Investors bid up shares of mortgage lenders and real estate companies after 'relatively benign' CPI report ends speculation that inflation worries might force the Fed to raise rates this year
Investors who fund most home loans are now convinced that the Federal Reserve won't cut rates again until June after employers add 256K jobs and unemployment falls to 4.1%
Core inflation rose less in November than had been expected, in part because housing costs rose at a slower pace, Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief US Economist Samuel Tombs said
Employers added 227,000 workers to their payrolls in November, but with 7.1 million Americans out of work, the unemployment rate is back up to 4.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports
Progress in taming inflation slowed in October, but futures market investors think the latest numbers increase the odds of another Federal Reserve rate cut next month
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
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
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
Mortgage rates inch up as an expected decline in key inflation gauge does little to change expectations for Fed rate cuts among investors who fund most home loans
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
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
Strong job market rekindles inflation worries, raising the prospect that Federal Reserve policymakers are increasingly likely to cut rates by only a hair in November -- if at all
Purchase loan applications are up 9% from a year ago, as inventories of new and existing homes increase and lower mortgage rates help with affordability, MBA lender survey suggests
Central bank policymakers drop short-term rates by 1/2 percentage point and signal more cuts ahead, but much of the impact may have already been priced in to mortgage rates
Investors who fund most mortgages have already priced in several rate cuts, so further declines could depend on what next week's 'dot plot' says about expectations for the pace of future cuts