As inflation surges to levels not seen since the 1980’s, home buyers dreams are slashed. Diana Click for CNBC states “It is clearly due to the plunging affordability,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors.
This spike is a result of rising inflation and Federal Reserve rate hikes. The consumer price index (CPI) rose to 8.5% which is the highest level since 1981. The Federal Reserve starting rate hikes in March was the first increase since 2018. It is expected that the Federal Reserve will continue with rate hikes due to current aggressive inflation.
Rapidly rising mortgage interest rates are having a direct impact on mortgage application volumes, particularly for mortgage refinance applications. In an article by Adam DeSanctis for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) “The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 8.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 8 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 14 percent from the previous week and was 54 percent lower than the same week one year ago.”
If you’ve found yourself confused by recent headlines relating to mortgage interest rate, you are not alone! When reliable sources report contradictory information, even the leaders in the industry are left scratching their heads.