Mortgage rates kicked off the new year by jumping to the highest levels since December 13th.  That's not too remarkable considering rates were also at 2 week highs heading into the weekend.  Additionally, the 2nd half of December is often a random walk for the bond market that may or may not bear any relation to the first part of January. Either way, apart from the past two weeks, rates are still much lower than they were for the past 7 months.  Today's jump is modest to moderate in the recent context.  It's not necessarily indicative of ongoing momentum toward higher rates.  Momentum is most likely to be determined by the incoming economic data with Wednesday and Friday being the most significant days this week.