Mortgage rates are at their highest since the Great Recession as housing affordability continues to fall, the study finds Freddie Mac FMCC Data.
The 30-year term deposit rose from 5.66% to 5.89%. The long-term interest rate has not been this high since November 2008, shortly after the Great Recession was triggered by the collapse of the real estate market.
In 2021, the 30-year fix was at 2.88%. The typical rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.16% from 4.98% last week. Last year the rate was 2.19% at this point.
Interest rates fell in July and early August as recession fears mounted. Rates turned higher after the Fed Chair’s hawkish comments Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve Conference in Jackson Hole last month; Investors’ attention has again been drawn to the Fed’s efforts to lower inflation, which is hovering around 40-year highs.
Potential buyers lose interest
“Home visiting activity took a nosedive and the proportion of sellers who cut their price remained near a record high,” he wrote Redfin Corp. RDFN in a press release on Thursday.
According to the study, existing home sales in the US have declined for six straight months National Association of Real Estate Agents.
Fewer people searched “homes for sale” on Google. In fact, for the week ended September 3, searches were down 25% year over year.
- Touring activity as of September 4 at Redfin was 38% lower than at the start of the year, compared to a 3% increase at the same time last year.
- Applications for mortgage purchases were down a seasonally adjusted 1% week-on-week and were down 23% year-on-year in the week ended September 2
lenders affected
Mortgage lender Home Point Financial, a subsidiary of Home Point Capital Inc. HMPT announced plans to lay off 526 staff from November 1 as demand at homes has slumped
mortgage lender Rocket Companies Inc. RKT $61 million spent…
