Brandy Gargis

Brandy Gargis "Home" is one of the sweetest words there is. - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Rates Only Slightly Higher Despite Strong Jobs ReportMortgage rates have a long and storied past with the monthly jobs r...
09/04/2026

Rates Only Slightly Higher Despite Strong Jobs ReportMortgage rates have a long and storied past with the monthly jobs report. Officially titled "The Employment Situation," the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) jobs report has more power than any other monthly economic report to cause volatility in the rate market over the years. It may have lost some of that capability over the past few years, but it's always worthy of respect. With that in mind, it was an ominous sign for rates when this morning's jobs data came in MUCH stronger than expected. BLS counted 162k new jobs created compared to a median forecast of 56k. On many occasions in the past, the result of such a "beat" would have been a substantial increase in mortgage rates. These days, however, the job count carries a bit less weight than it used to for a variety of reasons. It definitely had an impact today, but a much smaller impact than career rate-watchers may have expected. Average top-tier 30yr fixed rates moved only modestly higher and remained safely below the long-term highs seen on Wednesday. [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

Mortgage rates have a long and storied past with the monthly jobs report. Officially titled "The Employment Situation," the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) jobs report has more power than any other monthly economic report to cause volatility in the rate market over the years. It may...

Mortgage Rates Drop to Week's Best LevelsMortgage rates finally had a decent day on Thursday after spending the previous...
09/03/2026

Mortgage Rates Drop to Week's Best LevelsMortgage rates finally had a decent day on Thursday after spending the previous three days inching into the highest levels in more than a year. Part of the improvement was due to comments from Fed Governor Chris Waller who said that it wouldn't be necessary to hike rates at the next meeting unless inflation data surprises to the upside. Before that, the underlying bond market was already showing some resilience in overnight trading. The prevailing pattern has been a fairly reliable correlation between bond yields and oil prices. But this time around, yields held fairly steady in the overnight session even though oil prices moved higher. Mortgage rates are based on bonds, and mortgage-specific bonds correlate almost flawlessly with 5-10yr U.S. Treasuries on any given day. The net effect was a return to the week's lowest levels for a top-tier 30yr fixed rate at the average lender. Good news notwithstanding, risks remain on the horizon. Friday morning brings important economic data in the form of the jobs report. Next week's inflation data will be just as critical. As always, data-related volatility cuts both ways. If it's much weaker than expected, rates would likely continue lower. But if it's much higher than expected, rates would likely make new highs.

Mortgage rates finally had a decent day on Thursday after spending the previous three days inching into the highest levels in more than a year. Part of the improvement was due to comments from Fed Governor Chris Waller who said that it wouldn't be necessary to hike rates at the next meeting unle...

Mortgage Rates Pushing New Long-Term HighsFighting intensified today between the U.S. and Iran. Oil prices moved higher ...
09/01/2026

Mortgage Rates Pushing New Long-Term HighsFighting intensified today between the U.S. and Iran. Oil prices moved higher fairly quickly and bond yields followed. This has been a common pattern during the Iran war as higher oil prices imply higher inflation which, in turn, implies higher yields/rates. Yesterday's average top-tier 30yr fixed rate hit the highest levels since June 2025. Today's increase was modest in the bigger picture. At 6.89%, we're still well below that June 2025 high of 6.97%. [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

Fighting intensified today between the U.S. and Iran. Oil prices moved higher fairly quickly and bond yields followed. This has been a common pattern during the Iran war as higher oil prices imply higher inflation which, in turn, implies higher yields/rates. Yesterday's average top-tier 30yr fix...

Highest Mortgage Rates in Over a Year, But Just BarelyBonds lost ground today, largely due to mechanical, month-end trad...
08/31/2026

Highest Mortgage Rates in Over a Year, But Just BarelyBonds lost ground today, largely due to mechanical, month-end trading (i.e. not due to economic data, inflation, or news headlines). When bonds lose ground, rates rise, all else equal. Mortgage rates were already fairly close to longer-term highs last week. Today's increase was just enough to nudge the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate to 6.87%--the highest since June 2025. While that sounds fairly gloomy, the average borrower wouldn't see any difference from those seen on July 23rd, 2026. [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

Bonds lost ground today, largely due to mechanical, month-end trading (i.e. not due to economic data, inflation, or news headlines). When bonds lose ground, rates rise, all else equal. Mortgage rates were already fairly close to longer-term highs last week. Today's increase was just enough to nu...

