Mortgage Rates Increase 14 Points
Summary
“After little movement the last few weeks, mortgage rates rose again on the back of increased economic activity and incoming inflation data,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. Higher mortgage rates are expected to slow buyer demand in the coming months, causing annual home price appreciation to cool to 5.6% by April 2023. Zillow Vice President of Capital Markets Paul Thomas said rates were pushed up by a variety of data points in the economy. Based on all these data points, markets moved to price back in more Federal Reserve tightening, driving rates higher last week." Thomas added that the markets will focus on the Consumer Price Index data later this week "for further readings on inflation and any potential impacts that could have on Federal Reserve policy.”