Mortgage Rates

Apache is functioning normally

Mortgage rates held steady over the past week despite recent signs of relief from the labor market, according to HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center. In large part because of the lack of clarity as to when the Federal Reserve will begin cutting the benchmark rate, mortgage rates remained above the 7% level. 

The average 30-year rate for conforming loans sat at 7.11% on Tuesday, unchanged from one week ago. At this year’s peak, the same loan type reached 7.57% in April. Meanwhile, the 15-year conforming rate ceased its steep rise and reached 6.93% on Tuesday from 6.99% the previous week.    

HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami said that mortgage rates historically move in connection with the 10-year yield, which “had a crazy move higher” two weeks ago but headed lower on Friday after the jobs report. 

“Bond yields did fall, and pricing has gotten just a tad better, but it’s nothing of note,” Mohtashami said. “The spreads have kept mortgage rates more stable.” 

According to Mohtashami, the spread between the 30-year mortgage rate and the 10-year yield has been an issue since 2022, and conditions worsened following the March 2023 banking crisis. He added, “If we took the worst levels of the spreads from 2023 and incorporated those today, mortgage rates would be 0.56% higher right now.”

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday showed that total nonfarm payroll rose by 206,000 jobs in June, compared to 218,000 jobs in May (which was revised down from 272,000). Economists say it is good news for the Fed to start cutting rates, but there is uncertainty about when it will start. 

“We continue to see headlines and data points driving rate movement in the absence of concrete evidence of when the Fed will start the rate-cutting cycle in the face of sticky inflation,” said Sarah Alvarez, vice president of mortgage banking at William Raveis Mortgage. 

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has stated that officials expect it will be appropriate to reduce the federal funds rate target range once they have gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward the 2% target. And — stop us if you’ve heard this before — they are not there yet.

“Incoming data for the first quarter of this year did not support such greater confidence,” Powell said during the semiannual monetary policy report to the Congress on Tuesday morning. “The most recent inflation readings, however, have shown some modest further progress, and more good data would strengthen our confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%.”

Besides monetary policy, uncertainties related to the presidential election are also impacting the markets, according to Alvarez. 

“There is always a lot of uncertainty surrounding an election, and we saw the recent debate results push rates up more than expected,” Alvarez said. “However, as we continue to see data indicating that inflation and the economy are weakening, rates will start to come down more significantly. Anyone hoping for a straight ride down will be disappointed.”

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

Mortgage lock volumes pulled back in June, as pervasive market sluggishness kept a grip on the housing market, according to a new report.

Rate locks finished 7.84% lower compared to May, Mortgage Capital Trading said in its latest report. On a year-over-year basis, though, volumes increased by 6.11%.  

Among loan categories, purchase locks fell 8.99%. On the other hand, the refinance market saw an 11.56% jump in rate-and-term transactions, but cash-outs inched down 0.36% between May and June. 

The latest reading comes after lock volume rose by 6.78% the previous month, with every loan type posting increases, after interest rates hit a 2024 high in early May, then slid downward. 

The June decline in activity occurred as the 30-year fixed rate hovered near 7% throughout the month, displaying less volatility than shown earlier this year. Typical seasonal patterns also contributed to the decline, with purchase momentum slowing after the initial surge in spring home buying seen every year, MCT said. 

But June’s reversal continues to show the effects of persistent market headwinds as well and suggests “a continuing stalemate between limited housing supply and higher interest rates.” 

Although last month’s interest rates were, on average, lower than May’s levels, they ran higher than what the typical homeowner holds today, according to data from Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market survey.

Limited interest among homeowners to list their properties and take on higher-rate loans, in combination with still-rising prices, means mortgage activity will likely move sideways over the summer, MCT added.

“Market supply likely peaked at the start of summer, and with rates remaining steady, significant changes in volume are not expected in the near term,” the report said. 

Borrower interest in refinancing, though, has come in stronger in recent months, albeit from historically low levels, driven by buyers who made their purchases in the past year, ICE Mortgage Technology reported this week.

Lending momentum is likely to pick up when the Federal Reserve makes its first interest rate cut, a decision many mortgage industry stakeholders have been awaiting in hopes of driving demand. Investors and lenders will be closely eyeing June jobs numbers, which came out Friday, and the month’s inflation numbers for possible signs.

