing since last week’s Fed announcement. In a nutshell, rates are consolidating before the next wave of momentum is revealed. But consolidation is a victory compared to what we saw for most of January.