Purchase mortgage demand picks up for the 4th week in a row to highest level since January as rates continue a post-election retreat that could have legs: MBA survey
Applications for purchase loans jumped 12% week over week and 52% from a year ago as rates dropped to 6.86%, according to a weekly survey of lenders by the Mortgage Bankers Association
Applications for purchase mortgages were up 2% last week when compared to the week before, but down 1% from a year ago, according to MBA weekly lender survey
Fannie Mae and MBA forecasts dampened expectations for projected home sales in 2025 while offering a more cautious outlook on the prospects of mortgage rates coming down in the new year
Rating agencies are keeping a close eye on whether politicians in the nation's polarized Capitol will rise to challenges including the $34.8T national debt, debt ceilings and inflation
October Consumer Price Index report isn't having a big impact on mortgage rates, as investors who fund most home loans doubt the Fed will have much room to bring rates down next year
Move was anticipated by investors that fund most home loans, who have been driving up mortgage rates over concerns about inflation and pace of future Fed rate cuts
Housing market sentiment rose in October to the highest level since February 2022, but 8 in 10 consumers still said it was a bad time to buy: Fannie Mae survey
Plans to eliminate federal income taxes, enact high tariffs and force the Federal Reserve to cut federal funds rates could tank the housing market, economists say
Appetite for bonds wanes as investors pile into the stock market and assess whether Donald Trump's return to the White House will fuel more government borrowing and reignite inflation
Hurricanes and strikes were expected to dent job creation, and bond market investors are looking ahead to next week's election, Fed meeting and government bond auctions, analysts say
Relief would be good news for would-be homebuyers, although purchase loan applications are still up 10% from a year ago as mortgage rates hit highest levels since July, MBA survey shows
'Bond vigilantes' figure 'no matter which party wins the White House and the Congress, fiscal policies will bloat the budget deficit and heat up inflation,' Wall Street veteran Ed Yardeni warns
Demand for mortgages is at the lowest level since July, although MBA survey shows purchase loan requests are up slightly from a year ago when rates were headed for post-pandemic highs
Another worry for bond market investors is quantitative tightening, the Fed's program to trim its massive holdings of government debt and mortgage-backed securities