Us 30-Year Mortgage Rate Highest In A Year

[The Masked Tulip]

“Fixed mortgage rates followed long-term government bond yields higher following a growing market sentiment that the Federal Reserve may lessen its accommodative policy stance,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie’s chief economist.

Despite recent gains, the 30-year rate remains relatively low, helping to keep housing affordability high. Interest rates falling and hovering close to record lows have been supporting the housing market’s rebound over the past year.

A gauge of pending home sales, also released Thursday, showed that levels rose more than 10% in April from the same period in the prior year, signaling ongoing future gains.

A separate recently released report indicated that actual existing-home sales increased in April to the highest rate since November 2009.

However, analysts say that low inventories, along with high unemployment and credit standards are constraining sales.

With low inventories, escalating prices are keeping some buyers, such as would-be first-time homeowners, from participating in the market. In April, first-time buyers accounted for 29% of existing-home sales, compared with 30% in March and 35% in April 2012

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/30-year-mortgage-rate-highest-in-a-year-2013-05-30-11103222

[Venger]

http://www.marketwat...-05-30-11103222

Also at Reuters but too many experts who don't think it's much to be concerned with. One senior mortgage guy thinking the Fed would always be ready to step in again, if rates did hit 5%. Free-market supports. Can't wait for UK rates market to react if and when BoE / Treasury pulls back, or is forced to pull back, on stimulus. More likely they won't, and it will be settled on the other side of the equation, with too few willing borrowers.

Surge in U.S. mortgage rates could force buyers off the fence

Wed May 29, 2013 3:05pm EDT

(Reuters) - Worries the Federal Reserve may begin to slow its stimulus efforts sent U.S. mortgage rates last week to their highest level in a year, a surge that could be a headwind to the nascent housing recovery should they march much higher.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/29/us-usa-economy-mortgages-idUSBRE94L0ES20130529

[Tired of Waiting]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/30-year-mortgage-rate-highest-in-a-year-2013-05-30-11103222

Good news.

[Venger]

JQ

June 5, 2013 at 9:26 pm

If you have a chance read the Federal Reserve’s Advisory Board meeting minutes from May 17th. Pretty insightful information on how they view the economy and housing especially.

- source: comment found after a DrHousingBubble entry.

Quite an interesting read. They recognise some of the negative effects of intervention, and risks facing the US and global economy + house prices/borrowing/debt. That chart of banks by assets to GDP! UK is second after Switzerland, with USA way down the chart.

Some questionable claims throughout though on the 'good' they think is done by intervention.

Record of

Meeting of the Federal Advisory Council

and the Board of Governors

Friday,

May 17

2013

[PDF] http://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/fac-20130517.pdf

[dances with sheeple]

Iain Banks even managed to get a dig in about the attempts in the UK to stoke a new housing bubble in his final interview with Kirsty Wark. Everyone knows it is going to blow up soon.

[@contradevian]

I just don't think they want the Fed to take away the "punch bowl" just yet. This is part of the softening up process.

[Venger]

Iain Banks even managed to get a dig in about the attempts in the UK to stoke a new housing bubble in his final interview with Kirsty Wark. Everyone knows it is going to blow up soon.

He'll always be Iain M Banks to me for his SF, although his fiction was great reading too. I'm glad he managed to tell Kirsty he could see how deluded and pathetic it all was (hoping for higher house prices and pushing debt onto younger people ect).

Money is a sign of poverty. This is an old Culture saying I remember every now and again.

-The State of the Art (1989). Iain M Banks.

- The Culture is an abundant society, with no scarcity economy. One Culture adage is, Money is a sign of poverty, meaning that money only has a function in a scarcity economy, and therefore its existence betrays a pre-abundant (poor) society.

[The Masked Tulip]

Oops - wrong thread.

Edited June 13, 2013 by The Masked Tulip

[Venger]

was jsut gonna make then point in the reuters article.US mortgage rates are heading up.

Mixed news here. They claim banks are betting on house price inflation (!) but also repos rising, as well as mortgage rates, and persoanl saving rates low.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to 3.98 percent from 3.91 percent last week, McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac said in a statement today. While that’s the highest in more than 14-months, it’s down from 6.8 percent almost seven years ago before the housing crash.

The current pace of home seizures would result in more than a half million repossessions by the end of the year, compared with 671,251 in 2012, RealtyTrac said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-13/foreclosures-jump-as-banks-bet-on-rising-u-s-home-prices.html