Revelations 18:23 ‘For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’
Important Takeaways:
- Mortgage rates hit 6 percent for first time since 2008
- The average mortgage rate for the benchmark home loan rose to 6.02 percent as of Thursday, according to Freddie Mac, up 0.13 percentage points from last week and 3.16 percentage points above its level a year ago. It’s the first time the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate was above 6 percent since the week of Nov. 20, 2008.
- The Fed is aiming to slow economic activity — including home sales and home price growth — to bring consumer and business spending down to a level that won’t spur inflation. The central bank has hiked its baseline interest rate range four times since March by a total of 2.25 percentage points and is certain to hike rates again next week.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – A measure of U.S. mortgage application activity decreased for a second week to a five-month low as 30-year mortgage rates rose to their highest since June, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association released on Wednesday showed.
The Washington-based industry group’s mortgage market index fell 1.2 percent to 486.2 in the week ended Oct. 28, which was the lowest level since the week of May 27.
Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, which are the most widely held type of U.S. home loans, averaged 3.75 percent in the latest week, matching the level last seen in June, MBA said.
Mortgage rates increased with higher U.S. Treasury yields with 10-year yields hitting their highest levels in about five month last week.
U.S. bond yields climbed on speculation about whether overseas central banks may refrain from injecting more monetary stimulus to help their economies.
The group’s seasonally adjusted index on weekly applications to buy a home edged down 0.4 percent to 207.0 last week, which was the lowest since January.
The purchase activity gauge is seen as a proxy on home sales.
MBA’s weekly barometer on refinancing requests declined by 1.6 percent to 2,088.0, which was the weakest since June.
The share of refinancing activity rose to 62.7 percent of total applications, unchanged from the previous week.
(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