Should they continue to point to a slowing economy, “we could see one or two rate cuts by the end of the year,” said Andrew Rhodes, senior director and head of trading at MCT, in a press release.  

June’s Consumer Price Index data is scheduled to be released on Thursday, July 11.   

Source: nationalmortgagenews.com

Apache is functioning normally

Weekly housing inventory data

While inventory growth this week slowed to 6,803 — well below my weekly target level of 11,000 -17,000 with elevated mortgage rates — the fact that we hit this target level five times this year versus zero last year is a big reason why 2024 has been a much better year for housing than 2023. As we can see below, it’s a much healthier year in inventory growth data than in 2023.

  • Weekly inventory change (June 29-July 5): Inventory rose from 645,770 to 652,573
  • The same week last year (June 30-July 7), Inventory rose from 466,534 to 466,001
  • The all-time inventory bottom was in 2022 at 240,497
  • This week is the inventory peak for 2024 at 652,573
  • For some context, active listings for this week in 2015 were 1,183,882

New listings data

We are at the seasonal peak period for new listings. We will soon be getting into the weekly decline period of this data line, and while we have showed growth year over year, we never got to my minimum target level of 80,000. Here are the new listings for last week over the past few years:

  • 2024  71,181
  • 2023: 58,289
  • 2022: 89,221

Price-cut percentage

In an average year, one-third of all homes take a price cut — this is standard housing activity. As rates have stayed elevated, the price-cut percentage is higher than in the last two years, and certain pockets of the U.S. have higher inventory data than the national data. 

A few weeks ago, on the HousingWire Daily podcast, I discussed that the price-growth data will cool down in the second half of the year.

Here are the price-cut percentages for last week over the previous few years:

  • 2024: 38%
  • 2023: 33%
  • 2022: 32%

Pending sales

Below is the Altos Research weekly pending contract data year-over-year to show real-time demand. With more sellers who are buyers, we have a tad more demand this year. This week showed very little year-over-year growth and there is also a holiday week effect here. For the entire year, we have shown a tiny bit of growth in the pending contracts; this data line can grow year over year when mortgage rates fall, but we haven’t had that happen so far in 2024 in any meaningful way with duration. 

So far, our pending contract data is still showing growth:

  • 2024: 381,057
  • 2023: 381,036
  • 2022: 420,816

10-year yield and mortgage rates 

Two weeks ago, the 10-year yield had a crazy move higher, even with softer inflation data. Last week, we returned close to recent lows. Here is how the 10-year yield acted with jobs week, which once again is showing the labor market getting softer but not breaking yet.

Then we had Jobs Friday, in which the headline number looked fine, but the internal labor reports lately look softer, which is what the Federal Reserve has wanted all along. I wrote about the recent jobs week data here.

After the jobs report, bond yields headed lower and trended lower the entire day on Friday, July 5, which you can see in the chart below — dragging mortgage rates lower with them.

Mortgage spreads

The spread between the 30-year mortgage rate and the 10-year yield has been an issue since 2022, and things got worse after the March 2023 banking crisis. However, this year, spreads have improved.

If we took the worst levels of the spreads from 2023 and incorporated those today, mortgage rates would be 0.56% higher right now. While we are far from being average with the spreads, the fact that we have seen this improvement is a plus this year.

Purchase application data

The three-week winning streak of purchase application data ended last week as rates had risen in the previous weeks. This shows once again how even weekly moves up and down can flip this data line from positive to negative. 

Since the onset of falling mortgage rates in November 2023, we’ve seen 15 positive prints, 14 negative prints and two flat prints in the week-to-week data. However, as mortgage rates began to rise earlier this year, we observed a decline in demand. The year-to-date data for 2024 is unfavorable, with 9 positive prints, 14 negative prints and two flat prints. If mortgage rates can head lower and stay lower with duration, we can grow application data purely based on the fact that we are working from the lowest levels ever once adjusting to our workforce growth.

