by Calculated Risk on 3/03/2020 06:52:00 PM

From Matthew Graham at MortgageNewsDaily: Rates at All-Time Lows No Thanks to Fed's Emergency Cut

The Fed announced an emergency rate cut of 50bps today (0.50%). Great! So your mortgage rate could be 0.5% lower, right? Not exactly... Rates definitely moved lower today, and the Fed was definitely involved in that, but more so because their surprise rate cut proved to disillusion financial markets, thus setting off a wave of panic that benefited bonds. Excess demand for bonds means lower mortgage rates (all-time lows, by the end of the day). [Today's Most Prevalent Rates For Top Tier Scenarios 30YR FIXED - 3.0%]

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph from Mortgage News Daily shows mortgage rates since January 2011.

More than a 1/4 percentage point below the previous record low levels of late 2012.

This graph is interactive, and you could view mortgage rates back to the mid-1980s - click here for interactive graph.