January 12, 2023
While mortgage rates have resumed their decline, the market remains hypersensitive to rate movements, with purchase demand experiencing large swings relative to small changes in rates. Over the last few weeks latent demand has been on display with buyers jumping in and out of the market as rates move.
Information provided by Freddie Mac.
January 5, 2023
Mortgage application activity sunk to a quarter century low this week as high mortgage rates continue to weaken the housing market. While mortgage market activity has significantly shrunk over the last year, inflationary pressures are easing and should lead to lower mortgage rates in 2023. Homebuyers are waiting for rates to decrease more significantly, and when they do, a strong job market and a large demographic tailwind of Millennial renters will provide support to the purchase market. Moreover, if rates continue to decline, borrowers who purchased in the last year will have opportunities to refinance into lower rates.
Information provided by Freddie Mac.
December 29, 2022
The housing market remains in the doldrums with declining sales, inventory and prices. The declines in sales and deceleration in home prices began swiftly earlier in 2022 but have moderated more recently. While the intensity of weakness is moderating, the market continues to decline and forward leading indicators suggest housing will remain weak throughout the winter.
Information provided by Freddie Mac.
December 22, 2022
Heading into the holidays, mortgage rates continued to move down. Rates have declined significantly over the past six weeks, which is helpful for potential homebuyers, but new data indicates homeowners are hesitant to list their homes. Many of those homeowners are carefully weighing their options as more than two-thirds of current homeowners have a fixed mortgage rate of below four percent.
Information provided by Freddie Mac.
December 15, 2022
Mortgage rates continued their downward trajectory this week, as softer inflation data and a modest shift in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy reverberated through the economy. The good news for the housing market is that recent declines in rates have led to a stabilization in purchase demand. The bad news is that demand remains very weak in the face of affordability hurdles that are still quite high.
Information provided by Freddie Mac.
December 8, 2022
Mortgage rates decreased for the fourth consecutive week, due to increasing concerns over lackluster economic growth. Over the last four weeks, mortgage rates have declined three quarters of a point, the largest decline since 2008. While the decline in rates has been large, homebuyer sentiment remains low with no major positive reaction in purchase demand to these lower rates.
Information provided by Freddie Mac.
December 1, 2022
Mortgage rates continued to drop this week as optimism grows around the prospect that the Federal Reserve will slow its pace of rate hikes. Even as rates decrease and house prices soften, economic uncertainty continues to limit homebuyer demand as we enter the last month of the year.
Information provided by Freddie Mac.
November 23, 2022
Mortgage rates continued to tick down heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. In recent weeks, rates have hit above seven percent only to drop by almost half a percentage point. This volatility is making it difficult for potential homebuyers to know when to get into the market, and that is reflected in the latest data which shows existing home sales slowing across all price points.
Information provided by Freddie Mac.
