News

Depending on the company you keep over this Labor Day weekend, you might hear that rates are high, housing in the verge of collapse, and the economy is headed for a hard, recessionary landing. Or you might hear that rates are coming down, housing has turned a corner, and the economy remains surprisingly resilient. No…
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As the week began, the bond market continued heading toward higher rates at the same pace seen in the previous week.  This made for the highest mortgage rates in more than 2 decades on both Monday and Tuesday (albeit not much higher than those seen in late 2022).  Things calmed down on Wednesday as multiple…
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At this point “high rates” are old news. We were already close to hitting the highest levels in more than 20 years last week, so it wasn’t a huge surprise to achieve that dubious distinction this Thursday. Some sources see the record-breaking rate at 7.09% for a 30yr fixed while others are over 7.5%. Both…
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This was supposed to be the week where a key inflation report would cast a vote on the fate of interest rate momentum. The vote was ostensibly friendly but rates surged higher anyway. What gives? First off, let’s revisit why rates would care so much about an inflation report.  CPI (the Consumer Price Index) is…
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Interest rates of all types have been under immense pressure since the beginning of 2022. That’s when the Fed began raising rates at the fastest pace in decades to the highest levels in decades in order to combat a similarly fast-paced spike in inflation. This particular era of Fed rate hikes is particularly aggressive because…
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It’s no mystery that the housing and mortgage markets are facing their fair share of headwinds in 2023, but some blow harder than others.  One of the most complicated headwinds is that of Federal Reserve. At first glance, the Fed’s decisions to hike or cut rates are extremely important.  In addition to being prominent in the…
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Inventory! That’s been a buzzword for the housing market for more than a decade, but it’s been especially prevalent in 2023 as the excuse for slower home sales.  How good of an excuse is it? Before digging into that question, let’s take a look at the data that needs to have excuses made for it. …
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Mortgage rates spiked abruptly last week after several economic reports showed the economy doing better than expected. Now this week, key inflation data showed prices falling faster than expected. Rates responded with a full recovery. If rates could only choose one thing to be afraid of, it would be inflation.  Rates are based on bonds.  Bonds…
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Mortgage rates have been hovering in the high 6’s for weeks, but they broke above 7% on Thursday. At the same time, multiple news outlets reported a 30yr fixed rate of 6.71%. Who’s lying? While the 6.71% news may be prolific, it is all traced back to one source: Freddie Mac’s weekly rate survey.  This…
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