Mortgage rates

Even before finding out inflation ran hotter than expected, the mortgage rate trajectory was not favorable, Freddie Mac reported.

While rate-and-term refinance locks boomed, the rise in purchases also was telling as it was the first since the Fed started raising rates, Optimal Blue said.

Quantitative tightening has helped to keep mortgage rates elevated, but new concerns over how it impacts market liquidity could lead the Fed to end the program.

Stronger than expected numbers for overall U.S. employment additions have diminished lender hopes for steeper rate drops, and industry hiring has been tepid.

The conforming 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 6.12% on Oct. 3.

Treasuries are sliding after companies added more jobs than expected last month, sending a mixed signal to traders who are watching the labor market for signs the Federal Reserve needs to aggressively cut interest rates.

Homes are 4.4% more affordable, the first annual improvement in years, while first-time buyers with lower incomes can qualify for a median priced house.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index increased 0.1% from July, and on a three-month annualized basis, it rose by 2.1%.

Mortgage rates being at a two-year low has not moved potential buyers off the sidelines, Freddie Mac says, but Redfin says demand for home tours is up.

After persisting for as long as two years in the U.S., the so-called inversion in yield curves — an unusual situation where rates on short-term debt exceed those of their longer-term counterparts — is unwinding in many parts of the world.