Mortgage Locks

Rate Locks Exploded In March

Posted on by TMN Editor
Home shoppers following rates closely jumped on retreating rates in March, giving the spring buying season a boost. Black Knight’s March 2023 Originations Monitor showed that rate lock dollar volume exploded in March, up 43%, as rates retreated due to economic uncertainty. Lock volumes rose in all categories. Purchase locks were up 44% month-over-month, significantly higher than its average of 30% across the last five years. “This continues to be an incredibly rate-sensitive housing market, and March’s rate lock activity perfectly illustrates this dynamic,” said Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research at Black Knight.  He explained that rates were inching up at the beginning of the month, but came down later in March due to banking sector turmoil. “The…

Rate Locks Dropped Again In May As Refis Hit New Low

Posted on by TMN Editor
Rate lock volumes dropped again in May by 4.8% despite interest rate growth slowing, according to Black Knight’s latest Originations Market Report. While conforming 30-year rates rose at the beginning of the month to 5.5%, they cooled by month-end to 5.34%, 7 basis points down from April. Still, lock volumes fell for both rate/term and cash-out refis, down 23.6% and 11.9% respectively. Cash-outs are now down 42.2% from last year. “Ultimately, our OBMMI daily interest rate tracker showed 30-year conforming offerings finishing the month at 5.34%, down 7 basis points from last month. Still, despite this plateau in rates, rate lock volume continued to slide in May, with declines seen across all loan purposes,” said Scott Happ, president of Optimal…