| Interest rates are determined by the bond market and other financial indicators. Rates can change daily and even more than once in the same day.
Mortgage rates are primarily driven by the trading of mortgage backed securities. Typically, mortgage loans are packaged together into a mortgage backed security instrument which is then sold to investors. That investor earns a return on their investment by collecting the principal and interest payments that all the individual mortgage borrowers make on a monthly basis. In order to get investors to buy those mortgage backed securities, they must pay rates of interest that are competitive with alternative interest paying investments such as Treasury bonds. Of course, since mortgage borrowers are not as good a credit risk as the US Government, rates on mortgages are somewhat higher than those on US Treasury bonds. In summary, US Treasury bond rates often are a good indicator for the direction of mortgage rates.
Another crucial element that helps determine interest rates and mortgage rates is the outlook for inflation. If investors believe that inflation is on the rise then interest and mortgage rates will rise as well. |