Mortgages in the US are seeing their highest interest rates in 16 years.
The increase follows the US Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes instituted to sufficiently curb inflation.
Data from the US Mortgage Bankers Association showed that mortgage rates have more than doubled since the start of the year.
Average contract rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose by six basis points to 6.81 per cent for the week ended October 7.
The MBA's Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, fell two per cent from a week earlier and is down roughly 69 per cent from one year ago.
Its Purchase Index, which measures all mortgage loan applications for purchase of a single family home, fell 2.1 per cent from the prior week - which is 39 per cent lower than a year ago.
Homebuilding and sales have weakened significantly in recent months, with home re-sales posting seven straight months of declines.
Mortgage rates and sale activities are used to gauge economic activity and with the consistent declines, there are concerns that the indicators are pointing to the possibility of a recession.
comments powered by Disqus
_logo.png){kind=logo}
All feeds
