As mortgage rates hover near the highest level in more than two decades, homebuyers are turning to riskier mortgage products to help them get into a home.Last week, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) decreased to 7.86% from 7.90%, with points falling to 0.73 from 0.77 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment, according to the Mortgage Banker
Homebuilders are providing options buyers can’t find in the existing-home sales market.Newly built homes account for a small share of the home sales market, generally around 10%. But builders have grown that percentage this year and will make further gains in 2024. Even with higher mortgage rates, new-home sales are rising because builders are bringing more inventory onto the market than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. By contrast, the m
The Federal Reserve kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged Wednesday for a second straight time but left the door open to further rate hikes if inflation pressures should accelerate in the months ahead.The Fed said in a statement after its latest meeting that it would keep its benchmark rate at about 5.4%, its highest level in 22 years. Since launching the most aggressive series of rate hikes in four decades in March 2022 to fi
Despite roaring growth and a resilient job market, more middle-class Americans are worried about the state of the economy than a year ago, a Harris Poll for Bloomberg News has found.One big reason: The rapid increase in interest rates deployed by the Federal Reserve to rein in inflation, which are now expected to remain higher for longer.In the Harris poll, the latest in a series taken for Bloomberg over the past year, 57% of middle-class respond
A big fear for buyers this Halloween: mortgage rates near 8%. But their worst nightmare may be closer to coming true.For the seventh consecutive week, mortgage rates have increased, inching nearer to 8%. This is the longest streak of mortgage rate increases since the spring of 2022, says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.“Rates have risen two full percentage points in 2023 alone and, as we head into Halloween, the impacts may scare po
The U.S. economy grew even faster than expected in the third quarter, buoyed by a strong consumer in spite of higher interest rates, ongoing inflation pressures, and a variety of other domestic and global headwinds.Gross domestic product, a measure of all goods and services produced in the U.S., rose at a seasonally adjusted 4.9% annualized pace in the July-through-September period, up from an unrevised 2.1% pace in the second quarter, the Comme
Where are sales headed for the housing market? NAR releases its latest economic forecast.Contract signings eked out an uptick in September, despite multiple headwinds rumbling throughout the real estate market. The National Association of REALTORS®’ Pending Home Sales Index—a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings—increased by 1.1% last month compared to August.“Despite the slight gain, pending contracts remai
Sales of new U.S. single-family homes surged to a 19-month high in September as the annual median house price dropped by the most since 2009 amid discounts offered by builders to woo buyers, but mortgage rates flirting with 8% could curb demand.A chronic shortage of previously owned houses is driving buyers to new construction, a situation that builders are taking advantage of by giving a range of incentives to improve affordability. The bulk of
Home buyers don’t appear to be catching a break with borrowing costs this fall. Rates are nearing a historical average high that hasn’t been reached in more than 52 years.Many aspiring home buyers are getting shut out of the market due to rising mortgage rates, says Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist at the National Association of REALTORS®. With the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rising to a 7.63% average this week, potential buyers—parti
U.S. single-family homebuilding rebounded in September, boosted by demand for new construction amid an acute housing shortage, but the highest mortgage rates in nearly 23 years could slow momentum and delay the overall housing market recovery.That was flagged by other data on Wednesday showing applications for loans to purchase a home plunged last week to levels last seen in 1995. In addition, the jump in housing starts partially recouped the d
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