Rate Locks Rose In January, But The Good News May Not Last

Rate lock volumes increased across the board in January, finally breaking a nine-month downward streak, as buyers began stepping out before the spring season. Lock volumes rose 32% last month, according to Black Knight’s Originations Market Report. “Mortgage rates declined in January, continuing a trend that began in early November 2022. Conforming rates dropped 36 basis points from where they were at the start of the year, and we saw that rates associated with those FHA/VA/jumbo locks all came down in kind,” said Kevin McMahon, president of Optimal Blue, a division of Black Knight. “Triggered by this pullback, rate lock volumes rose for the first time since March 2022, driven by declining interest rates and seasonal tailwinds, snapping a nine-month…