Welcome to Homeseed’s Mortgage Market Update, where we dive into the latest trends, insights, and changes shaping the dynamic landscape of the housing and lending industries.
Mortgage Rate Trends & Forecasts
- It’s been a volatile week for rates as they are now slightly lower than where they were a week ago.
- A strong BLS Jobs Report earlier in the month moved rates higher before last week’s CPI report brought them back down.
- Last Thursday’s Producer Price Index helped rates move even lower as inflation measured from the perspective of manufacturers came in much lower than expected.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- The May CPI report showed that overall inflation was flat at 0% month-over-month (expected 0.1%) and decreased year-over-year from 3.4% to 3.3%.
- May brought cooler than expected consumer inflation, due in large part to easing motor vehicle insurance costs.
- This follows better than expected readings in April as the annual Headline and Core readings both took important steps lower.
The Fed Meeting
- The Fed’s fourth meeting of the year concluded last Wednesday and left their Fed Funds Rate unchanged once again.
- An updated dot plot showed that the median forecast for the rest of the year would be one rate cut.
- Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that their policy is restrictive but needs to see more progress on inflation lowering.
- RATES DROP AFTER CPI DATA – Lower inflation numbers help bring rates back down after last week’s spike from the BLS jobs data.
https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/… - WHOLESALE PRICES COME DOWN – The Producer Price Index (PPI), a gauge of prices that producers get for their goods and services, declined 0.2% for the month.
https://www.cnbc.com/… - MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS RISE IN MAY – New-home purchase mortgage applications rose 1% month-over-month in May according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
https://www.housingwire.com/… - VA NOW ALLOWING BUYER-PAID BROKER FEES – Veterans using VA home loan benefits will have the ability to pay the buyer-broker fee beginning August 10, 2024.
https://news.va.gov/…