">Spread

A spread is the difference between two interest rates.

From a lender’s perspective, the most important “spread” is the difference between the mortgage rate they offer consumers, and their cost for those funds.

Other spreads include:

• The fixed – variable rate spread
• The 5-year fixed – 5-year bond yield spread (a rough gauge of lender margin on fixed-rate mortgages)
• The variable – BA spread (a rough gauge of lender margin on variable-rate mortgages)