The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.63% as of Feb. 1, according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey published by Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC). This is down last week when it averaged 6.69%, and it is up from the 6.09% average of one year ago at this time.
The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.94%, down from last week when it averaged 5.96%. A year ago at this time, it averaged 5.14%.
“Although affordability continues to impact homeownership, the combination of a solid economy, strong demographics and lower mortgage rates are setting the stage for a more robust housing market,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Mortgage rates have been stable for nearly two months, but with continued deceleration in inflation we expect rates to decline further. The economy continues to outperform due to solid job and income growth, while household formation is increasing at rates above pre-pandemic levels. These favorable factors should provide strong fundamental support to the market in the months ahead.”
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“A solid economy??” What country is Freddie Mac’s Chief economist living in? It sure isn’t America! And the mortgage rate decreased .02 percent on a 15 year, fixed rate mortgage which is characterized as interest rates are falling. That amount wouldn’t buy you as pack of chewing gum, even in this “solid” economy.
He’s following the propaganda of main stream media.
Bitter, party of one? Your table is ready
Well, when numbers go down most folks consider that a decrease
Maybe a small one but certainly preferable to an increase
Because the stock market is in record territory my 401k looks the best it ever has I’m paying less than $3 a gallon for gas now
Unemployment is under 4% for more than 2 years in a row which has never happened before in my lifetime and 2023 was the best year I’ve ever had in business for the 10th year in a row
Inflation has come down from its peak and the Fed is talking about rate cuts later this year
Economic growth in the United States in 2023 was higher than any other industrialized country
I live in the southeast
Maybe you could relocate?
There are many reasons for the improving economy, and the economy is very good for higher income earners and for those who can afford investments and retirement plans of various types.
However, pay scales for the lower end jobs are still not sufficient for the cost of living in many areas of the country, particularly in the coastal zones and big cities, in large part because high population density (demand) has pushed up costs of housing (including rents), food, and energy prices. Businesses will charge what the market will bear, and if people are willing to pay it then prices won’t go down.
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Gas prices in many areas are still very high, which impacts commuters who have to travel long distances to their jobs. In most of California, gas prices are still in the $4.50 to $5 per gallon range, certainly not $3, which some states are enjoying.
For whatever people may feel about the Biden Administration, the economy is both stable and doing well for many people, and that is due in large part to the Biden infrastructure plans and the green energy investments, which are paying off hugely, including for states that did not support Biden.
Texas has been doing very well in converting to green energy at a faster pace, much of that funded by the Biden investment plans. Green energy projects have kept residents of Texas safe in bad weather, while providing reliable, more affordable, greener energy. Job growth in infrastructure and green technologies is providing excellent paying jobs in nearly every state, including in states that desperately need good paying jobs.
Biden’s support for Oil and Gas also has provided good paying jobs, even while environmentalists who supported Biden were stunned by Biden’s reversal on his promises to scale back on green house gas pollution (i.e. scale back on oil and gas production).
As a staunch (but pragmatic) environmentalist, myself, I was annoyed with Biden’s hypocrisy about oil and gas, but I also realize that no President can please everyone all the time, and there are global events at play that need to be examined for why Biden chose to push forward on more oil and gas extraction projects, and some of those reasons were obvious, including the Ukrainian-Russian War and global energy politics as Russia threatened to cut off Russia’s pipelines to Western Europe, and OPEC was threatening to cut back on oil & gas production too. The U.S. and Europe needed to regain control over crucial energy supplies and to produce more of their own oil and gas, at least in the short term.
These are huge topics of global significance that impact many economic sectors, and most of us don’t have the time nor the expertise to analyze the many spinning plates of global energy politics, but Biden’s support to increase oil and gas production seems to have paid off well in thwarting Russia’s & OPEC’s oil threats, while also bringing gas prices down in many areas and also providing many good paying jobs.
On a side note:
Even most of the Native Americans in Alaska supported “The Willows” gas project, in part due to job creation and taxes on oil that will benefit Native Americans. A much smaller number of Native Americans (the ones who will be negatively impacted by it) opposed that project.
The Willows project will harm the largest and most pristine U.S. wilderness preserve, no doubt, and, sadly, it will only provide about 4% of U.S. energy needs each year over several decades. I think the U.S. could have just mandated a 4% energy conservation plan (turn off your lights earlier in the night and by requiring USPS and similar mail & parcel delivery services to combine shipping more often to cut down on energy usage and by mandating that trucks, trains, and ships do not “dead head” (i.e. travel long distances without any cargo), but a modest energy conservation plan is not what happened; instead, the Willow Project was supported by many, including the Biden Administration.
The longer term impacts from more oil and gas production on climate warming and other environmental impacts are the price that will be paid at global levels, and that price will be a more difficult economic equation to analyze due to how climate warming and biological destruction spreads its impacts unevenly but over wide areas. Once segments of nature are damaged beyond repair, we will lose unredcoverable services that nature once provided for free, but wild nature is rarely a variable that is allowed into any economic equation, and to our detriment.
So, the economy is doing better for many reasons, including due to Biden’s policies, most of which were supported by both major political parties, despite the theater of criticizing those policies in the media circus. There are more good paying jobs now, in large part due to Biden’s policies. So, although I did not agree with many of his oil support policies, I also understand that other issues drove some of those decisions.