The week ahead: Inflation, Powell testimony, auctions and fed speeches

It’s inflation week again. We have CPI inflation and PPI inflation reports coming up on Thursday and Friday. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will give testimony before Congress on Tuesday and we will also have more Fed presidents speaking next week. The key is to see if any recent labor data softness changes their tune.

We will also have a few bond auctions. It’s hard to break under 4.20% on the 10-year yield, so we shall see if this week that happens or if we still stay in the range between 4.20% and 4.50%.

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

June’s housing market data shows a mixed bag for prospective homebuyers as prices hit a new all-time high but monthly mortgage payments decreased, a report from Redfin said. 

U.S. house values reached a peak in June with the median home sale price coming in at $397,954, the biggest increase since March. This led to a 5% decline in pending sales, the real estate brokerage reported.

With the new record, affordability is even more out of reach for many potential homeowners. The affordability crunch is unlikely to change by the end of 2024, according to First American Data & Analytics’ Real Home Price Index. 

“Unfortunately, inflation has proven stubborn and led to the Federal Reserve’s ‘higher-for-longer’ stance on interest rates, contributing to an elevated outlook for mortgage rates, while house prices have once again demonstrated their ‘downside stickiness,'” said chief economist Mark Fleming at First American Financial, First American Data & Analytics’ parent company. 

Redfin found that June’s pending home sales posted their biggest decline since February, as the median sale price rose 5% from last year.

The good news for prospective homeowners, however, is that more new listings are on the market for them to choose from, Redfin reported. Also, monthly housing payments decreased by nearly $100 from their peak in April. 

New listings jumped 10% in June, the biggest increase seen in two months. Over 100,000 new listings landed on the market, a 9.9% increase year-over-year. 

As of July 2, the daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate sat at 7.13%. The latest metric is up from a three-month low of 6.97% that was seen three weeks earlier. Fortunately, the current number is still a ways away from a five-month high of 7.52% in early May. 

“While affordability is likely to remain constrained for the remainder of 2024, mortgage rates are expected to come down in 2025, which would be welcome news for potential home buyers,” Fleming continued. 

Source: nationalmortgagenews.com

Apache is functioning normally

From BLS: Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 206,000 in June, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in government, health care, social assistance, and construction.

Bond yields fell after the report came out, which means the market interpreted it negatively. But why is that, when a healthy 206,000 jobs were created? First, we had negative revisions to the prior two reports. Even with that, we are still trending above my target of 140,000-165,000 as we get closer to 159 million people working on the nonfarm payroll data — which is where we should be after getting all the jobs back that we lost to COVID. But the unemployment rate did tick up and for the first time in a while we are above 4% now.

The negative revisions to the previous reports put the 3-month average roughly at 177,000. If you remove government jobs from the equation, we are running at 146,000 jobs per month on a 3-month average so we are getting closer and closer to my target.

The one thing about my target level is that the run rate of employment is higher now, meaning that if we don’t print big job reports, the unemployment rate will go higher, even without having jobs lost. I brought this up in last month’s article on the jobs report and have often talked about how we should expect higher unemployment rates in the future.

Below is the 12-month jobs creation data

The Fed has been worried that too many Americans are making too much with high wage growth. So, to keep this as simple as possible, the Fed would love to see wage growth back toward 3% because it doesn’t believe the productivity data is as strong as it is reported. Wage growth is cooling down, but they want to see more damage done here.

Below is the 12-month wage growth data, which peaked near 6% in 2022 and currently is at 3.9%. 

The other labor data we had this week (job openings) shows that the Fed is getting some victories over the labor market. The job openings data is what the Fed hangs their hat on, and it is falling noticeably. As we can see in the chart below, we have a historical fall in this data line from 12 million to 8 million. The Fed has openly said that the job openings data shows the labor market is no longer tight. The black line below shows that the up trend in this data line is broken.

The jobless claims data is the most crucial labor data line we have right now, and it rules them all. The Fed even commented on this data in a recent Fed meeting when they publicly said they follow jobless claims data, which had been heading lower. Well, they can’t say that anymore as jobless claims have been rising for a few months now.

The 4-week moving average of jobless claims data is 238,500. My line in the sand for a job loss recession is when this number breaks above 323,000 on the 4-week moving average. I am hoping the Fed doesn’t wait until we get above that level to pivot.

