U.S. Mortgage Rates Climbed Back Above 7 Percent Last Week
Until mortgage interest rates fall back to the 4 percent range, and the economic future brightens, home ownership will remain out of reach for millions of Americans (plantation workers of Slavelandia)
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After sliding for the past eight months, U.S. mortgage rates climbed back above 7 percent last week, Bloomberg reported.
Nationally, the average rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 7.07 percent on 7 July, moved up to 7.477 percent on 13 July, and settled back to 7.18 percent on 17 July.
The increase has been the most rapid since last November.
The number of applications for new mortgages rose 0.9 percent during the week ending 7 July, while applications for refinancing slipped 1.3 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
“Incoming economic data continue to send mixed signals about the economy, as markets expect that the Federal Reserve will need to hold rates higher for longer to slow inflation,” MBA’s chief economist Joel Kan said in a statement announcing the higher loan rate.
“All mortgage rates in our survey followed suit, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing to the highest level since November 2022,” he added.
TREND FORECAST: As we have forecast since housing prices began to spike in late 2020, even with a sharp economic downturn, housing prices will not collapse. Unlike the Panic of ’08, this time there were no subprime mortgages and for the most part people that could afford to buy a home bought one. Also, there is a supply and demand issue.