Source: Quartz—
The meteoric rise of mortgage rates has zipped past another milestone this year.
For the first time since April 2002, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) topped 7% this week, according to data from Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).
The skyrocketing rate will lead to “greater stagnation in the housing market,” the corporation chartered by Congress in 1970 warned.
The pandemic boom pushed home prices up already, and high inflation has weakened consumer confidence and purchasing power. The central bank hiking interest rates is making the cost of borrowing even more exorbitant. Consequently, more and more potential homebuyers and sellers are assuming a wait-and-watch mode.
Home sales have slid for eight months straight and are likely to keep falling.
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