Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s weekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it each Friday afternoon.
- As the Fed recently hiked rates, mortgage rates rose again this week, according to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.49%, while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.78%. “Several factors, including shifts in inflation, the job market and uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s next move, are contributing to the highest mortgage rates in a generation,” said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater.
- Mortgage applications continued their weekly decline as rates grew, according to the latest Weekly Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Applications dropped 6% from the week prior. “Rates for all mortgage products increased…as a result, mortgage applications ground to a halt, dropping to the lowest level since 1996,” said MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan.
- Mortgage bonds fell due to the selloff in government bonds and the Fed’s tightening message, as reported by Yahoo News. The asset class is now near the post-financial crisis record reached in May. For the mortgage market, higher mortgage bond yields can mean even higher mortgage rates for homebuyers.
- A recent report from CoreLogic showed that while the risk of mortgage fraud was up 1.6% between the first and second quarter this year, it experienced a 3.1% annual decline, as reported by National Mortgage News. CoreLogic’s latest National Mortgage Fraud Report found that at large, one in every 134 mortgage applications between April and June, or 0.75%, had indications of fraud.
