Mortgage and refinance rates today, Feb. 2, 2023

Today’s mortgage and refinance rates

Average mortgage rates fell appreciably yesterday. And they’re now at their lowest level in nearly five months. The movement was a result of Wednesday’s rate announcement by the Federal Reserve.

Mortgage rates today might fall again, judging from how markets were moving first thing this morning. But, as always, that could change later in the day.

Current mortgage and refinance rates

Should you lock a mortgage rate today?

Yesterday’s modest rate hike by the Fed was a relief. It increased the likelihood of mortgage rates staying roughly where they are or even falling a bit over the coming weeks. But it’s still just that: a likelihood. And there are no certainties in these matters.

My recommendations (below) are intended to give longer-term suggestions about the overall direction of those rates. So, they don’t change daily to reflect fleeting sentiments in volatile markets.

Here are my personal rate lock recommendations:

• LOCK if closing in 7 days
• LOCK if closing in 15 days
• FLOAT if closing in 30 days
• FLOAT if closing in 45 days
• FLOAT if closing in 60 days

However, with so much uncertainty at the moment, your instincts could easily turn out to be as good as mine — or better. So let your gut and your own tolerance for risk help guide you.

Why are the first two recommendations still to lock? Because there’s too much risk of volatility to take chances so near to closing. Of course, if you’re happy with that risk, float away.

>Related: 7 Tips to get the best refinance rate

Market data affecting today’s mortgage rates

Here’s a snapshot of the state of play this morning at about 9:50 a.m. (ET). The data, compared with roughly the same time yesterday, were:

• The yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell to 3.37% from 3.49%. (Good for mortgage rates.) More than any other market, mortgage rates typically tend to follow these particular Treasury bond yields
• Major stock indexes were mostly higher soon after opening. (Sometimes bad for mortgage rates.) When investors buy shares, they’re often selling bonds, which pushes those prices down and increases yields and mortgage rates. The opposite may happen when indexes are lower. But this is an imperfect relationship
• Oil prices tumbled to $76.13 from $79.03 a barrel. (Good for mortgage rates*.) Energy prices play a prominent role in creating inflation and also point to future economic activity
• Gold prices climbed to $1,954 from $1,946 an ounce. (Neutral for mortgage rates*.) It is generally better for rates when gold rises and worse when gold falls. Gold tends to rise when investors worry about the economy.
• CNN Business Fear & Greed index — held steady at 71 out of 100. (Neutral for mortgage rates.) “Greedy” investors push bond prices down (and interest rates up) as they leave the bond market and move into stocks, while “fearful” investors do the opposite. So lower readings are often better than higher ones

*A movement of less than $20 on gold prices or 40 cents on oil ones is a change of 1% or less. So we only count meaningful differences as good or bad for mortgage rates.

Caveats about markets and rates

Before the pandemic and the Federal Reserve’s interventions in the mortgage market, you could look at the above figures and make a pretty good guess about what would happen to mortgage rates that day. But that’s no longer the case. We still make daily calls. And are usually right. But our record for accuracy won’t achieve its former high levels until things settle down.

So, use markets only as a rough guide. Because they have to be exceptionally strong or weak to rely on them. But, with that caveat, mortgage rates today look likely to fall. However, be aware that “intraday swings” (when rates change speed or direction during the day) are a common feature right now.

Important notes on today’s mortgage rates

Here are some things you need to know:

1. Typically, mortgage rates go up when the economy’s doing well and down when it’s in trouble. But there are exceptions. Read ‘How mortgage rates are determined and why you should care’
2. Only “top-tier” borrowers (with stellar credit scores, big down payments and very healthy finances) get the ultralow mortgage rates you’ll see advertised
3. Lenders vary. Yours may or may not follow the crowd when it comes to daily rate movements — though they all usually follow the broader trend over time
4. When daily rate changes are small, some lenders will adjust closing costs and leave their rate cards the same
5. Refinance rates are typically close to those for purchases.

A lot is going on at the moment. And nobody can claim to know with certainty what will happen to mortgage rates in the coming hours, days, weeks or months.

Are mortgage and refinance rates rising or falling?

Phew! Yesterday, the Federal Reserve delivered precisely what was expected, eliminating the small risk of higher mortgage rates — for now. Indeed, the news generated a worthwhile fall in those rates; a bigger one than I was expecting.

So, that’s a chapter in the story of mortgage rates ending. But this book is nothing if not a page-turner. And we’re already looking ahead at things that might push those rates higher or lower.

Threats to low mortgage rates

Right now, markets are viewing just about every economic report through the prism of how the data will affect the Fed’s upcoming rate hikes. And its next opportunity to implement another increase comes on Mar. 22.

With barely time to draw breath, the next important report lands tomorrow. And it’s the official jobs report (the “employment situation report”) for January.

The Fed — and therefore the bond market that largely determines mortgage rates — would like to see fewer new jobs, a higher unemployment rate and stagnant average hourly earnings. That sounds perverse but it would mean that the Fed’s rate hikes were achieving their stated goal of slowing the economy in order to rein in inflation.

Unfortunately for us, the jobs market has so far proved remarkably resilient. And, if that continues in the jobs report tomorrow, we might see mortgage rates lose some of yesterday’s gains. Of course, if the numbers are bad, those rates might fall further.

Oh, and there’s one even more immediate threat to mortgage rates. Yesterday’s tumble wasn’t very rational.

The actual hike was precisely what everyone was expecting and should have been baked into Tuesday’s mortgage rates. Worse, in his post-announcement news conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that there would be more rate hikes ahead and that cuts weren’t on the agenda for 2023.

So, yesterday’s fall in mortgage rates may have had more to do with relief and euphoria than rationality and analysis. And, if that’s true, they may lose some of yesterday’s gains when investors get around to reviewing their trades. However, there was no sign of that happening this morning.

For more background on mortgage rates, please read the latest weekend edition of this daily rates report.

Recent trends

According to Freddie Mac’s archives, the weekly all-time low for mortgage rates was set on Jan. 7, 2021, when it stood at 2.65% for conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages.

Freddie’s Jan. 26 report put that same weekly average at 6.13%, down from the previous week’s 6.15%.

In November, Freddie stopped including discount points in its forecasts. It has also delayed until later in the day the time at which it publishes its Thursday reports. And, from now on, we'll be updating this section on Fridays.

Expert mortgage rate forecasts

Looking further ahead, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) each has a team of economists dedicated to monitoring and forecasting what will happen to the economy, the housing sector and mortgage rates.

And here are their rate forecasts for the current quarter (Q4/22) and the first three quarters of next year (Q1/23, Q2/23 and Q3/24).

The numbers in the table below are for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. Fannie’s and the MBA’s forecasts appeared on Jan. 20. Freddie’s was published on Oct. 21. Freddie now publishes its forecasts quarterly and its figures can quickly become stale.

Of course, given so many unknowables, the whole current crop of forecasts might be even more speculative than usual. And their past record for accuracy hasn’t been wildly impressive.

Find your lowest rate today

You should comparison shop widely, no matter what sort of mortgage you want. As federal regulator the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says:

“Shopping around for your mortgage has the potential to lead to real savings. It may not sound like much, but saving even a quarter of a point in interest on your mortgage saves you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.”

Mortgage rate methodology

The Mortgage Reports receives rates based on selected criteria from multiple lending partners each day. We arrive at an average rate and APR for each loan type to display in our chart. Because we average an array of rates, it gives you a better idea of what you might find in the marketplace. Furthermore, we average rates for the same loan types. For example, FHA fixed with FHA fixed. The end result is a good snapshot of daily rates and how they change over time.