It seems like just last week (because it was) we were commenting on the extreme LACK of volatility in the mortgage rate landscape.  Starting last Thursday, things have changed quickly, and today was the worst of the bunch.

As is often the case, bad news for mortgage rates followed good news for the economy.  Several economic reports suggested more job growth and business activity than expected.  Since the Fed is looking for evidence of the opposite before it abandons plans to continue hiking rates, markets took this as an immediate comment on the likelihood of additional rate hikes.

The reaction in the bond market was so severe that mortgage rates made their biggest move in weeks, jumping even higher into the 7% range.  At the same time lender rates were being published for the day, Freddie Mac released its weekly survey showing 30yr fixed rates still down at 6.81%--higher than last week, but nowhere near a reflection of the move we've seen since then.

As always, keep in mind that Freddie's survey has implied "points" (upfront loan costs that help bring the rate lower) that are not counted or reported, and also that it is an average of the 5 preceding days.  

Tomorrow brings the big jobs report, which has even more power to change the rate landscape.  Notably, tomorrow's number doesn't always correlate with the number that hurt rates today, so there's an equal chance of recovery or additional pain.