Is the Fed winning the war against the labor market? Yes, it has been for many months now! So what is their next move? Do they wait until jobless claims break over 323,000 before sounding more dovish, or do they just hide their heads in the sand, let the job loss recession happen and chalk it up to the need for defeating inflation?

One thing I have stressed since 2022 is that the Fed is working off an old Fed model to defeat inflation by attacking the labor supply and forcing wage growth to cool down. So far, they can chalk up a lot of victories against the American labor market. So the question for the second half of 2024, is whether they will get more aggressive on talking dovish or keep using the token line “We need more confidence” before they act. I believe they want to see more labor market deterioration before they pivot. I hope I’m wrong on this premise — time will tell.

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

Mortgage rates spiked the week ending July 3, with the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan rising above 7% yet again.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.01% APR, up 20 basis points from the previous week’s average, according to rates provided to NerdWallet by Zillow. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.

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Rising rates, ebbing economy

If anything, mortgage rates probably should have fallen this week — and not just because folks’ minds are on hot dogs and fireworks, not home buying and selling.

Economic data that came out this week wasn’t especially splashy, but it pointed toward an economy that’s cooling down. The Federal Reserve‘s preferred measure of inflation showed that consumer prices month over month remained essentially flat. Construction spending dropped for the first time in 18 months, coming in below market expectations. Employment remains strong, but earlier numbers were revised downward, implying labor markets might be on an even keel.

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Federal Reserve unbothered

Together, these figures indicate that the Federal Reserve’s strategy — raising interest rates, and then holding them high — is working. By making it more expensive to borrow, the Fed hopes to slow the rate of inflation. Less hiring and building aligns with that goal, but in remarks on Tuesday, Fed chair Jerome Powell emphasized caution.

Speaking at an economic conference in Portugal, Powell acknowledged the strength of recent numbers while urging caution. “What we’d like to see is more data like what we’ve been seeing recently,” he said. Declining to state when, exactly, the Federal Reserve might cut rates, Powell noted, “We’re well aware that if we go too soon, that we can undo the good work we’ve done.”

Even though a potential autumn Fed rate cut would likely only be a quarter of a percentage point — a little more than the 30-year rate moved on its own this week — a shift into a rate-lowering phase could relieve upward pressure on mortgage rates.

Source: nerdwallet.com

Apache is functioning normally

Job creation slowed in June, despite continued tight labor market conditions, which economists say is good news for the Federal Reserve. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday shows that total nonfarm payroll rose by 206,000 jobs in June, compared to 272,000 jobs in May.

Job gains in June were most notable in industries like government (70,000), health care (49,000), social assistance (34,000) and construction (27,000), a positive for the housing industry.

When broken out, the residential construction sector added 3,100 jobs month over month, while the number of residential specialty trade contractors rose 2,400 from a month prior. Overall, for the past year, the construction sector has added an average of 20,000 jobs per month.

The real estate and rental and leasing services sector added 1,100 jobs from May with real estate posting a 500-job gain and the rental and leasing sector gaining 800 jobs.

Despite the continuing job growth, unemployment rose slightly from May to 4.1% in June, with 6.8 million people unemployed. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 3.6% with 6 million people unemployed.

While economists noted that the month’s job gains were higher than anticipated, they highlighted that most of the jobs were in the government sector.

“Similar to May, the headline gain in nonfarm payroll employment data in June does not tell the entire story,” Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. “While the headline gain showed an increase of 206,000 jobs, more than one-third of that was a gain in government employment, largely a function of increases in state and local jobs. Although June’s increase was above our expectations, both April and May figures were revised down by a combined 111,000 jobs, marking the three-month average down to a 177,000 increase.”

Fratantoni also highlighted the rise in unemployment as an indicator that the job market was slowing.

Although a cooling economy is what the Federal Reserve wants to see, economist believe this jobs report does not guarantee an interest rate cut.

“This not-too-cold/not-too-hot Goldilocks economy is what we want to see as the Federal Reserve will deliberate on the timing of interest rate cuts in the second half of 2024. In addition to today’s report, the Fed is watching a range of other economic indicators, most notably inflation,” Lisa Sturtevant, the chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a statement. “The first June inflation reading will be out next week. Lower inflation and a looser labor market means it is more likely for there to be two rate cuts instead of one in 2024.”

