Slower economic growth this quarter and little or no inflation worries allowed rates to drift downward these last few weeks to the benefit of homebuyers. As a matter of fact, low mortgage rates induced an unexpectedly high level of new and existing home sales last month. |
So far this year, fixed-rate mortgage rates have risen only slightly. Long-term mortgage rates are only marginally higher than they were two months ago. |
Speculation that the Fed will not raise interest rates any time soon should help restrain any upward pressure on mortgage rates. |
Stronger growth in the economy will invariably translate into higher mortgage rates in the future, particularly for ARM products, |
Stronger than expected gains in the manufacturing and service industries - coupled with higher labor costs - ignited inflation concerns, which led to the rise in mortgage rates this week. |
Taken as a whole, there are few compelling reasons why mortgage rates should dramatically increase right now, ... In terms of the economy, retail sales, industrial production, and producer prices were all lower than expected in June. |
Taking into consideration the fact that mortgage rates have fallen from the earlier peak at the end of March, we have lowered our forecast for long-term rates. We now expect that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates will likely end up somewhere between 5.9 percent and 6.2 percent by the end of this year. |
That acceleration of growth, coupled with the specter of higher energy costs, will translate into higher long-term mortgage rates in the coming months. |
That raised the expectation that inflation may be more of a threat than was previously thought, and that kind of thinking promotes upward pressure on mortgage rates like we saw across the board this week. |
That said, housing starts -- although down a little from the month before -- were still remarkably strong in May with most of the decrease in overall construction coming from a drop off in multiunit building, |
That said, housing starts -- although down a little from the month before -- were still remarkably strong in May with most of the decrease in overall construction coming from a drop off in multiunit building. |
That said, January housing starts were the highest in over 20 years, and that is based on higher rates than we are currently experiencing, ... All in all, the little run-up in rates that occurred this week will not be enough to cause a significant slowdown in current housing market activity. |
That said, January housing starts were the highest in over 20 years, and that is based on higher rates than we are currently experiencing. All in all, the little run-up in rates that occurred this week will not be enough to cause a significant slowdown in current housing market activity. |
The 1-year ARM continued to rise in reaction to the Federal Reserve's recent rate hike, ... This could lead to a slowdown in housing as homebuyers who would find the lower-rate ARM more appealing are priced out of the market. |
The 1-year ARM continued to rise in reaction to the Federal Reserve's recent rate hike. This could lead to a slowdown in housing as homebuyers who would find the lower-rate ARM more appealing are priced out of the market. |