Housing Beat: Mortgage Rates Fall Again, Home Price Growth Cools, Roe V. Wade Influences Homebuyers

This week in the housing world, mortgage rates declined for the second consecutive week as home price growth slowed, the level of mortgage delinquencies remained low and the Roe v. Wade controversy permeated the homebuying process. On The Mortgage Front: Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC ) reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.30% as of July 7, down from last week when it averaged 5.70%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.45%, down from last week when it averaged 4.83%. And the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 4.19% with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.50%. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.52%. “Over the last two weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped by half a percent, as concerns about a potential recession continue to rise,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “While the drop provides minor relief to buyers, the housing market will continue to normalize if home price growth materially slows due to the combination of low housing affordability and an expected economic slowdown.” But declining mortgage rates did not spark a rise in home loan activity . The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, dropped by 5.4% for the week ending July 1 compared to one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index was down 4% over the same period while the Refinance Index took an 8% tumble from the previous week and was also 78% below the same week one year ago. Joel Kan , MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry, observed that mortgage rates “are still significantly higher than they were a year ago, which is why applications for home purchases and refinances remain depressed. Purchase activity is hamstrung by ongoing affordability challenges and low inventory, and homeowners still have reduced incentive to apply for a refinance.” See Also: Jeff Bezos-Backed Arrived Homes Acquires Another $23 Million Worth Of Single-Family Rental Homes As Number Of Active Investors Doubles On The Homebuying Front: Prospective homebuyers are still facing a market carrying more than its fair share of challenges. The Data & Analytics division of Black Knight, Inc. (NYSE: BKI ) reported that home price growth slowed in 97 of the 100 largest ... Full story available on Benzinga.com