If the Fed does cut interest rates, Sturtevant believes housing market activity will pick up as many buyers have been waiting on the sidelines hoping for lower rates.

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

Mortgage applications declined by 2.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending June 28, according to data released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

The trade group cited upward movement in mortgage rates as the key reason why. According to HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center, the average rate for 30-year conventional loans was at 7.12% on Wednesday, up from 7.06% a week earlier, while the 15-year conventional rate rose from 6.70% to 6.96% during the same period.

Purchase application volume accounted for the bulk of the decline in the overall index as the seasonally adjusted figure dropped 3% on a weekly basis and 12% on a yearly basis. Refinance applications were down 2% from the prior week but up 29% year over year and now account for 35.7% of all activity.

“Mortgage rates moved higher last week, crossing the 7 percent mark, even as the latest inflation data has kept market expectations alive for a rate cut from the Fed later this year,” Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.

“Purchase applications decreased the final full week of June, even as both new and existing inventories have increased over the past few months. Refinance activity also remains subdued — although there was a slight increase in applications for conventional refinance loans.”

The MBA’s survey — which covers 75% of all retail residential mortgage applications in the U.S. — found that the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate conforming loans (balances of $766,550 or less) increased by 10 basis points to 7.03% during the week ending June 28. The average rate for jumbo loans (balances above $766,550) rose 7 basis points to 7.11%. And adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) declined to 6% of all application activity.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans accounted for 13.1% of activity, unchanged during the week. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans saw their share decline from 13.8% to 12.9%, while U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans receded to a share of 0.3%.

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

Want to hear some good news about mortgage rates that involves them being a lot higher than they previously were?

Yes, I know that sounds absurd, but hear me out. There are now millions more mortgages that feature rates above 6.5%, and many with rates above 7%.

There are also millions less that feature rates below 5% than there were just a couple years ago.

Why is this good you ask? Well, it means the effects of mortgage rate lock-in are beginning to wane.

It also means millions of borrowers might stand to benefit from a refinance is rates eventually drop.

Nearly a Quarter of Mortgage Holders Have an Interest Rate Above 5%

The latest Mortgage Monitor report from ICE released this week found that there’s been quite a shift in outstanding mortgage rates.

While it was quite common for a homeowner to hold a 30-year fixed priced at 2-3% a few years ago, it’s becoming less so today.

In fact, as of May some 24% of those with outstanding home loans had a mortgage rate at or above 5%, up from just 10% two years ago.

At the same time, there were there nearly six million (5.8M) fewer mortgages with rates below 5% than there were just two years ago.

And nearly five million (4.8M) fewer with rates below 4%, thanks to borrowers either selling their homes or in some cases pursuing a cash out refinance.

While the low-rate homeowners shed their mortgages via home sale or refinance, a new batch of high-rate homeowners is beginning to take their place.

Since 2022, four million new 30-year fixed mortgages have been originated with rates above 6.5%, and of those roughly half (1.9M) have rates north of 7%.

In other words, the collective outstanding mortgage rate of all homeowners is rising.

This means it’s becoming less normal to have an ultra-low interest rate and that could mean fewer roadblocks when it comes to selling and increasing for-sale inventory.

Why Is This Good Exactly?

In a nutshell, the shift from loose monetary policy to tight Fed policy in the matter of just a year and change wreaked havoc on mortgage rates and the housing market.

We went from 3% 30-year fixed mortgage rates in early 2022 to a rate above 8% by late 2023.

While the Fed doesn’t control mortgage rates, they made a big splash after announcing an end to their mortgage-backed securities (MBS) buying program known as Quantitative Easing (QE).

That meant the Fed was no longer a buyer of mortgages, which immediately lowered their value and raised the interest rate demanded by other investors to buy them.

At the same time, the Fed raised its own fed funds rate 11 times from near-zero to a target range of 5.25% to 5.50%.

While this was arguably necessary to cool off demand in the too-hot housing market, it created a group of haves and have nots.

