Following its latest market survey, this Thursday Freddie Mac published its report on mortgage rates indicating that the 30-year fixed reference was at 6.69% for the first week of August from 6.66% last week, being one of the highest levels this year.
For its part, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rate fell from 6.04% to 6.01% for the week, this in the midst of a strong affordability crisis with home prices above $400,000 in some states of the country due to the lack of inventory in the sector.
Regarding the report, Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, commented that "while mortgage rates continue to influence affordability, the housing market is showing signs of adjustment, with sales prices slightly below the levels of the previous year and an improvement in the inventory of homes for sale with respect to the limited supply seen in recent years," he commented.
However, other specialists consider that the real estate market is not going through its best moment. For Anthony Smith, senior economist at Realtor.com, first-time buyers who tend to have larger loans are the most exposed to each increase in borrowing costs, while homeowners with rates below 4% have little reason to put their properties up for sale and exchange them for those in the current market, he said.
According to Smith, a drop in mortgage rates is unlikely to be seen this year, especially if inflation continues to be driven by the conflict in the Middle East and rising energy prices.
For her part, Kate Wood, a loan expert at NerdWallet, commented that, between the great concern about high inflation and the situation with Iran, “we are seeing a dizzying increase in Treasury bond yields, and mortgage rates are rising at the same pace.”
