Q&A: What 3.92% mortgage rates, highest in 33 months, mean?
Historically cheap loans may be over as mortgage rates soared again this week, approaching levels not seen since 2019.
FYI, the average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those refinancing their homes, rose to 3.15% from 2.93% one week earlier. It last breached 3% in March of 2020, just at the pandemic was breaking in the U.S.The Federal Reserve has signaled it will begin the first in a series of interest rate hikes in March, reversing pandemic-era policies that have fueled hiring and growth but also contributing to inflation levels not seen since the early 1980s.
That’s 10% less that just eight weeks ago amid the holiday season. We haven’t seen a two-month loss of borrowing power this big since 1994. And bigger cuts have only been seen 1% of the time since 1971.The price for a new home has surged anywhere from 15% to 30%-plus across the nation, depending on the market. Housing has been in short supply, even before the pandemic, and higher prices and rising interest rates will make it even harder for homebuyers.
That was the case even before mortgage rate increases, which have upped the monthly mortgage cost of the typical $375,000 home listing by roughly $115 since December, she said.