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Q&A About Mortgage Rates With Economist Orphe Divounguy

Posted on by TMN Editor
By KIMBERLEY HAAS With the average mortgage rate hitting over 7% for the first time in 20 years, people are talking about what the 2023 housing market will look like. Freddie Mac reported Thursday that their Primary Mortgage Market Survey found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.08%, up from 6.94% the week prior. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.14%, and in 2021, existing-home sales hit 6.12 million, their highest level since 2006. Zillow’s Home Value and Sales Forecast now calls for 5.2 million existing home sales in 2022, up slightly from September’s expectations for 5.1 million sales following a better-than-expected August. The outlook from there is cloudier and recent declines in mortgage applications and pending home…

Analysts Respond To FOMC Tapering Announcement

Posted on by TMN Editor
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced it will double the pace of tapering its pandemic asset purchase program, and signaled it would likely raise interest rates next year. This would be its first rate hike since March 2020. The move comes in response to concerns about rising inflation. At its November meeting, the FOMC said it would reduce its purchases of Treasury securities from $80 billion to $70 billion and from $40 billion to $35 billion for mortgage-backed securities. Since then, inflation has reached a 39-year high and become a major sticking point for the American public. As to how this announcement affects the mortgage and real estate industries, analyst response has focused on rising costs. “Increasing mortgage rates…