Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s weekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it each Friday afternoon.
–Mortgage rates ticked back up above 7% after weeks of declines, according to the latest data from Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 7.03%, up from 6.94% last week, and the 15-year FRM averaged 6.36%, up from 6.24% last week.
-“More hawkish commentary about inflation and tepid demand for longer-dated Treasury auctions caused market yields to rise across the board,” commented Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “This reality, as well as economic signals that have moved sideways over the last few weeks, have resulted in mortgage rates drifting higher as markets continue to dial back expectations of interest rate cuts.”
-In response to the rate uptick, mortgage applications decreased 5.7% from one week earlier, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
–Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, commented that “(b)orrowers remain sensitive to small increases in rates, impacting the refinance market and keeping purchase applications below last year’s levels.”
-The latest PCE index, a key measure for inflation, found little change in the current inflation numbers. Experts stated that this report data means there is little hope for a change in interest rates anytime soon.
-“With no significant change in the downward trend the high frequency movements seems to have created an overreaction by markets and many analysts over the past several months,” noted Eric Rosengren, former Federal Reserve president.
-The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an inquiry into so-called mortgage “junk fees,” claiming that closing costs have risen sharply and anticompetitive barriers may be the reason. The CFPB plans to gather more information on what kinds of fees are rising the most, and where lenders have oversight on third parties, among other things.
