Economy

The potential impacts of import tariffs cloud the outlook, though, and could lead mortgage rates to surge and fall throughout the coming year.

While Freddie Mac's weekly survey showed 30-year rates falling, other indicators paint a mixed picture for mortgage lenders and borrowers.

Foreclosure filings increased 7% in January from December, which could be a housing market starting to experience trouble, or a post-holiday return to normal.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said insurance companies and banks are already pulling out of disaster-prone areas, which could pose problems.

Most participants in a monthly Wolters Kluwer survey no longer think the next short-term rate reduction will be in March.

While mortgage employment is lower year-over-year, the mixed bag of data makes it more likely that borrowing rates will remain higher for longer.

"Anything that is done around a safe and sound release is going to hinge on the effect of long-term mortgage rates," Bessent said. 

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage continues to slip away from the 7% mark, Freddie Mac said, but experts still expect them to stay higher for longer.

With the Federal Reserve eyeing changes to its annual examination of large bank resilience, this year's test could be the last of its kind.

Completed foreclosure auctions should be 8% lower this year, but if home value and unemployment expectations change, all bets are off, Auction.com said.

The Long Island-based company, which is in the middle of a makeover, saw its stock price rise sharply after reporting a net loss that was less than what analysts expected.

Mortgage rates declined by one basis point this week, not enough to change the equation to bring consumers back into the housing market, Freddie Mac said.

Scott Turner, President Trump's pick to head the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, faced opposition from Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee, but his nomination was nonetheless approved by a vote of 13-11.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell back under 7% this week, the Freddie Mac survey found. But Treasury yields started rising again in recent days.

Higher mortgage rates will persist through 2026, affecting sales and refinancings. Those expectations led Fannie Mae to cut its volume outlook for the next two years.

Trump's pick for treasury secretary commits to a thorough and careful recapitalization and release process for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It's not an unthinkable notion. There have been a handful of attempts at systematically moving populations away from regions severely affected by climate change.

Sunsetting the federal oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could ease the cost of renewing President Trump's 2017 tax act, but doing so is an uphill battle.

Single-family starts, which account for most new construction, climbed 3.3% to a 1.05 million annualized rate, also the strongest since February 2024.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage topped 7% for the first time since last May, although late in the week, the 10-year Treasury peaked before reversing course.