1 minute readJust like that, She quotes Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily: “Since the beginning of February, the total damage is nearly 3/4ths of a percent, making it one of the biggest moves in any 6 weeks, ever.” In this analysis, National Association of Home Builders senior economist Na Zhao has done, quantifies correlations – bip by bip, bips being basis-points – between rising 30-year fixed interest rates and their direct impact on the prospective buyer universe for new homes. Zillow economist Matthew Speakman adds insight into reasons to expect continued upward pressure on rates: Either way, upward pressure on mortgage rates is likely to remain, as increased economic activity and steeper inflation both tend to push rates higher. Further fueling this week’s increases was the implementation of a new policy from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The policy places a cap on how the share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s portfolio that loans associated with investment properties or second homes can comprise. Lenders who had a larger share of those loans had to quickly raise rates associated with them to lessen their ratios. Net, net all eyes intently focus on what goes into and comes out of next week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve as Fed governors navigate a twitchy, mixed-signals pathway into recovery ground, but with a hell of a lot still to recover. The Fed’s thumb on the scale of dirt cheap rates through 2024 is about as much as builders can hope.
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