Mortgage buyer
The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those looking to refinance their homes, came down to 5.9% from 5.96% last week.
Rapidly rising mortgage rates have more than doubled this year, pushing many prospective homebuyers out of the market.
Late last month, the
The Fed’s aggressive action has decelerated a housing sector that — outside of the onset of the pandemic — has been hot for years. Existing home sales have declined for seven straight months as the rising cost to borrow money puts homes out of reach for more people.
The government reported last week that the
Fed officials forecast that they will further raise their benchmark rate to roughly 4.4% by year’s end, a full point higher than they envisioned as recently as June. They expect to raise the rate again next year, to about 4.6%. That would be the highest level since 2007.
By raising borrowing rates, the Fed makes it costlier to take out a mortgage and an auto or business loan. Consumers and businesses then presumably borrow and spend less, cooling the economy and slowing inflation.
Mortgage rates don’t necessarily mirror the Fed’s rate increases, but tend to track the yield on the 10-year
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