Adapting to Rate Fluctuations: What Lenders Can Learn from 2024 Trends

If we were to sum up the mortgage market for the last few months, we could do it with one word: volatile. Late summer 2024, many mortgage professionals were full of optimism. With the promise of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, inflation cooling, and other market forces, we looked ready for dropping rates. And for lending institutions, that was sure to mean an uptick in business. 

Fast forward, and rates jumped from close to 6% in last September to north of 6.8%. It’s not the movement many expected — and it’s certainly not what a lot of would-be borrowers wanted to see. 

All of this underscores an overarching truth for lending institutions. You can’t control the market. Rate fluctuations are an unavoidable part of our industry.

You can, however, control the steps your company takes to manage those movements — and lure customers no matter where rates are at today. With that in mind, here are a few actionable takeaways from 2024. 

#1: Assume nothing

Throughout 2024, the promise of future Federal Reserve rate cuts had many lenders (and borrowers) waiting with bated breath. Many folks — including experts — were optimistic that we would see rates closer to 6% by the end of the year. 

Clearly, that hasn’t happened. And not because the Fed has been dragging its heels. Even recent federal funds rate slashes haven’t meaningfully moved the needle downward on mortgage rates. 

It’s a reminder that a variety of market forces impact mortgage rates. As a result, lending teams shouldn’t assume that any predicted movement — upward or down — is a given. You need to stay agile and you can’t rest on your laurels.

A lot of financial institutions assumed rates would drop and, as a result, new business would be coming their way right about now. Since that hasn’t happened, some are scrambling to enact marketing strategies. 

Don’t put your lending operation in this position. Be proactive about setting your company up to generate leads and your team up to close them. That means taking some action now. 

You might want to explore working with the top lead providers, for example, or adding a lead workflow to your website. In fact, now’s an excellent time to ensure your mortgage website is set up to capture and convert leads. 

#2: Be ready to act quickly

Buyers who made moves in September, when rates did approach the 6% mark, are now thrilled. It’s yet another lesson in watching for movement and striking when the iron’s hot. 

As a lender, that first means positioning yourself as a resource where potential borrowers can watch rates. In today’s environment, it’s critical to have a rate table on your website. This way, borrowers come to you — and not your competition — to see what rates are doing. 

Adding rate alert emails to your marketing arsenal also helps. These give you a way to be useful to borrowers who want to know what’s happening in the market. And these emails also give you an excuse to pop into their inbox on a regular basis, keeping your financial institution top-of-mind for that lead. 

You also want to be ready to move if a borrower decides now is the time. Make sure your loan officers are being hyper-responsive when someone does reach out through your site. Responding to the lead before your competition helps you win them. Ideally, your company should be getting in touch in five minutes or less.

Here, automation helps. When you get leads through your site or outside sources, make sure they feed into your CRM and have next-actions assigned. A lead should get an automated email welcoming them, for example. You may also want to implement low-lift contact channels, like AI-powered SMS texting. 

As rates move in the coming months, savvy borrowers are watching. If they come down, they’ll want to act fast. And the more you can show that your team can come alongside them to do exactly that, the higher the likelihood of landing them. 

#3: Put things in context

Sure, the current mortgage rates might not be as low as many had hoped. But they’re also a significant margin better than the nearly 8% we saw late last year. Convincing potential borrowers that now is a good time to act might be a matter of putting current rates in context. 

You may want to include some charts showing recent rate movement on your site, for example, or link to reliable outside sources like Federal Reserve Economic Data. 

Most importantly, though, you want to convince could-be borrowers to talk to one of your loan officers. There’s nothing like a conversation with a real human who knows the market to help them understand the overall context in which they might be securing their loan. 

Make it easy for people who visit your website to get in touch with your loan officers. Having standalone pages for each of those team members goes a long way here. With a loan officer page that shows their picture, contact info, and experience, borrowers get a sense of who can come alongside them. 

You can also add features like reviews from past customers to build trust and credibility. With a button to make it easy to call that loan officer or even start their loan application, these webpages become lead generation machines.

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2024’s mortgage rate trends highlight how important it is to have your own lead generation efforts in the works. You can’t rely on dropping rates to drive business your way. Instead, you need to be proactive. 

We can help. Getting rate tables, lead workflows, and loan officer pages on your site can be a whole lot easier than you might expect. Here at BankingBridge, we offer all of those features — and we can integrate them directly with your CRM and your product pricing engine. This way, you can showcase the latest rates, capture leads, and tee them up for your team without lifting a finger. 

To explore what our tools can do to help your lending institution weather — and make the most of — rate fluctuations, book a demo with us. We can help you get set up to leverage technology and automation for a productive and fruitful 2025.