Most real estate agents understand that mortgage rates change every day, sometimes intra-day. Fewer know that the real-time aspect is driven by global trading in bonds, and mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) are just another kind of bond. Every agent and their clients, especially those close to a transaction, are curious to know where rates are and how they have changed. (We would all like to know what rates will do tomorrow, but that’s beyond mankind.) The mortgage industry and the bond market make it as hard as possible for brokers and civilians to understand, for different reasons. Mortgage salespeople do not fear rate competition so much as the knowledge that we tend to have the same deal. Equalize fees and closing costs, and rates tend to do the same. Internet vendors may be cheaper, some local credit union may be on the cheap side, or a megabank for a time could underprice a segment, like jumbos or ARMs (adjustable-rate mortgage), but day in, day out, the 30- and 15-…
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