The recent change in rates has been driven by what’s happening with inflation and concerns about recession. Joel Kan, Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), explains:

“Mortgage rates increased across the board last week, pushed higher by market expectations that inflation will persist, thus requiring the Federal Reserve to keep monetary policy restrictive for a longer time.”

Within the past two weeks the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reported by Freddie Mac is near 7% before calling back to the low 6’s after the SVB Bank collapse and the government stepping in to bail out depositors.

Advice for Home Shoppers

If you’re thinking about pausing your home search, you may want to reconsider. This could actually be an opportunity to buy the home you’ve been searching for. According to the MBA, mortgage applications declined by 13.3% in just one week, so it appears the rise in mortgage rates is leading some potential homebuyers to pull back on their search for a new home.

So, what does that mean for you? If you stay the course, you’ll likely face less competition among other buyers when you’re looking for a home but you may be able to find the right house at the right time. The Spring market is typically when the number of new listings increase, so you should also see more options. 

Bottom Line

Over the last few weeks, mortgage rates fluctuate a lot. But that doesn’t mean you should delay your plans to buy a home. In fact, it could mean the opposite if you want to take advantage of less buyer competition. Let’s connect today to explore the options in our local market.