Mortgage Rates Hold Fairly SteadyMortgage rates barely budged again on Thursday, but there was far less data to digest c...
08/27/2026

Mortgage Rates Hold Fairly SteadyMortgage rates barely budged again on Thursday, but there was far less data to digest compared to Wednesday. Bonds (which dictate rates) were steady to slightly weaker. The "weaker" part connotes higher rates, but the weakness was late in the day and too small for most mortgage lenders to do anything about it. What does that mean? Unlike the actual bond market, which can move every millisecond, mortgage lenders only change rates 1-3 times per day, and it's usually only once per day unless market volatility is high enough. Today's volatility didn't quite clear the bar. If bonds had lost slightly more ground, we might have seen a few lenders raise rates this afternoon. With that in mind, lenders are heading into tomorrow at a bit of a disadvantage. In other words, if bonds don't improve between now and tomorrow morning, the average lender will likely be offering higher rates tomorrow. One other thing to keep in mind is that Fed Chair Warsh is scheduled to speak around the same time mortgage rates come out. There's no way to know exactly what that will do to the market (perhaps nothing), but it does create some additional volatility potential.

Mortgage rates barely budged again on Thursday, but there was far less data to digest compared to Wednesday. Bonds (which dictate rates) were steady to slightly weaker. The "weaker" part connotes higher rates, but the weakness was late in the day and too small for most mortgage lenders to....

Mortgage Rates Drift Modestly HigherFor all practical purposes, Friday's mortgage rates were unchanged versus Thursday's...
08/21/2026

Mortgage Rates Drift Modestly HigherFor all practical purposes, Friday's mortgage rates were unchanged versus Thursday's, but if we're splitting hairs, the average lender rose 0.01% to 6.77% for a top tier 30yr fixed. While many news outlets continue focusing on the mid-week announcement regarding Treasury's bond buyback program, today's bond market volatility was unrelated. Current levels are close to where they were before Wednesday's announcement and that makes sense to anyone who Wednesday's market reaction as 'overdone.' The upcoming week offers much more economic data in addition to potentially relevant comments from Fed Chair Warsh at the Fed's annual Jackson Hole conference.

For all practical purposes, Friday's mortgage rates were unchanged versus Thursday's, but if we're splitting hairs, the average lender rose 0.01% to 6.77% for a top tier 30yr fixed.  While many news outlets continue focusing on the mid-week announcement regarding Treasury's....

Highest Mortgage Rates in Just Over a WeekWhile Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate survey may show rates moving slightly...
08/20/2026

Highest Mortgage Rates in Just Over a WeekWhile Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate survey may show rates moving slightly lower this week, today's rates are actually higher than they were at the same time last week (6.76% vs 6.69%). Financial news continued to focus on yesterday's announcement of Treasury buybacks after Secretary Bessent spoke on CNBC this morning, but today's bump in rates had more to do with fuel prices. Treasury yields serve as an almost perfect proxy for intraday rate movement with 10yr yields often seen as the most common at-a-glance benchmark for mortgage rate movement (i.e. they tend to move in the same direction by roughly similar amounts). 10yr yields and oil prices were at the lows of the day at 1am. Oil rose fairly quickly through 8am ET and Treasury yields followed. Both peaked at exactly the same time and then remained broadly sideways all day. This isn't as scandalous or interesting as pretending today's rising rates had something to do with market backlash over the Treasury announcement, but it's the more accurate way to make sense of the day-over-day movement.

While Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate survey may show rates moving slightly lower this week, today's rates are actually higher than they were at the same time last week (6.76% vs 6.69%). Financial news continued to focus on yesterday's announcement of Treasury buybacks after Secretary...

