Housing market watchers say improving home affordability and inventory levels are short-term positives for home shoppers, but caution that the maintaining the independence of the Federal Reserve and tracking broader economic conditions like consumer confidence and economic uncertainty, will help predict where the housing market is heading in the year ahead. The latest Primary Mortgage…
At the January Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the Federal Reserve chose to keep interest rates unchanged. Both Fed Governor Michelle Bowman (who is a voting member of the committee) and retiring Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic (who is not) have characterized the current U.S. economy as “resilient,” where annual inflation has stayed static,…
Forces other than mortgage rates can impact homebuying activity, and this past week was a good example of that, as experts surmised that a big winter storm hitting a large portion of the country likely prevented people from applying for a mortgage. According to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) report, the Market Composite Index—the…
At a moderated talk held by the Rotary Club of Atlanta, retiring Federal Reserve of Atlanta President and CEO Raphael Bostic argued that the economy is in a “resilient” place, with a feared recession that “just hasn’t happened.” That resilience from 2025 will carry through to 2026, Bostic forecasted. Noting his conversations with business leaders,…
At the January Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the Federal Reserve chose to keep interest rates unchanged. Recent monetary policy decisions have been facing conflicting incentives; the Fed’s mandate is maximum employment and price stability, but the labor market has been showing signs of weakness as inflation has also been going up or staying…
This week saw a decrease in overall home purchase applications but the average mortgage rate held steady at or around three-year lows. The latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), released by Freddie Mac Thursday, shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaging 6.10%, a slight increase of 1 basis point from last week’s rate average of…
Lower mortgage rates at the end of 2025 prompted a refinance rush among current homeowners, helping boost prepayment rates to their highest level in three years, according to a new report from ICE Mortgage Technology. The monthly mortgage prepayment rate rose to 0.91% in December, just below the 3.5‑year high set in October, ICE reported…
Above, Fed Chair Jerome Powell The Federal Reserve has announced its interest rates will remain unchanged during its Jan. 28 meeting. This follows three straight rate cuts from the prior three Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings of 2025. The FOMC announced at its first meeting of 2026 that it has kept interest rates at…
The optimism of a new year does not seem to have brought a boost to U.S. consumer confidence—quite the opposite, in fact. According to the latest survey from the Conference Board, consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since 2014, lower even than the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Confidence collapsed in January, as…
With the spring homebuying season approaching, lower mortgage rates are a welcome development for households looking to buy a home. That’s the sentiment of some industry mortgage watchers as rates have hit recent record lows and applications for home purchases have seen solid increases over the past two weeks. The latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey®…
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