Mortgage Rates Jump to 7-Year Highs; Builder Confidence Perks Up

Mortgage Rates Jump to 7-Year Highs; Builder Confidence Perks Up

Mortgage rates spiked in a big way today, bringing some lenders to the highest levels in nearly 7 years (you'd need to go back to July 2011 to see worse). That heavy-hitting headline is largely due to the fact that rates were already fairly close to 7-year highs, although today did cover quite a bit more distance than other recent "bad days." In fact, today covered more ground BECAUSE we were so close to those highs. This has to do with trading strategies that are based on math and momentum. The high rates from 3 weeks ago were the same as the high rates seen in 2013/2014. That reinforced a magic line in the sand that--if crossed--was likely to result in extra momentum moving through to the other side. True to the formula, today was the first official break of those 2013/2014 highs in terms