Mortgage lenders rely on the bond market to generate mortgage rates. In addition to being fully closed on Monday for Memorial Day, bonds also close 3 hours earlier than normal on the preceding Friday (i.e. today). The abbreviated trading session was fairly uneventful for rates despite some back-and-forth volatility in response to diplomacy headlines surrounding Iran/US peace negotiations. The flow of news resulted in better bond market levels early in the day and a pull-back in the late AM hours. After accounting for some lenders' mid-day rate changes, the average lender ended the day right in line with yesterday's levels which were also incidentally right in line with last Friday's levels.
Builders Breaking Ground at Fastest Pace in 2 Years
Residential construction activity was mixed again in April, as building permits rebounded while housing starts pulled back modestly from March’s stronger pace. The latest Census Bureau data continues to reflect a construction sector navigating uneven d…