Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

  Why Mortgage Rates Could Continue To Decline When you read about the  housing market , you’ll probably come across some information about inflation or recent decisions made by the  Federal Reserve  (the Fed). But how do those two things  impact you  and your homebuying plans? Here's what you need to know. The Federal Funds Rate Hikes Have Stalled One of the Fed’s primary goals is to lower inflation. In order to do that, they started raising the Federal Funds Rate to slow down the economy. Even though this doesn’t directly dictate what happens with  mortgage rates , it does have an impact. Recently inflation has started to cool, a signal those increases worked and are bringing inflation back down. As a result,  the Fed’s hikes  have gotten smaller and less frequent. In fact, there haven’t been any increases since July ( see graph below ): And not only has the Fed decided not to raise the Federal Funds Rate the last three times the committee met, they’ve signaled there may actually

  Your Needs Matter More Than Today’s Mortgage Rates June 19, 2023 If you’re thinking about  selling your house  right now, chances are it’s because something in your life has changed. And, while things like  mortgage rates  are a key part of your decision on what you’ll buy next, it’s important to not lose sight of the reason you want to make a change in the first place. It’s true  mortgage rates  have climbed from the record lows we saw in recent years, and that has an impact on  affordability . With rates where they are right now, some homeowners are deciding they’ll wait to sell because they don’t want to move and have a higher mortgage rate on their next home. As Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at  Realtor.com ,  explains : “. . . homeowners who locked in a 30-year fixed rate in the 2-3% range don't necessarily want to give that up in exchange for a rate in the 6-7% range.” But your lifestyle and your changing needs should matter more. Here are a few of the most common reasons