With the probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by another two (2) full percentage points by the end of the year having jumped last week, the probability of the Fed adopting a total of nine (9) more quarter point hikes within the next nine months, the probability... Read More »

Having dropped 5.7 percent in January, the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, a seasonally adjusted index for which 100 denotes “an average level” of activity, “dwindled” another 4.1 percent last month to 104.5, which was 5.4 percent lower than at the same time last year and... Read More »

The average rate for a benchmark 30-year mortgage jumped another 26 basis points (0.26 percentage points) over the past week to 4.42 percent, which is nearly 40 percent (125 basis points) higher than at the same time last year and the highest average rate since January of 2019. At... Read More »

Having dropped a downwardly revised 8.4 percent in January, the seasonally adjusted pace of new single-family home sales in the U.S. ticked down another 2.0 percent in February to an annualized rate of 772,000 sales.  As such, the current pace of sales is 6.2 percent lower than at the... Read More »

Mortgage loan application volumes to either purchase or refinance a home in the U.S. dropped 8 percent on both a seasonally adjusted and absolute basis last week, with purchase activity down 12 percent, year-over-year, and applications to refinance down 54 percent, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association... Read More »

With the Federal Reserve having raised the target federal funds rate by 25 basis points (0.25 percentage points) last week, representing the first hike from a near zero rate in two years, the probability of the Fed adopting at least seven, if not eight, more quarter point hikes by... Read More »

The average rate for a benchmark 30-year mortgage jumped 31 basis points (0.31 percentage points) over the past week to 4.16 percent, which is 35 percent (107 basis points) higher than at the same time last year, nearly 60 percent higher than in January of last year and the... Read More »

Having dipped 16 basis points (0.16 percentage points) with a flight to safety in the markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the average rate for a benchmark 30-year mortgage ticked back up 9 basis points over the past week to 3.85 percent, which is 80 basis points higher than... Read More »

Having slipped 3 basis points (0.03 percentage points) last week, the average rate for a benchmark 30-year mortgage has since pulled back another 13 basis points to 3.76 percent with the Fed’s expected quarter point hike having been priced in and a flight to safety over the past week... Read More »

As we outlined a couple of weeks ago, the bond market was projecting that the Fed would institute a quarter point (25 basis point) interest rate hike later this month. And in fact, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has just informed congress that he intends “to propose and support... Read More »