Average mortgage rates increased for a fifth consecutive week just as spring buying season entered its peak months.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.22%, up from the week prior’s 7.17%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.39%.
The 15-year fixed rate increased from 6.44% to 6.47%. A year ago, it averaged 5.76%.
“On average, more than one-third of home sales for the entire year occur between March and June. With two months left of this historically busy period, potential homebuyers will likely not see relief from rising rates anytime soon,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
Home sellers enjoy the biggest premiums in May as buyers take advantage…
Average mortgage rates increased again last week, worsening affordability and setting the market up for a slump as the spring buying season progresses.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.17%, jumping from the week prior’s 7.1%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.43%.
The 15-year fixed rate increased from 6.39% to 6.44%. A year ago, it averaged 5.71%.
“Despite rates increasing more than half a percent since the first week of the year, purchase demand remains steady. With rates staying higher for longer, many homebuyers are adjusting, as evidenced by this week’s report that sales of newly built homes saw the biggest increase since December 2022,” said Sam Khater, Freddie…
Average mortgage rates surpassed 7% for the first time in 2024 last week.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.1%, jumping from the week prior’s 6.88%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.39%.
The daily rate shot up to 7.5% in the middle of this week.
The 15-year fixed rate increased from 6.16% to 6.39%. A year ago, it averaged 5.76%.
“As rates trend higher, potential homebuyers are deciding whether to buy before rates rise even more or hold off in hopes of decreases later in the year. Last week, purchase applications rose modestly, but it remains unclear how many homebuyers can withstand increasing rates in the future,” said Sam…
The cost of buying a home hit another record high as rising rates intersected with home price growth.
The median U.S. home sale price increased 5% YOY to $380,250 during the four weeks ending April 14. This is just a few grand below June 2022’s all-time high.
At the same time, mortgage rates have jumped up over 7% in recent weeks as inflation data forced the Central Bank to walk back its talk of rate cuts. Some analysts who previously predicted three cuts from the Fed in 2024 now say there may be none at all.
“I think we’re still expecting a couple but clearly we continue to kick the can down the road on rate cuts, and it wouldn’t…
The number of renters who believe they’ll never afford a home has skyrocketed in the last year as rates rose and stock shortages lifted home prices out of their late-2023 spiral.
A recent Redfin survey found that close to 38% of renters believe they are unlikely to become homeowners, up from 27% at the same time last year.
Lack of affordability is the most cited reason for their pessimism, with almost half of respondents saying houses are simply too expensive.
Trouble saving for down payments (35%), inability to afford mortgage payments (33%) and high mortgage rates (32%) accounted for the rest. Just 14% said they don’t want to own a home.
The combination of price appreciation and near-7% rates has…
Inventory and rate pressures are creating conditions for a “quieter” spring homebuying season.
That’s according to HouseCanary’s March Market Pulse Report, which found that while inventory is up 12.6% YOY, total stock remains historically low.
In March, net new listings slipped 4.4% YOY. For the entire last 52 weeks, net new listings were down 12.4%.
HouseCanary says the decrease in net new listings was driven by a 2.5% drop in new listing volume, plus a 7% increase in removals compared to March 2023.
“Over the past month, net new listings and contract volumes have continued to trend at multi-year seasonal lows. The interest rate shock is the biggest factor responsible for sustaining inventory scarcity,” said Jeremy Sicklick, Co-Founder and CEO…
Rates took a turn for the worse last week, rising back to nearly 7%, as economic data soured analysts’ moods on easing rates.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87%, up from the week prior’s 6.74%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.42%.
This breaks a two-week streak of declines. Mortgage applications slipped this week as rate-sensitive Americans backed away from the market.
The 15-year fixed rate also rose from 6.16% to 6.21%. A year ago, it averaged 5.68%.
The Central Bank outlined cuts to come in 2024 but held the benchmark rate steady during their March meeting.
Inflation has eased over the past year but committee members do not…
While the racial homeownership gap exists in every generation, Black Millennials have it worse off than any other age group.
That’s according to a new analysis from Redfin, which found that just one-third of Black Millennials own their home (33%), compared to 65% of white Millennials, the largest divide of any generation.
By comparison, 52% of Black Gen Xers own their home, compared to 80% of white Gen Xers. Six in ten Black Boomers own their home, while 85% of white Boomers do.
White and Black adult Gen Zers own their homes at rates around 30% and 16%, respectively – not as bad as the Millennial divide, but still significant.
Black Americans face challenges ranging from the impact of racist…
First-time homebuyers accounted for a record number of GSE purchase loans in 2023, while originations sunk to new lows, according to ICE’s latest Mortgage Monitor.
They made up 55% of agency purchases last year, the highest share ever recorded by ICE in the ten years it has been tracking this metric.
“The market in which these folks purchased their first home was one of record house prices, ballooning down payments, rising rates, and elevated DTIs,” Andy Walden, ICE Vice President of Enterprise Research Strategy, said.
“Given record exposure to first-time homebuyer loans, it’ll be worth watching the performance of this cohort very closely moving forward, particularly for those invested in 2023 agency MBS.”
First-timers and repeat buyers differed greatly in…
Mortgage rates inched up to a two-month high last week, putting pressure on hopeful spring homebuyers.
Officials at Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.94%, up from the week prior’s 6.90%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.65%. This is the fourth consecutive week of increases.
The 15-year fixed fell, however, to 6.26% from 6.29%. A year ago, it averaged 5.89%.
“The recent boomerang in rates has dampened already tentative homebuyer momentum as we approach the spring, a historically busy season for homebuying,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.
“While sales of newly built homes are trending in a positive direction, higher rates and elevated prices continue to pose affordability challenges…