The homeowners with 2-4% mortgages fixed for the next 30 years, and renters facing exorbitant asking prices and 7-8% mortgage rates.

This dichotomy isn’t good for the housing market. It doesn’t allow people to move up or move down, or for new entrants to get into the market.

Due to the quick divergence in rates for the haves and have nots, home sales have plummeted.

The same is true of refinances, especially rate and term refis, hurting lots of banks and mortgage lenders in the process.

But as the average outstanding mortgage rate climbs higher, there will be a lot more activity in the real estate and mortgage markets.

Here Comes the Refis (Well, Not Just Yet…)

If you look at the chart above, you’ll see that recent vintages of mortgages were dominated by high-rate mortgages.

The distribution of home loans with mortgage rates above 6% surged in 2023 and 2024 as the 30-year fixed ascended to its highest levels in decades.

While this has clearly dampened housing affordability, and led to numerous mortgage layoffs, it’s likely going to be a cyclical challenge that improves each year.

Over time, the low-rate mortgages will be replaced by higher-rate loans. And if mortgage rates moderate as inflation cools, many millions will be in the money a for a refinance.

So aside from mortgage rate lock-in easing and more homes coming to market, which pays off the underlying loans, we’ll also see more refinance activity as recent home buyers take advantage of lower rates.

In fact, we’ve already seen it as the 30-year fixed is roughly 1% below its October 2023 peak, thanks in part to normalizing mortgage spreads.

Those who timed their home purchase badly (in terms of that mortgage rate peak) have already been able to refinance into a lower monthly payment.

And if rates continue to come down this year and next, as is widely expected, we’re going to see a lot more borrowers refinance their mortgages.

This will benefit these homeowners and the mortgage industry, which traditionally relies upon refinances to keep up volume.

So while times have been bleak these last couple years, it’s all part of the process.

The shift out of cheap money and back into reality should get things moving again, whether it’s an uptick in home sales, mortgage lending, or both.

Source: thetruthaboutmortgage.com

Apache is functioning normally

Mortgage rates rose slightly over the past week, with the U.S. economy continuing to show strength even as home sales remain tepid.

According to HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center, the average 30-year rate for conforming loans stood at 7.11% on Tuesday, up slightly from 7.08% one week ago. Meanwhile, the 15-year conforming rate continued its steep rise and reached 6.99% on Tuesday after having reached a recent low point of 6.56% on June 21.

“The bond market has been very wild the last few days, but the spreads have behaved as well, keeping rates from being higher than they would have been if we had 2023 mortgage spread levels,“ HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami said. “The 15-year loan might not be that appetizing for investors compared to the 30-year loans lately.“

Little is expected to change in the short term as the odds of the Federal Reserve lowering benchmark rates at the end of this month appear low. According to the CME Group‘s FedWatch tool, market observers believe there is a 91.2% chance of rates remaining the same after the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on July 30-31.

Speaking from a monetary policy conference in Portugal on Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell held firm on the stance that officials need to see further cooling of inflation and gain clearer understanding of pricing pressures before cutting rates.

“We just want to understand that the levels that we’re seeing are a true reading on what is actually happening with underlying inflation,“ Powell said, according to reporting from Reuters. “We want to be more confident, and frankly because the U.S. economy is strong … we have the ability to take our time.“

Also on Tuesday, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that job openings rose compared to the prior month, although they are down compared to the same time last year. More available jobs in business sectors such as government and durable goods manufacturing offset losses in food services and private education.

Data from Altos Research shows that the spring homebuying season has peaked and listings are expected to recede over the latter half of 2024. Mortgage rates have remained lower due in part to more supply as the 646,000 homes on the market this week was up 39% year over year. But the number of new listings also shrank from the prior week and was only 8% above year-ago levels.

Melissa Cohn, regional vice president for William Raveis Mortgage, noted that the ramp-up to the presidential election is having an impact on mortgage pricing.

“There have been a lot of interesting elections throughout time, but I think that with what’s going on in the world today, this is certainly an election that the markets have to pay close attention to,“ Cohn said in a statement provided to HousingWire. “I think that we have just gotten a very strong wake-up call that it’s time to put the election into the mortgage rate equation.“

Source: housingwire.com