Why Mortgage Rates Didn't Fall as Much as 30yr Bonds TodayMortgage rates dropped on Wednesday due to a combination of lo...
08/19/2026

Why Mortgage Rates Didn't Fall as Much as 30yr Bonds TodayMortgage rates dropped on Wednesday due to a combination of lower oil prices and the announcement of changes to Treasury's bond buyback program. The oil price angle is easy to understand. Throughout the war, higher fuel prices have caused volatility in inflation expectations and inflation is a critical consideration for bonds/rates. The Treasury buyback news is more complex and highly oversimplified by the average piece of media coverage. Here are the details that matter:
The original buyback program began in 2024 under the Biden admin when Yellen was the Treasury secretary
It is not quantitative easing or "new money creation."
Treasury gets money from issuing bonds or via other federal receipts (taxes, tariffs, etc)
The program was continued/expanded under Trump/Bessent
Today's announcement increased the amount of longer-term Treasuries that can be purchased in any given scheduled buying operation.
The goal of the program is to promote smoother functioning of the financial market, but it has a tangential benefit to certain interest rates.
Because today's announcement focused on longer-term Treasuries, longer-term rates/yields fell the most. Shorter-term rates actually moved up (which makes sense because the money to buy more long-term bonds technically comes at the expense of short-term bonds, all else equal).
On major catch for 30yr fixed mortgage rates is that the average mortgage-backed bond for those rates only typically lasts 5-7 years on average. So even though a mortgage CAN last for 30 years, the market treats them more like 5 year bonds because "duration" is everything when it comes to bond market valuation. All that to say: mortgage rates fell, but not as much as 30yr bonds (which fell A LOT today).

Mortgage rates dropped on Wednesday due to a combination of lower oil prices and the announcement of changes to Treasury's bond buyback program. The oil price angle is easy to understand. Throughout the war, higher fuel prices have caused volatility in inflation expectations and inflation is a c...

Mortgage Rates Start Week HigherAfter ending last week near the lowest level since July 17th, mortgage rates are moving ...
08/17/2026

Mortgage Rates Start Week HigherAfter ending last week near the lowest level since July 17th, mortgage rates are moving up to start the new week. Motivations are familiar. Escalation in U.S./Iran tensions is pushing fuel prices higher and bond yields continue to correlate. Bond yields correlate with consumer interest rates with near perfection. In mortgage-specific terms, the average top-tier 30yr fixed rate moved up 0.02% today to 6.73%. This is still much lower than the most recent high of 6.85%, but not quite as low as last Thursday's 6.69%.

After ending last week near the lowest level since July 17th, mortgage rates are moving up to start the new week. Motivations are familiar. Escalation in U.S./Iran tensions is pushing fuel prices higher and bond yields continue to correlate. Bond yields correlate with consumer interest rates with ne...

Mortgage Rates Slightly Higher to End The WeekFirst, the bad news: mortgage rates ended the day just a hair higher compa...
08/14/2026

Mortgage Rates Slightly Higher to End The WeekFirst, the bad news: mortgage rates ended the day just a hair higher compared to Thursday, but the change was so small that many borrowers will see little--if any--difference in pricing. Now the good news: apart from yesterday afternoon, today's rates would still be the lowest in 4 weeks (i.e. you'd have to go back to July 17th to see anything lower). Lastly, some news that's neither good nor bad, but simply a bit confusing. Today's higher rates followed this morning's Retail Sales report which came in much weaker than expected. Conventional wisdom would have suggested that weaker data coincides with lower rates. One issue is that Retail Sales is not in the same league as top tier economic reports like the inflation data seen earlier this week or the jobs report seen last Friday. Also, there can be more nuance to the retail sales data by the time traders consider temporary factors and timing. Lastly, sometimes the bonds market (bonds dictate rate movement) has simply done as well as it's going to do on any given week and it would take a much bigger surprise to overcome trading momentum that is happening for non-data-related reasons. In other words, traders can push back against the week's prevailing momentum on Friday simply as a byproduct of closing out the week's trading positions. [thirtyyearmortgagerates]

First, the bad news: mortgage rates ended the day just a hair higher compared to Thursday, but the change was so small that many borrowers will see little--if any--difference in pricing. Now the good news: apart from yesterday afternoon, today's rates would still be the lowest in 4 weeks (i.e. y...

Address

115 Helton Court
Florence, AL
35630

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 8pm
Tuesday 8am - 8pm
Wednesday 8am - 8pm
Thursday 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 8pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Brandy Gargis posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category