Yahoo Finance
Mortgage rates have risen for the first time since the week of May 30, raising concerns in the housing market. Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), appears on Wealth! to discuss the impact of mortgage rates on the outlook for the U.S. housing market. Lautz says rising interest rates are “really daunting” and “disheartening” for prospective homebuyers. She emphasizes that affordable housing inventory remains difficult to find, highlighting the critical importance of new home construction to increase supply. Many existing homeowners are hesitant to sell because of low fixed interest rates, further compounding the inventory shortage. “Certainly if mortgage rates go down even a little bit, that could be positive news for homebuyers,” Lautz told Yahoo Finance. However, she warns that home prices will continue to rise. “In fact, lower mortgage rates could lead to even more bidding wars in today’s housing market, where home inventory is very limited,” she adds. “The interplay between interest rates and inventory is just one part of the equation that may be why some people are probably not feeling like jumping in right now.”
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