Following a trend that shouldn’t catch any plugged-in readers by surprise, the average rate for a benchmark 30-year mortgage ticked up another 8 basis points (0.08 percentage points) over the past week to 6.73 percent, which is 288 basis points and 75 percent higher than at the same time last year and 408 basis points and over 150 percent higher than its all-time low of 2.65 percent in early 2021, but still well below its long-term average of 7.75 percent.
At the same time, the probability of the Fed hiking rates by at least another 50 basis points over the next couple of months remains at 100 percent, with the chance of an easing by the end of the year having dropped to 0.1 percent and the Fed setting the stage for a prolonged period of (even) higher rates, despite plenty of misanalysis that had been making the rounds elsewhere earlier this year, which should continue to depress home buying activity (demand) and home values, locally and nationally as well. Again, none of which should catch any plugged-in readers by surprise.