Mortgage rates have largest decline since December 2008
While rates were on the rise at the beginning of the year, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.30% in the week ending July 7. This was down from 5.70% the week before. Economic concerns have pushed them lower in recent weeks. Rates are still higher than they...
Many in the Portland area have been priced out of the housing market
This report from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis said nearly 168,000 households in the Portland area have been priced out of the housing market this year. “30-year mortgage rates have risen from around 3% at the end of 2021 to just over 6% in recent days,” the...
Federal Reserve Raises Benchmark Interest Rate
The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday it raised benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, the sharpest hike since 1994, as it seeks to combat the fiercest surge in U.S. inflation in four decades. Chair of the Federal Reserve Mr. Powell also...
A Slowing Market Leads to Eager Sellers
Signs of a slowing real estate market are growing—existing-home sales and new-home sales are slipping. Many home sellers are worried that they could miss out on the typical buyer frenzy. The inventory of homes for sale went up by 9% last week compared to 2021. New...
Reasons Why Now Is A Good Time To Buy A House
Despite the rise in home prices and rates, and in some cases a lack of inventory, it can still a good time to buy a home. Case in point: if you’re already ready to buy a home, you could lock in a favorable interest rate before things shift. Rates seem high at 5+%, but...
Could we have hit a rate peak this week? Time will tell.
The Fed may be over cooking the rate hikes. The result might lower the long-term rates. One week after the first .50% rate hike in 22 years, there were many Fed officials out using soothing rhetoric in an attempt to reassure financial markets they will be able to...
Opinions on the direction of the market differ
Jeremy Grantham, one of the economists that predicted the 2008 crash, says we’re in the fifth great bubble of the modern era—and warns the economy won’t ‘skate through’ a housing crisis. Grantham is convinced that we’re in the midst of a fifth great bubble of the...
Recent changes from the Fed
Yesterday the Fed increased the rate by .5%. This is the largest interest rate increase since 2000. They also are going to be shrinking its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet starting in June. These policies are likely to ricochet through markets and the economy as...
The quote that changed interest rates in a “New York Minute”
“Given that the recovery has been considerably stronger and faster than in the previous cycle, I expect the balance sheet to shrink considerably more rapidly than in the previous recovery, with significantly larger caps and a much shorter period to phase in the...
The Fed’s posture is looking more direct
Last week, a member of the central bank who usually favors a gentler approach to raising interest rates spoke about the central bank's need to fight rising prices. "It is of paramount importance to get inflation down," Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said in a...