I think it's safe to say that, consistently for the last 30 to 45 days, at least one lender (regional, major, or independent) has offered below market "record low" mortgage rates.

Investor demand is consistently healthy for agency MBS, such that their prices are hitting new record highs on a daily basis. No lender faces a shortage of funding, nothing seems to be able to distract mortgage rates from rallying!

This situation has forced us to refocus our attention on the competitiveness of the primary mortgage market, instead of closely monitoring every move in the secondary mortgage market (MBS).

Here's how I would play it....

The "best executed" lock/float strategy comes down to finding an originator who knows the loan market, studies underwriting guidelines, and just plain old gets the J.O.B done.