Mortgage rate latest: Should borrowers expect a drop anytime soon?
“Housing affordability has improved from a year ago,” Khater said, “and recent increases in purchase and refinance applications suggest that borrowers continue to respond to even modest changes in mortgage rates.”
Why brokers aren’t hitting the panic button
Rate relief doesn’t seem to be on the way anytime soon, with financial markets continuing to weigh the prospect of Federal Reserve rate hikes in the months ahead amid rising price pressures caused by the war in Iran.
Capital markets firm Optimal Blue sees mortgage rates ticking up further, forecasting a jump in the 30-year average to 6.76% three months from now followed by a drop back to 6.58% in a year.
But mortgage brokers seem relaxed about that prospect, noting that many hopeful buyers don’t bat an eyelid at slight rate runups and seeing the current rate environment as relatively stable.
“I don’t expect a big change in rates. I don’t expect a big swing,” Fif Ghobadian, senior vice president of mortgage lending at OriginPoint, told Mortgage Professional America. “I expect [rates] to stay the same – maybe drop a tiny bit.”
