Mortgage rates

Sales of new single-family homes increased 4.1% last month to a 738,000 annualized rate, government figures showed Thursday.

The post-pandemic normalization of the housing market, economic factors and natural disasters, are contributing to the rise in late payments, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

A pair of mortgage technology providers are bringing out tools to increase customer retention rates among servicers and originators.

Wall Street are paring back bets on aggressive policy easing as the U.S. economy remains robust and Fed officials have sounded a cautious tone over the pace of future rate decreases.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan repeated her call for the U.S. central bank to lower interest rates at a careful pace as the economic environment remains uncertain.

Fannie Mae didn't change its estimate for total originations this year.

A strong economy drove mortgage rates higher in the past week but it's still an advantageous market for consumers in some ways, according to Freddie Mac.

Reversing a year-ago trend, the U.S. economy and plateauing interest rates led to credit tightening in September, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The Fed's short-term rate cut hasn't lowered 30-year mortgage rates, which have been flat, but some buyers had reasons to act sooner rather than later.

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. 

Biden cast the Fed's decision to lower rates as a vindication of his stewardship of the nation's post-pandemic economic recovery and a sign of progress in the fight against high inflation that has been one of his — and Harris' — biggest political liabilities.