Mortgage rates

The latest inflation news has created concern that the Federal Reserve's pivot on short-term rates could be delayed.

While mortgage volume should rise this year, the government-sponsored enterprise expects slightly less activity than it did back in January.

The 30-year average rate got closer to 7% as central bank officials dashed near-term hopes of a cut, according to Freddie Mac.

For the first time since mid-December, the Freddie Mac survey reports mortgage rates over 6.7%.

January volume increased 36% compared to the month before and the annual decline in activity was the lowest in almost two years, Optimal Blue said.

While the Freddie Mac survey reported just a 1 basis point increase from last week, Zillow's tracker found a 30 basis point rise in the 30-year fixed, more reflective of what happened in the bond market.

As a result, a robust housing market is now on the horizon, Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater declared.

A key Senator had urged Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to lower rates early this year, but although there's more consensus on making such a move, it now looks unlikely to happen until after the next meeting.

A potential buyer with a budget of $3,000 per month for their payments is now able to afford an approximately $453,000 home.

Its January forecast reverses the call first made in April 2022 that the U.S. economy would slip into an extended downturn.