Mortgage buyer
The brisk jump in rates, along with a sharp increase in home prices, has been pushing potential homebuyers out of the market.
Mortgage applications decreased 6.5% from one week earlier, the
Last month, the
Higher borrowing rates appear to be slowing the housing market, an important part of the economy. In April, sales of both existing homes and new homes showed signs of faltering, worsened by sharply higher home prices and a shrunken supply of available properties.
However, some economists expect that the tapering of demand could benefit the more determined home shoppers.
"The material decline in purchase activity, combined with the rising supply of homes for sale, will cause a deceleration in price growth to more normal levels, providing some relief for buyers still interested in purchasing a home," said
Homeownership has become increasingly difficult lately, especially for first-time buyers. Besides staggering inflation, rising mortgage rates and soaring home prices, the supply of homes for sale continues to be scarce.
The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those refinancing their homes, rose to 4.38% from 4.32% last week.
Economists expect the Fed to raise its main borrowing rate by another half-point when it meets next week.
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