Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it every other Friday afternoon. The numbers: Mortgage rates peaked to a new high this week, climbing back up to the 7% range for the first time in 2026 and hitting their “highest level since May 2024,” as noted by…

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After their long-awaited meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) unanimously voted to raise federal funds rates by a quarter of a percentage point, moving the target range for interest rates 25 basis points, from 3.5%-3.75%, to 3.75%-4%. During a press conference following the meeting, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh cited the data from this past…

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Agents and brokers are likely to continue encountering hesitant consumers, as the University of Michigan reports that preliminary sentiment dropped for the second month in a row on Sept. 11. The consumer sentiment index—which utilizes personal finances, business conditions and buying conditions to measure consumers’ attitudes toward the overall economy—now sits at 47.8 as a…

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While the labor market briefly bowed under pressure this summer, August’s jobs numbers have “rebounded in a big way,” as characterized by Realtor.com® Senior Economist Jake Krimmel. The latest Employment Situation Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics saw the U.S. add 162,000 jobs in August, with the unemployment rate unchanged at 4.1%. Employment specifically…

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In a Sept. 1 speech at the Second Chance Lending Forum in Washington, D.C., focusing on the economic outlook and financial inclusion, Federal Reserve Governor Michael S. Barr noted that the labor market is stable with relatively low unemployment, with the economy growing solidly, “powered in part by the boom in AI-related business investment and…

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Above, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh Real estate professionals anxiously awaiting lower mortgage rates may not see a decrease anytime soon, as it remains uncertain what action the Federal Reserve will take at its September meeting. In his debut speech at the 2026 Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium Friday in Wyoming, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh…

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When many economic indicators pointed to issues with inflation, the governors of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) instead voted once again to maintain their “wait and see” approach in their most recent meeting.  Newly released minutes from the meeting, however, reveal that three members of the committee did in fact advocate for a…

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Inflation cooled in June according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), meeting economists’ expectations for the month. However, the trend may not continue as the Iranian conflict persists. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index slipped 0.1% month-over-month in June, a reversal of the 0.7% jump seen in May. This…

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Developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, a new homeownership measure—the homeowners-to-population ratio (HPOP)—aims to provide an alternative to better reflect the share of adults who are homeowners, as the path to the American Dream for young people remains uncertain. In a July 15 release, economists Erik Hembre, Maxine Xu and Ben Horowitz introduced…

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Rising energy costs due to the Iran war continue to put serious upward pressure on inflation, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew 0.5% in May, with annual inflation clocking in at 4.2%. Specifically, this is the “highest headline CPI reading in three years,” as…

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