Good Morning! Today is Friday, August 26. A federal judge ordered the release of a redacted version of the affidavit for the search warrant of Mar-a-Lago. Two Florida residents pleaded guilty to stealing Ashley Biden’s diary and selling it to a conservative group. Labor officials accused Starbucks of discriminating against unionized employees by promising raises only to stores that rejected the union.
The Mortgage Note Reports
Rates Back Up: Mortgage rates shot back up, rising from 5.13% last week to an average of 5.55%.
Price Peaking: Home prices have peaked in a growing number of overpriced markets as sellers and buyers pull back in the face of rising rates and affordability challenges.
Opinion: Scott Olson writes about the merger of Community Mortgage Lenders of America and Community Home Lenders Association, saying this will enhance their ability to influence mortgage policies in Washington.
Do you have an opinion you would like to share? Email Editor Kimberley Haas at [email protected].
And in other mortgage and housing news…
Listings Drop: New listings fell 15%, the biggest annual decline since the start of the pandemic, thanks to sellers and buyers leaving the market due to economic uncertainty.
“Something Had To Give”: Black Knight’s Home Price Index saw July prices fall for the first time in 32 months in one of the largest monthly dips on record.
ARMs Profile: Homebuyers taking out ARMs today have higher incomes and make larger down payments on their homes, reducing the risk of a crash, Zillow says.
Blackstone Backs Out: Blackstone’s single-family landlord will stop buying homes in 38 US cities, becoming the latest investor to back away from the overheated market.
BOA Builder Rating: Analysts from Bank of America cut their rating on shares of three homebuilders as the housing market faces an economic slowdown.
Reali Shutters: “Buy before you sell” tech start-up Reali is shutting down just a year after raising $100 million in its series B fundraising round.
Teenage Dreams: Teens overwhelmingly want to own a home someday, with 85% of them believing it’s part of “the good life.”
New Buzzword?: “Red-hot,” “insane,” and “brutal” have been used to describe the housing market over the last few years, but economists have a new buzzword.