Are experts predicting lower mortgage rates in April?
A recent mortgage industry survey by MarketWatch asked professionals where they believe mortgage rates will head in April. First of all, no one stated that rates will either shoot upwards or drop in April.
Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree, stated, “In April, mortgage rates will likely remain about the same as they were in March. Some fluctuations are bound to happen, especially when comparing rates on a week-to-week basis, but barring any major changes in the economy, we shouldn’t expect rates to suddenly skyrocket or plummet.”
Holden Lewis, a home and mortgage expert at NerdWallet, thinks that today’s jobs data and next week’s inflation data will impact the market the most this month. Lewis said, “(If both reports are lower than expected,) we might see a drop in mortgage rates. The most likely outcome is that job creation and inflation will cool off slightly and mortgage rates will remain relatively steady.”
Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, pointed to guidance from the Federal Reserve and jobs data. She said, “There will likely be continued volatility [in April]. Any new release of economic data could push rates up or down. The Fed’s decisions about monetary policy are mostly determined by the pace of inflation and the rate of unemployment.”
Mortgage rates tick lower
The national average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rate ticked below 7.00% to 6.99%*, ending the day down 0.08%. It’s great to see the national average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage head below 7.00%, but today’s jobs report is going to truly give the market direction.
There was speculation that yesterday’s jobless claims report was weaker than expected and that helped move rates lower, but there was also a defensive trading aspect to the move down.
After today’s jobs report, the next major data point is next week’s inflation report.
How is the Denver housing market?
Recent housing market data for the Denver metro area indicated that listings are starting to increase. A market trends report showed that listings in the Denver metro area increased by 16% when comparing March 2024 to February 2024.
Libby Levinson-Katz, Chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee, stated, “Spring is absolutely here and buyers are out looking at homes. In fact, they put properties under contract twice as quickly as they did last month.”
Pending homes sales in the area were also up 7% year-over-year. However, the median home price in the Denver metro area rose to $595,000 in March 2024 from $567,250 in March 2023.
* National average rates accurate as of 4/4/24 from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are not advertised rates from Guaranteed Rate.
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