Is the mortgage market braced for impact?

Man watching mortgage rate market | mortgage rate news

How did the week start & what’s next for the mortgage market?

The national average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage started the week sideways and ended Monday’s session at 6.39%, up 0.01 points from last week. The market is clearly waiting for inflation data that’s due on Tuesday and interest rate guidance from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.  We’ll know a bit more about market direction after tomorrow’s CPI report, but the full picture won’t be clear until the Fed announcement on Wednesday.

What does an interest rate hike mean to you?

The Federal Reserve is about to hike interest rates for the last time in 2023, but what will it really impact? An interest rate hike is meant to make it harder to borrow money because the amount a borrower will need to pay back will increase. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates because making it more expensive to borrow money slows down a company’s ability to do business, and is the Fed’s best tool to combat inflation.

So, the Fed hikes rates in an effort to bring down inflation, but is there an effect on anything else? Absolutely. In addition to business loans, interest rate hikes also impact credit card rates, auto loans, student loans, savings account and CD yields, and mortgage rates.

Higher interest rates can make it harder to borrow money, but they’re also needed to combat inflation.   

What’s the 2023 housing outlook for San Francisco? 

San Francisco is known as one of the most expensive housing markets in the US. What does the housing market outlook look like for a market that’s known to have high prices? SFGate recently connected with experts on the local market, and their forecast for the 2023 housing market touched on prices, inventory, and whether it’s a buyer’s or seller’s market.

Most of the experts surveyed expect a dip in housing prices in the first half of 2023. They aren’t sure what they second half of the year will look like. Home inventory should improve in 2022, but it will likely remain tight. The experts surveyed also expect the market to continue to be a seller’s market, but they expect buyers will have a bit more power in negotiations in 2023 than they did in 2022.

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