Mortgage rates

Between the dip in refis and the approach of the spring buying season, mortgage lenders are likely to start paying a little more attention to the purchase market, which is less rate-sensitive.

With pandemic conditions in place for a second spring, lenders and brokers discuss the indicators that will reveal whether the market is shifting away from the traditional selling season to one that runs hot throughout the year.

Investors were also reacting to the inauguration of Joe Biden and uncertainty over additional fiscal relief, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist Sam Khater said.

Mortgage applications decreased 1.9% from one week earlier as rising rates started to affect refinance activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Despite mortgage rates expected to rise modestly in 2021, a bolstered Biden administration stimulus package and COVID-19 vaccination efforts bring promise for economic recovery.

Mortgage rates, whose movements until now had not reflected gains in the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, rose 14 basis points this week, according to Freddie Mac.

Falling interest rates more than canceled out median home listing prices, reaching an all-time time high during the month, Redfin said.

Mortgage rates yet again have dropped to a record low, even as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury flirts with breaking back above the 1% mark, according to Freddie Mac.

With coronavirus inoculations underway and government stimulus likely to come, the outlook for next year’s housing market and lending environment grew more optimistic in December.

Weaker consumer spending data coming into the holiday season, as well as a resurgence of the COVID-19 spread, pushed mortgage rates to a new low, Freddie Mac said.