Having ticked up 2 percent from a 28-year low in mid-August, the number of applications to secure a purchase mortgage loan for an existing home in the U.S. dropped 5 percent last week to its lowest level since early 1995 and was down 28 percent on a year-over-year basis, based on application data from the Mortgage Bankers Association and measured prior to Labor Day.
At the same time, the average 30-year mortgage rate ticked up to a 22-year high of 7.23 percent, which is still below its long-term average of 7.74 percent, with the probability of an easing by the Fed by the end of this year having dropped to under 5 percent and the probability of another rate hike having ticked up to 45 percent, none of which should catch any plugged-in readers, other than the most obstinate and easily mislead, by surprise.
This should be really bullish for all the real estate agents, house stagers, mortgage originators, and every other upstream and downstream job related to the real estate industry. Hope they have at least one marketable talent…